Hiii!

LOTS of pics today!!

This dress, made from Mccall’s 6006 (1945) has to be my favourite make so far! I am so so in love with 1940′s Mccall’s patterns – they’re just the best. What I love about this one is – the cool cap sleeves…If you could call them that. Maybe flutter sleeves? The tucks at the shoulder and back waist. The gathering on the front waist….The awesome gored skirt.

I didn’t change much on this pattern at all. The waist came in about 1.5 inches.

The fabric is more from my stash. I’ve been waiting to use this one on the perfect pattern and I’m glad it became this. It’s a cotton of some sort with the nice soft drape perfect for this era.

I did quite a bit of hand finishing – The way the sleeve attaches to the bodice requires a lot of turning over and sewing down since there’s quite a few raw edges under there. Very strange construction because the sleeve is attached around the outside of the bodice and is then bound. I wish I could show you the construction pics on my dress form but once it was put together it no longer fits on her.

The side closure is my preferred snaps on a placket
And the seams are finished with rayon bias tape on the bodice, and French seams on the skirt.

I made a self fabric belt to go with. Made the way the pattern instructs – which requires no tedious turning of the fabric!! I took some pics while I was sewing it so I can make a tutorial. Would anyone be interested in that? It’s quite simple but a great way to use up any strips of fabric you may have left over from making a garment.
Actually, it’s so easy, I whipped up an orange belt in less than an hour just the other day.

Also – there are shoulder pads!! Yes. Shoulder pads. I decided, after trying on the bodice, that the sleeves did need just a little structure. I bought some cotton batting and made some small triangular pads which aren’t the big fugly 80′s ones that usually come to mind when someone says ‘shoulder pads’. Hehe.

All in all, I couldn’t be happier with this dress. I want to make another – very soon! But I’ve got so many other projects on the go it might have to hold on for a bit. Don’t you think the long sleeve one in a fine wool crepe would be amazing – maybe a deep purple colour?

Well, I’ve got some more updates etc but I will save that for my next post. I’ve got my Fashion Illustration class tomorrow so expect some more drawings soon.

Ciao!

Tags: 40's, cotton, craft, cream, fabric, fashion, green, kitty's drawings, lime, pistachio, polka dot, red, reproduction, retro, sewing, singer 338, vintage
Categories: Sewing

This entry was posted on Monday, April 30th, 2012 at 9:54 pm and is filed under Sewing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.