Vintage 50's

It's a crazy rainy/cyclonic day here in Brisbane, so we've been sent home from work. Guess that's a good time to catch up on the blog. 

I've been unable to locate this lovely vintage pattern in the vortex that is my spare room. So can't show you how my dress is supposed to look. I remember buying the pattern from a company in the US, instead of my usual ebay purchase.  It was definitely a much better quality pattern I have to say. 

The cotton drill fabric is from Spotlight. I'd had my eye on it for awhile and managed to get it on sale. Hooray!!  I didn't really consider the material pattern and how it would work with this style of the bodice.  The material would have been better with a single piece bodice.  Ah well, too late to think about that now.  

It was a pretty straightforward make, but I had to fiddle with the bodice after I finished making the entire thing.  I was really happy with the finished product except the bodice was baggy around the armhole section and bit into the middle.  I did some adjustments to the darts and did a new seam for the sleeve to take some of the bulk out.  It was better, but now the bodice is a little tight getting over my head.  Hopefully it won't cause me to have an anxiety attack if I get stuck putting it on.  

The back definitely has more continuity with the pattern of the fabric.  It's a nice fabric to wear and quite comfy which is always a bonus. Even though I'm still not 100% happy with the bodice, I am happy with how it looks.  

To Shirr and Shirr Alot

I was off to an afternoon swim one stinky poo, hot Saturday recently, when I realised I didn't have any cool little casual dresses.  I guess when I do go the coast I generally wear a denim skirt and a little shirt.  It has been on my to do list is a beach dress for about 5 years.

I got on line to see what projects people had done with a basic shirred dress.  I found one and set out using this cotton material I bought at a Spotlight sale.  Even though it's very simple to make, it does take awhile doing 12 rows of shirring on both front and back.  The only thing that didn't work out so well was  the fabric above the shirring. I left about 1.5cm and it kept flapping forward.  In the end I just added some elastic to the top. I just eased it directly onto the fabric with a zig zag stitch.  And ticketyboo it did the trick. 

So all in all nothing fancy, just a good cool dress for very casual wear.  Unfortunately not exactly good for the beach with the exposed shoulders, it is good for going to a friend's place for a swim.