The Sew Weekly

The "Devil is in the Details" Dress

The Facts

Fabric: Cotton voile from Fabric.com 6.5 yards for ~$35
Pattern: VPLL T3946 (Received free from reviewing a previous pattern).
Year: c. 1930
Notions: Vintage lace from Alameda - $5, buckle - ~$1
Time to complete: ~20 hours
First worn: Not Yet
Wear again? If there's a place to wear it.

Total Cost: ~$40 & my sanity

Those who suspect my lack of posting is due to Gatsby frenzy would be very very correct. The good news is that other than some tacking, I'm finished with my own Gatsby dress. This dress has been a saga to say the least (read all about it here) and I've almost abandoned it at least three times. I actually purchased yet another pattern to start as a replacement but then I decided to give it one more try.

The reasons for wanting to abandon it?

1. I still wasn't convinced that fabric felt 1930s enough nor nautical enough.

2. The cascades are yards of raw edges (curved raw edges) that needed to be finished.

3. I thought I might want to go a little bit more casual since I love 1930s day dresses.

4. Did I mention the raw edges? No seriously, the dress basically is one huge raw edge that needs to be hemmed/finished.

About a month or so ago I bought a serger for my every day sewing. Little did I know that the serger would --after way too much trial and error -- make this dress possible, more specifically the rolled hem setting. I had already abandoned my dress because every time I attempted to use the rolled hem setting, the upper looper thread would break. Every single time. And this whole process was doing a real number on the delicate voile.a So then I decided to just do a hem with my sewing machine (mind you, not with a rolled hem foot). It looked a mess and with each attempt I became more and more discouraged.

The dress was put to the aside into my fail bin and I actually bought another pattern on Etsy. Because I wasn't going to be able to start that night, I decided to work on the napkins for the picnic. Like last year, I cut up an old table cloth and embroidered napkins with each guest's name. I wanted to use the rolled hem setting yet again and decided to just try something with the serger that seemed to conflict with the instructions. It turns out that the upper looper thread was breaking because i had not looped it around the stitch finger in the correct manner (the instructions are not clear on this at all.) So if you have a Brother Serger and the upper looper thread keeps breaking in the rolled hem setting, that's the issue.

Anyhow, once I got through thirteen napkins with a gradually improving rolled-hem, I realized that the dress could be rescued! I took it out of the pile, cut off all the edges of wonky hemming (thank you rotary cutter!) and started again. I opted not to do the blue trim because I didn't think I was going to be able to do it in a way that wouldn't have flaws (and I didn't feel like making my own bias tape out of the blue satin).

I'm so glad I kept going with this dress because I absolutely adore it. It's very slimming and is just feels so pretty. Of all the dresses I've made so far, I most proud of this one because I really made sure everything was done correctly. The funny thing about this dress is that the devil really is in the details. The construction of the basic dress was simple -- it took about two hours. It was all that hemming (false starts and fixing) that ended up taking about 15 hours.

A closer look at the bodice.

The hemmed edges in question.

The above photo illustrates the back, as well as why child labor laws were invented.

I'm not posting a photo of me wearing the dress because I want to be in full 1930s mode. So, you'll just have to wait.

The "I Want to Go to Bed" Dress

The Facts
Fabric: Vintage linen - $0.30 for 3 yards from the best Estate Sale ever
Pattern: Simplicity 2101
Year: Simplicity 3836 c. 1960 
Notions: vintage zipper - $.005 
Time to complete: 3 hours, 45 minutes
First worn: August 2010
Wear again? Yes.

Total Cost: ~$0.30

Simplicity 3836 makes a return visit -- this time in vintage linen. Because of all my Gatsby sewing, I had been putting off my weekly creation night after night. So, on Tuesday night, I found myself looking through my patterns for my Wednesday dress. I remembered how easy this pattern was to complete -- only four main pieces (plus facing and belt) and started cutting at 9pm. The fabric is a heavy linen from the Novato estate sale (let's all bow our heads to that estate sale) that I had never paid much attention to due to its weight. Once I had unfolded and started cutting, I realized it was perfect for this dress.

The last time I made this dress, I lucked out on the stretchiness of the fabric and didn't have to insert the zipper. I assumed that there was enough stretch with this dress and cut the back bodice on the fold as well. While I was right that I could get the dress on without inserting a zipper, it was not without a lot of contortions and a lot of sweat. Even though I was tired, I decided to cut the back bodice and back skirt and go the zipper route. And because I'm so scared of zippers, I took my time and actually did a decent job!

I love the sash on this dress -- the photo doesn't do it justice.

I finished this dress in 3 hours and 45 minutes. I know the exact time because I actually looked at the clock when I was done. I owe the speed to my new serger. It's so wonderful to be able to finish the edges with such ease! We've had a bumpy relationship in the weeks since I got it, but I think I'm finally taking control of thing.

My only regret is that I didn't make it about an inch shorter. That's easy enough to remedy, though.

The "Welcome to the Magic Pan" Dress

The Facts
Fabric: Vintage calico - $0.30 for pre-cut pattern pieces from the best Estate Sale ever
Pattern: Simplicity 2101
Year: c. 1947 with a 1980s twist
Notions: vintage buttons - $.005 
Time to complete: About 3.5 hours
First worn: Not out in public 
Wear again? Nope.

Total Cost: ~$0.30

Today's creation is the third in a series of dresses I'm sewing using Simplicity 2101. The inspiration for this series is Pattern Review's latest contest, One Pattern, Many Looks -- I'm going to be making four dresses all from one view of 2101. The trims and slight variations (sleeve length, dress length, fabric choice) is all that will differentiate each dress. My ultimate goal is to create four dresses that each span a different period of time, this third one being my 1980s take.

So this dress was supposed to feel like "Homecoming Dance '81". Instead, it feels more like "Hostess at the Magic Pan '81."

Where do I begin with this dress? For starters, I didn't have much to work with -- the fabric had already been cut for a shift dress of some sort. There was a front piece, a back piece and long sleeves. Somehow I managed to cut my own pieces -- bodice front and back, skirt front left, front right, back, back side and sleeves out of those limited scraps. I had to make the dress way shorter than I wanted and that ultimately caused my biggest disappointment with the thing.If I really wanted to capture the spirit of late 70s/early 80s prarie/Gunne Sax/Jessica McClintock, the dress had to  -- at the very least -- go past my knees. I just didn't have the fabric for that length. I imagine, however, that if I did have the extra length, I'd be asking for my keys to the compound.

The variations to Simplicity 2101 were minimal: I didn't attach the included collar, instead I used some lace and made a lace collar at the neck. I added a ruffle trim to the arms and hem with some extra scraps of fabric that I machine gathered and added the lace trim to the bodice.

Would I ever wear this dress? Yes, with some alterations. I'd probably take the ruffle off the sleeves and tack down the collar so that it had more of a v-neck look to it. For this exercise, I wanted to have those little early 1980s details that, frankly, I could do without in my wardrobe.

Gatsby Progress

Thanks to all for the feedback and suggestions about my Gatsby Summer Afternoon dress fabric dilemma! The general consensus was that navy and white would be adorable and that the floral fabric was worth salvaging. I decided to get over my issue that it wasn't "nautical" enough and just go with the blue floral voile.

Here's a look at my current progress on the bodice. I quickly constructed that flower as a prototype with some navy lining I had lying around. It's simply tacked on with a pin. The same lining was used to make some bias trim that is bordering the neckline. That, too, is tacked on the dress form with a pin. I do believe that's a good look but am open to opinions.

Ignore the peplum and back cascades, those are also just pinned to give an idea what it will look like. I've already finished the underdress and only have to sew the cascades onto the back. Thankfully, I should be done with this dress by the weekend and will be able to move on to the Gatsby dress for my sister-in-law.

The "G&T Anyone?" Dress

The Facts
Fabric: Vintage Waverly cotton - $3 for 1 3/4 yards from estate sale and white cotton scraps
Pattern: Simplicity 2101 - $3 from Etsy 
Year: c. 1947 with a 1960s twist
Notions: vintage buttons - $.005 
Time to complete: About 5 hours
First worn: July 2010
Wear again? Yes.

Total Cost: ~$3.00 (pattern was already part of another project)

Today's creation is the second in a series of dresses I'm sewing using Simplicity 2101. The inspiration for this series is Pattern Review's latest contest, One Pattern, Many Looks -- I'm going to be making four dresses all from one view of 2101. The trims and slight variations (sleeve length, dress length, fabric choice) is all that will differentiate each dress. My ultimate goal is to create four dresses that each span a different period of time, this second one being my 1960s take.

If my last dress was what I'd wear as I cleaned house, this is the dress I'd wear as I sipped a G&T at the country club in the late 1960s. The fabric is Waverly home decor fabric I scored at an estate sale for $3. I never thought I'd make anything with it since there wasn't much yardage, but I couldn't pass it up. Because I knew this would be a fairly short dress with no sleeves, I took a chance and had enough for the main pattern pieces. The facings and undercollar were made from piece of white cotton scraps I'd save from another project.

I didn't make any modifications to the original pattern other than shortening the length and omitting the sleeves. The collar is still the basic Peter Pan collar -- the difference being I didn't apply the top three buttonholes/buttons.

I love how the fabric makes such a difference from my 1940s take. It's the perfect dress to wear in the Summer. Well, Summer in anywhere else in the country other than San Francisco. I'm sure it will come back into rotation during our Indian Summer in October.

Gatsby UnProgress

Oh dear reader, I'm supremely frustrated with my Gatsby dress. I've bought three different fabrics for the dress and none of them seem right. I've actually sewn most of the dress with the blue floral fabric I bought from Fabric.com. While it was pretty, it doesn't feel nautical at all (me and my stupid constraints!!). I bought some blue and white seersucker but it just won't hang the way I want. Finally, yesterday, I bought some white georgette at Britex and while it hangs beautifully, it just doesn't look "right."

I'm not sure if I'm simply in a place where I have an idealized image of the fabric I want (blue and white striped chiffon) and nothing will make me happy. Should I continue with this direction? Should I have gone with navy chiffon and white trim? While that would look more nautical, it just seems so dark for something like an afternoon picnic. Is navy acceptable?

I need some feedback!