1950’s – THE COMPULSIVE SEAMSTRESS

I have an Etsy shop!!!! 😀 YAY!!

I finally cracked. I am going to make the vintage patterns in my boxes pay for their keep, & new additions! Daughter No2 & I had a chat regarding all these pretty patterns, and how elegant the fashions are/were “back in then”. It seems a shame we have lost some of that, and I love making beautiful things. So it was decided to start making the patterns I have into clothes, making them in suitable fabrics & with the finishes they would have had if made by a seamstress when the patterns were new.

And so my shop was launched on the 28th June, with the first two items being these;

Sheath dress from vintage Butterick pattern in blue floral cotton poplin

1950 vintage Butterick jacket in pistachio drill

The fabric for the dress was sourced from Croft Mill, and boy do they ship quickly! I placed the order online on the Thursday night, by Saturday lunchtime it and the order made on Friday morning from Ditto Fabrics had arrived! This green pistachio cotton drill is fabulous! Ditto also have it in a dusky pink, I may just have to have some!

So, in addition to sewing Burdastyle patterns for the girls, and pattern cutting goodies for all of us, trying to find time to fulfill my Sewlutions commitment (still have to find it, to be honest!) & sell our house, I am now making gorgeous dresses, jackets, etc for selling on Etsy! I think I’m a happy bunny! 😀

I do have some projects to add here, but they can wait for another post….. Other good news is that no-one coming to view our house has been injured due to a fabric avalanche accident. Yet.

Oh – aaannnddd – the dream house that was snatched from under our noses is back on the market! The buyers pulled out at the last minute, so now all we need is to sell this one! Anyone for a 3 bedroom townhouse in a rural market town in Warwickshire????

What a hectic week it’s been! Summer holidays are here and between that and getting our house ready to put on the market I have been away from my sewing machine far too much! Daughter no 1 needed a dress to wear to a wedding reception this weekend. We had planned to alter a dress she already had, but I did a foolish thing.

I made the toile of the dress pattern based on this dress, and she fell in love with the shape. “This would look great in that fabric with the brown roses….. Can I have that for the reception??” Needless to say there was much fluttering of eyelashes going on and puppy-dog eyes. Of course I gave in!

The fabric is a decent weight cotton with a very slight stretch. I used a cotton poplin for the lining of the bodice, and an acetate for the skirt as I wanted it to be light and not stick to stockings, if she wore them. We wanted more of a 50’s silhouette to go with the pattern on the fabric, so I added width to the skirt and gathered more. The lining skirt is much fuller, with a layer of fine tulle to hold the outer skirt out.

The pattern itself was quick to adapt. I started with a fitted bodice block and converted it to the lingerie block. I drew on the lines for the midriff and skirt and cut these off. I closed the darts and blended the upper and lower seamlines. For the skirt I lengthened it first, then added side flare from the hem to the hip. Then I divided each skirt into 3 and cut and spread on these lines. The straps were rectangles that I double turned on the sides and pleated at the ends to make them prettier.

I have cut out the Liberty fabric this dress was going to be in first, so that will be the next finished project, and you can compare the two finished items.

I think she likes it… :p

Tag: 1950’s

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Reception Dress