Style 2911 completed

Something made in under two weeks, that doesn't happen often now. It's amazing the effect that an incentive can have - on Thursday I went to the preview of Photie Man: 50 Years of Tom Wood, and had decided that an exhibition which included photos from the 1970s and 1980s really needed a 1979 dress. I even managed to finish it the day before the event!

From cut out to completed in a week - no wonder I look pleased!

The method of making the ruched sleeves - sewing front and back together, gathering up some of the stitching, and then sewing the gathers onto a length of seam binding or tape - seemed a bit bulky to me, although it may just have been down to the thickness of the fabric.

The inside of the sleeve, showing the tape

The outside

The back pieces were joined, leaving a split at the bottom, and then the side seams, complete with pockets were sewn. The next job was to sew in the sleeves.

Sleeves pinned in

The front extensions were joined at the centre back, and then sewn across the top of the sleeves and the back to form the collar.

The double notches show where the collar is attached

Finally, the fronts were joined, and a facing added. I chose to apply interfacing to the facing to add structure, even though the pattern didn't call for it. None of the construction was difficult, but it was quite different from most dresses I've made. Like some Vintage Vogue reissues, there seemed to be a lot of sewing without much happening, and then suddenly there was an almost-complete dress.

I absolutely love the end result. It's very early 1980s (the pattern is actually late 1979, but was still on sale in at least October 1980) but then, that is one of my sartorial happy places*. It's got pockets, and it's comfortable to sit in.

Pocketses!

#sewnshownseated

Obviously, the buttons are considerably bigger than the ball buttons recommended, but I think that they work. They are certainly ideal, colour-wise. I might make a couple of tiny tweaks if I make it again, but it's definitely a candidate for a second version. And it's a stash-reduction project to boot.

Another 2.7m out

* - It may be an eighties dress, but that doesn't mean it needs eighties styling. Much as I enjoyed the exhibition, I did look at the hair and make-up in the 1980s photographs with a certain amount of horrified recognition, and was more glad than ever that almost all pictures of me from that era were lost in a house move! I stuck firmly to my everyday look for these shots.

This and that

It's been busy week, with not much free time, so I don't have much to show for it sewing-wise. I have started a couple of projects, though.

First up, a new dress. I'm using another of my 1979-with-a-whiff-of-the-1940s Style patterns.

Style 2911 - I'm making view 1

Like so many patterns of that era, it has no waist seam.

The main pattern pieces, and the all-important pocket

The ruched sleeves have an interesting construction. Modern patterns, such as my well-used New Look 6093, achieve the effect with a strip of elastic sewn onto the sleeve - which pulls the sleeve hem up a little. This one is made from two separate, curved pieces, sewn together and then gathered up the seam.

Sleeve pieces

The fabric is a mystery item unearthed from my stash a few weeks ago. Try as I might to remember, I have no recollection of buying it. It's a strange combination of very fine, black, warp threads, and a thicker dark purple weft, with occasional weft threads of the same fine black.

Showing the fabric construction

I suspect that it will fray - a lot. The difference between right and wrong sides is hard to spot (and even harder to photograph), but great enough to make any mistakes obvious, so I will have to clearly mark the wrong sides with chalk.

The right side is more textured

Judging from the pre-wash, the finished dress will have to be laundered separately.

That's a lot of dye run!

The pattern calls for two ball buttons, but when I spotted these at the Festival of Vintage, I thought that they would be perfect with the fabric.

Purple and black - perfect

Meanwhile, my other project. The other week, I went over to Liverpool, to see all the build-up for Eurovision before the city got completely manic. I loved the Soloveiko Songbird Trail - 12 nightingales (the national bird of Ukraine) decorated with designs from 12 different regions of the country.

Songbirds and Liver Birds

Somehow, while I was out and about being cultural, I also managed to acquire yarn for a second Wondrella cardigan! It's another DK, and a mix of wool and lyocell, in a pale green. Judging from the swatch, the end result should be a more lightweight and summery cardigan. I had better get on with it for the summer, then.

All swatched up and ready to go