I picked up this unusual pattern at The Vintage Textile Fair a couple of weeks ago – I loved it, look how happy this dress makes the woman who wears it! Not quite what was recommended on the pattern, I’m using a lightweight printed cotton that I bought at Fabric a Brac. Another minor issue is the pattern is size 18, I most often use a 14/16 vintage pattern, so I’ve had to make more alterations than usual.
I thought I’d make up the dress, I have enough fabric for the jacket and the bolero, but will see how it all turns out, I have a co-ordinating cardy, so that may suffice for now. The fabric:
Austin The Cat busted sleeping on the dress after I forgot to cover it..!
Adjusting the top bust darts, I also had to take about 1 cm from each of the center back panels (thanks to mums help with this) as well as run it in a pinch on the sides, I also feel the skirt is a touch too wide, though will see..
It’s all complete and waiting for a hem, them we’ll be done. I have had some confusion over the split, or vent as its called in the instructions. At a bit of a loss, it seemed a very chunky way to finish it, so I improvised in the end.
This dress involved a couple of new techniques, a side zipper, which I do quite like, until now I’ve used back closures, mostly because I have been finding final fitting tricky, and it seemed the easiest way to finish if I may need to make any adjustments.
Also, the princess line darts, which I also really like, and I think this dress was economical in fabric use, just three long panels, I know I will make it again, oh and I also the detail on the straps.
mermaids purse 