Mari Gold Round

From 1966:


From 2007


Now 1966 in 2007, (my second ring collared dress!)



I am sending my big and humble thanks to the darling and talented Annette1 for very kindly encouraging and inspiring me personally to make another dress similar to my Simplicity version.

Em Summer also reviewed this blast from the past. Em Summer's groovy and clever version

A 2007 version of this dress by Elle Tahari Sorry Ellie, plan to spend my hard-earned money elsewhere!

Pattern Description.
From 1966 (guess who was born Sept of that year?), a dress with halter neckline has front gathered to faced and interfaced neckband, zipper and vent in center back seam. Dress, with panel saming in front and vertical back darts, may be underlined. Neckband is buttoned in back above zipper.

Size
Size 16, bust 36"


Fabric
A slightly stretch printed cotton with a sateen-type of finish. I purchased this fabric for 50% off at Joann's ($2.49/yd and no coupon needed!). I used about 1 3/4 yard (left over from a 60's Butterick jacket)

Approximate cost of with pattern: $9.31 and one evening of my time (that's with normal routines embedded).


Directions
Sufficient for an advanced beginner. A beginner might find some steps vague. Some steps were not mentioned in the written instructions but shown in the illustrations (i.e. making the back darts, gathering the neckline, inserting the zipper) I read all of the directions just in case and the illustrations were easy to follow. I paid closer attention to the collar construction and attachment to the neckline. I interfaced (fusible) the front and back collar pieces and sewed their seams together. I sewed the collar facing pieces in the same way sans the interfacing. Then I sewed the collar facing over the interfaced collar, right sides together, paying attention to where the stitches started and stopped (from one dot to another). Then I turned collar so that the right side of the fabric showed with openings left for the seam allowances of the back neckline and front neckline.


Likes
* The collar and cutaway arms style
* The front princess seams
* Was not form-fitting as I had expected. I was pleasantly surprised even with the 5/8" seams and the back darts that I had no problem zipping the back and worrying about what I call the "tummy tuck"!
* Easy to cut and sew. The pieces fit together so nicely! There was no mention of stay-stitching the edges prior to sewing the princess seams! I took my time in constructing the collar to minimize the chances of reaching for the seam ripper.
* Consisted of only 7 pattern pieces: front, back, front sides, armhole front and back, collar front and collar back.


Dislikes
Nothing to dislike, really, except that is somewhat loose fitting than what's pictured on the pattern envelope! It seemed that the pattern designer and pattern drafter at the time were not on the same wavelength.


Modifications
*I shortened the dress 1" at the "shorten here" line that was below the bust and above the waist area.
*I removed 4" from the bottom hem and machine stitched a 3/8" hem. Then I hand sewed a 3/4" hem.
*I moved up the initial point of the back vent.


Conclusion
I would definitely recommend this pattern if you could get ahold of it or something similar to it (one sold fairly high on ebay). Etsy is also another great source for vintage patterns! There are current versions of ring collared dresses that seem to have similar constructional methods. The popular Vogue 8229

Wild and Wooly!

PR Message Board, Vintage Sewing Contest

It was so fun to see and compare the pattern pictures with the real-life versions! What was old now is so "in"!!!!!!! My mom regrets throwing out her 60's and 70's shirts and jackets!

Check this out! I was having fun looking at some fun stuff from a July 1967 issue of Seventeen (when magazines had substance). Wow, 60's fashion that looks so wearable today! It's amazing to see popular fashion models at the time such as my favorite, dark haired and doe-eyed all-American-girl-next-door Colleen Corby, wearing clothing from McCall's instead of Rampage or XOXO? It would be fun to look for the jumper, gauchos, turtleneck, skirt, and hat patterns.






Imagine a "Make-It-Yourself With Wool" sewing contest open to high school/college girls (14-21) for an opportunity to win a 15-day holiday to Madrid, Rome, Athens, and the golden Greek islands! "You'll fly there on Olympic Airways' new Boeing 707 super fan jet as you dine on gourmet meals from New York's "21" club." Now this was 1967.....There were also prizes such as college scholarships, savings bonds, and sewing machines! Wow, that sounds exciting and expecially for a girl who enjoys sewing! I chuckled when I read that this contest that "was the only competition of its kind sanctioned by 'secondary school principals' "! It's disappointing that I rarely find contests/competitions that encourage the productivity and creativity of young minds. Unfortunately, many schools including where I teach do not have practical elective classes such as Industrial Arts and Home Economics (even my husband took a textile/sewing class as parts of his high school graduation requirements in the early 80's in Sweden)!

Times are a changin'!

Here's the ad for the sewing contest for girls, 40 years ago. Too bad I was not able to join. I was learning to walk at the time!:


I forgot to add that I definitely would like her far-out outfit! Hmmm. I don't see a pattern number!

Crazy Eights

From 1965:





Pattern Description
From 1965: "Misses' Dress in Three Versions. Long waisted dress, with double-breasted bodice and five section skirt, may be sleeveless or have above-elbow length set-in sleeves. Notched shawl collar, cut in one with bodice fronts, is faced and interfaced. Skirt has pleat at left front in wrap-around effect. Dress with sleeves may have contrast skirt. I made the sleeveless version.

Size
Size 16, Bust 36"

Fabric
Cotton printed with rows and columns of ittle splattered stars. I spent $6 for 3 yds of fabric at W - M.

Directions
* The instructions and diagrams were overall good for advanced beginners and beyond. Only two or three diagrams needed more specific verbal directions so that a step would not be missed or misinterpreted.
* I was able to construct some parts with little or no instruction.
* Pieces have extensive markings: 5/8" seamlines, bodice darts (bust, two long ones in the front, under collar area, two long ones in the upper back), slash marks and reinforced stitching for the lapels
* The constuction of the front bodice along with the collar is similar to current shawl collar construction of tops or jackets.
- The left and right front pieces are sewn together, creating a center seam
- Below the center seam, the neck corners are reinforced before getting clipped or shashed. The edges formed are then sewn at the back shoulders of the back bodice piece.
* The slash marking at the front edge of the bodice are for creating the notches of the lapel.

Likes
* The overall style: the double breasted bodice, low waist, notched collar
* The bodice is also secured by eyes/hooks and snaps in addition to the buttons.
* The flattering elongated back darts


Dislikes
* The actual construction was more time consuming than I had anticipated. Those design sketches of what seemed like basic coat dresses on the pattern envelope were misleading!
* * The actual construction was more time consuming than I had anticipated. Those design sketches of what seemed like basic coat dresses on the pattern envelope were misleading!

* I was careless in following the instructions to attach the
back facing to the front facing (nearly skipped it!). Because I was doing my own thing, I attached the front facing to the neckline of the bodice and the rest of the facing to the right side of the dress. However, I was supposed to sew the back facing below the center seam and neckline of the front facing and its left and right edges to the seam shoulders of the front facing (before turning the entire front facing to the inside of the dress, and hence the right side of the back facing would land just below the neckline). Instead of ripping out stitches, I attached the back facing to the front facing after it was turned to the inside of the dress. I handstitched the bottom edge of the collar facing over the back facing.



Modifications
* Eliminated the front darts
* Used eight instead of six buttons (Aligning and adjusting the buttons to fit is easier said than done!)
* Although the instructions for bound buttonholes are useful, I used my machine's buttonhole feature.
* Larger lapels (I used a seam allowance smaller than 5/8")
* Eliminated the interfacing (fabric was firm enough)
* Maybe because I decreased the width of the back darts by 1/8", I discovered that the back panel of the skirt did not line up with the bottom edge of the back bodice because there was extra fabric. I cut the back panel of the skirt through the middle and added a center back seam at the back panel of the skirt. Actually the center back seam looked nice on the skirt!
* Shortened the length of the skirt by 4".


Conclusion
This dress would also look great in light woolens or a soft corduroy.

If I do make this again, I would skip making the skirt and convert the dress to a top.

I would not say that this 60's pattern is easy, but of moderate difficulty that requires a lot of time and attention to detail!




Cast your vote for the vintage sewing contest at pattern review.com