Another Style 1571 - view C

January is never a particularly fun month, but this last one has felt particularly hard - I have really struggled to do anything. But it's February now (yay!), and I have finished my first make of the year (more yay!).

When I made 1571 for the first time, it was very much as a wearable toile in order to get the fit right. This time I made view C, which has plain, longer, sleeves and a more scooped out neckline.

Making the middle view this time

It's made from the probably early 1960s fabric which I bought at the Festival of Vintage last year. I had to cut it out with more than usual care - partly because I had limited yardage, but also to to make sure that I didn't end up with 'boob jewels'!

There were only scraps of the fabric left

Once that danger had been avoided, it was a very straightforward make. This time I cut the back pleat from the same fabric as the rest of the dress. The belt is unusually narrow, because I found a buckle which was an ideal match, colour-wise, but was only small. I added belt loops to both sides of the bodice (behind the zip on the right side), to keep it in place. One of the joys of using a vintage fabric was that it had a proper woven selvedge, not the fluffy mess that you get now, so there was no need to turn in the edge when covering the belt.

Neat and easy finish on the back of the belt

And here is the completed dress. (I'm getting worryingly fond of a beehive hairstyle!)

It was actually warm and bright enough to tale pictures outside!

A retro look for #sewnshownseated

The dress goes perfectly with these 1960s shoes which I bought from Carnivale Vintage in Edinburgh last year. I rarely find vintage shoes in my size, so when I discovered that this black satin Rayne pair was a really comfortable fit, I snapped them up. Even better, the label states that they were "Made expressly for Jenners".

Fabulous shoes

Finally, when I was cutting out the fabric I knew that the colour scheme of pink, yellow and turquoise/blue on a dark background reminded me of something, but I couldn't quite think what. Then it dawned on me - liquorice allsorts! So of course, I had to do an homage to Bertie Bassett.

The blue lace for the 'veil' was the only thing I had to buy for this ensemble!