1950s Dress - Completed Top Half

Part One · Part Two

Okay, the top half is now complete!

This pattern actually required sew-in interfacing, but I only had fusible interfacing. No matter!

The difficult part of this top is probably the neckline. There's interfacing and facing in there. The facing needs to be clipped so it can be turned, and the interfacing needs to not get in the way. Fortunately everything lined up (a good reason to cut exactly on the line, and have the markings in the right places) and I sewed everything together. I tacked the facing down to keep it from popping out the top (a real problem!).

Here's a close-up of the sleeve hem. More binding! I love binding.

At this point I tried the top on (fun) and it is an okay fit. Not perfect, but pretty good.

Next up is to attach the skirt half to the top, then create some sort of hem. This will be a good opportunity to try making a blind hem using the sewing machine. Oh, and I need to buy more binding! The sleeves pretty much finished it off, and I want to bind the side seams.

1950s Dress: Seam Binding

Part One · Part Three

I've made fast progress on the 1950s Butterick dress. The first dress I made was based on a newer pattern. This one was slightly different - all the pieces were pre-cut, the marks were all holes punched into the paper, and there was no ink. I much prefer this than cutting out the pattern and marking everything down. The holes allowed me to easily mark darts and notches.

Here you can see roughly the colour of the fabric. Last time I neglected to mark out most of the small dots (which ended up being a pain as they are actually important). Since the pattern had holes it was easy to chalk everything up.

I decided to do some seam binding for this dress (it's always good to learn something new). I was pretty nervous until I got started. I thought about pinning the whole thing but I'm sure it would be too time-consuming so just ran with it.

After getting my head around how the bias binding actually fits around the seam, it was pretty easy from there. As long as the side you're most likely to see looks good, it's all good!

Here's the result! A little wrinkly (probably due to too much pulling on the binding) but it's a really tidy way to finish up the seams. Unfortunately I only got five metres of binding (thought it would be enough, hahaha) so I'll have to get some more if I want to finish all the seams this way.

New Vintage Patterns and the Start of a New Dress

Part Two · Part Three

The other day Louella and I went to the Vintage Textile fair - a once-a-year event. Only we didn't decide to go until late afternoon! >o<

The fair was awesome. It consisted of dozens of stores selling antiques, vintage clothes, hats, bags, and crafts. I managed to pick up a few new patterns!

This one I got from Louella

This pack contains a skirt, waistcoat, dress, trousers,
and jacket pattern!

I intend on making the one on the right but the sheer
sleeves on the left one look amazing.

A simple, yet adorable, dress pattern

This last one I also received from Louella. I've been meaning to start making it - I absolutely adore the neckline!

There's no year on it but at a guess I'd say it's a 1950s dress (would gladly accept some confirmation).

I toddled down to the local fabric store and purchased some fabric and bits and bobs. The pattern instructs for the seams to be bound, so I think I'll find this seam binding tutorial handy.

The fabric I'm using will be a green linen. I've found I'm terrible at picking out fabric - I can never quite make the connection between the fabric and the final outfit. I wanted to use some sort of dark green synthetic velvet but I believe it was expensive and I have no idea how to sew with it.

I don't have a picture of the fabric right now because it's in the wash, so here's my washing machine instead!