Saturday, March 13, 2010

1945 Advance 3929 - AKA a simple dress in gorgeous fabric

I had originally intended to make the shirtdress. I am mildly obsessed with them after seeing my friend Maree's polka dot Burda Magazine one (you should check out her garments - she is Maree P on Pattern Review and everything she makes is outstanding).

And with the fabric I used for this dress, I had originally intended to make a blouse. However, I ended up with view 3 of this pattern:


With this amazing Japanese cotton called Garden Night Patch from Tessuti Fabrics:


(You can find this fabric here)

Which equals a simple but pretty 1945 dress for me!


This is a 6-gore skirt, with a bodice that is literally two pieces and two facings joined together. You gather the bottom of the bodice and sew it on. The sleeves are simply narrow-hemmed. Pretty simple huh?


Well, I did think so in the beginning. The above photo is me contemplating the massive amount of fabric I had to take out of the dress to make it fit. I am not exaggerating when I say I had to take out 15cm out of the skirt!!!!

Vintage sizing is becoming the bane of my sewing life. Well, sort of. Maybe I need to re-think the sizes of the patterns I am buying. This one was for a 34" bust, and 37" hip. I guess I am smaller than that, as this is the third pattern of that size I have had to grade down.

I do love the dress, and can't really complain about the fit issues, as I should have done a tissue fit before cutting into my fabric. So it was just me being an impatient seamstress, wanting the glory without going through the process. All ended well anyway, as grading down was not difficult.

The fabric is lush. Very soft, nice and drapey. My pup (who I am whistling for in the below photo) was rubbing her little head on my skirt when I wore it:


Here is another fun shot - I asked my hubby to take one looking down at me to see if I appeared bigger or smaller. I can't personally see any difference. I have a friend who will only allow close-up photos of her be taken when she is sitting down, claiming she looks thinner when the photo is taken from higher up (I know, pretty neurotic).


I do like the effect of the sun coming through on this photo.

What is everyone making at the moment? I have just cut out the Beignet Colette skirt - I need a few wardrobe staples, but am such a sucker for a brightly patterned dress. Discipline!!!

9 comments:

  1. Great dress Rachel! You are a sewing whizz these days :)
    Remember that women back in the 50's were a different shape to what we are today. They also wore undergarments which held everything in place.

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  2. FANTASTIC! I love, love, love the fabric! Very cute sleeves too (I love the 40's sleeve). It looks great and like you said can be worn dressed up or down!

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  3. What a lovely dress! Love the fabric too! I understand the fitting issues, that's why I'm often discouraged with vintage patterns :(

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  4. Nice dress! In other news, you've won the sewing-theme buttons in my giveaway so I expect to see them on a Sencha blouse very soon...

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  5. I just finished my Beignet skirt today. I thought I was done yesterday, but today I decided that the pockets had to go--how can any pocket lie closed and flat when it's fitted around a curved hip? I also had to nip the top of the waist in further, which was a REAL PAIN since it meant belt loops had to be taken off and put back on, and the facing understitching had to be removed. Sigh.
    Good luck with yours!

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  6. HI,I recently happened upon your blog and enjoy reading it very much. I've nominated you for a new blog award that you can pick up from my blog.

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  7. I have recently received my latest fabric purchase from Tessuti, and I have Garden Night Patch- yum!! I also got Hokko Bows (grey)and Hokko Balls. I've just finished Simplicity 2648 in Hokko Balls, and I love it. These fabrics feel gorgeous and drape beautifully. I love the prints too. Hokko Balls is amazing- I never imagined orange and delicate blue would be so beautiful together.

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