For It's a Jolly Good Red, Black, and Yellow

Ah....the 90's and still a happy time. Baywatch, Seinfeld, Home Improvement, The Nanny, Mariah Carey singing at her best, and The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

Two fears I want to overcome: (1) bounded buttonholes and (2) fully lined dress. I already have tackled fear #1 when I made my 60's Fabiani dress. Now it is about time tackle fear #2. The only time I sewed a lining for a dress was when I sewed Heather's retro 40's dress. I actually have not sewn a fully lined dress for myself.

This is officially my first fully lined dress!



Pattern Description
From 1997, "Misses' lined dresses: Fitted dress has darts and back zipper; view B is sleeveless with front yoke that forms opening." I won this pattern for a dollar at e*ay.


Size
12-14-16. I sewed a 14. I should have sized down to a 12! I could have done away with the zipper!


Fabric Used
Pucci-esque printed cotton with slight stretch from Fashion Fabrics Club.


Favorite Features
*Elliptical opening below yoke
*Curved silhouette
*Fully lined
*Darts at sides of bust
*60's retro style. I recall seeing a 60's vintage pattern with similar details.
*Few pattern pieces to work with: front yoke, front (below yoke), back.


Not-so-favorite features
*Not as fitted as appears on the envelope
*More ease than expected
*Construction of the shoulder seams. The front and back are joined at the shoulders well after attaching the lining and zipper. Joining the front yoke and the back at the shoulders was challenging due to the limited length of the edges to sew together with the lining attached. The edges of the lining are slipstitched.


Directions
The directions and illustrations were clear and straightforward. This is really an easy dress. The lining just adds a little more challenge. Once one section was sewn, the corresponding lining was sewn the same way.

The side bust darts are created by pinning each slash along the stitch lines given in the pattern piece.

There was staystitching at the necklines, armholes, and between the marked circles at the yoke and the upper edge of the front (below the yoke).

I opened out the yoke and bottom linings to sew them together and to sew their corresponding fabric pieces together.

The yoke and the bottom front were clipped at the dots (where the yoke and the bottom front align) up to the seam allowance. It was easy to sew them together from the sides to the dots, leaving the middle section unsewn so that the elliptical slit is formed. The tricky part was including the lining (sewn the same way as the yoke and front) while paying attention to sewing to the clipped seams at the dots and preventing the bunching at the corners.


Modifications
*I used an invisible zipper

*Instead of hand-sewing the lining to the edge of the zipper and for a nicer finish, I sewed the lining to the dress right sides together, being careful not to catch the zipper teeth.

*I did not sew the lining hem to the dress.


Conclusion
If I do sew this dress again, I would sew it in a solid color as pictured on the model for a more serious look. After an overall positive experience with this 90's dress, I'm looking forward to making more lined dresses!

Checkerboards and Stripes!

From 1968:

Groovy checkered dress from 1965's Ladies' Home Journal

This is officially the first time I wore this dress that I made a year ago. I did not feel comfortable wearing it last year because the dress was tight at the waist, emphasizing more than I intended. After losing a few pounds, I was able to get into the dress. However, this stretch knit is not as flattering and forgiving as those wonderful knits (i.e. ITY) that really can hide figure flaws. I don't think I will ever fit into a size 3/4 as I did twenty years ago. Please excuse me for being the average sized woman and not being like the very cute Jessica Alba who miraculously got back her pre-pregnancy figure.

post preggy Jessica Alba in gown

Jessica Alba in bikini after baby

I found my pattern picture in somebody's blog post paying tribute to the hits of 1968, after scrolling down. The Bee Gees were adorable back in the day!

Pattern Description
"Misses' dress in two lengths, with two neckline interests: The A-line dress has extended neckline and back zipper. V. 1 and 3 have scalloped neckline. Regular-length V. 1 has short set-in sleeves. V. 2 & 3 are sleeveless. Regular-length V. 2 has button trim. Above knee-length V. 3 has scalloped hemline." I sewed V. 2

Suggested fabric types:
Cottons and blends; pique, linen, silks, synthetics and blends; matelasse, cotton sateen, crepe, gabardine. View 1 and 2 also in lightweight wools and blends, wool crepe, wool gabardine, knits.


Size
Misses' 14



Fabric
Left-over fabric from a previous sewing projects: checkered printed spandex-type knit for my first version for only a buckeroo a yard at le Wal Marche! My daughter said the fabric reminded her of Pixar's "Cars" animated movie. I would achieve a different fit with a drapier knit.

Features
* One size, 14
* Slight aline style
* Few pattern pieces to work with: front, back, front and back neck facings, and armhole, optional sleeves)
* Bust darts
* Front center seam
* Back zipper
* Long vertical darts at the back.
* Facings for the neckline (front, back) and armholes
* Hand sewed the hem.
* Retro chic, but so "in" right now!




Directions
They were printed entirely on one page in an easy to read format, organized by units, which seemed to be typical in the 60's/70's patterns that I have encountered. The illustrations were very easy to decipher and I also liked that there were arrows connecting particular steps the corresponding parts of the illustrations.

Units 1-3 are common to all views.
Unit 1
*Staystitch shoulders and neck edges, make darts,
*Stitch center front seam

Unit 2
*Make back shoulder darts and vertical waistline darts
*Stitch center back seam and stop at a large notch
*Insert zipper (assuming you know how to sew one)

Unit 3
*Stitch back and front neck facings together at shoulder and center front seams. Finish edges.
*Stitch facing to neck line of dress, matching centers and small dots. Trim and clip curves for a smoother finish before turning the facing to the inside.
*Stitch front to back ast side seams.

Unit 4 (sleeveless version)
*Finish armhole facing edges
*Stitch ends of facing (underarm seam)
*Stitch each facing, right sides together to the armhole edges using a 5/8" seam.
*Understitch facing close to seam line
*Press facing to inside and slip-stitch

Unit 5 belongs to the dress with the scalloped bottom. It shows how to construct the facing to be attached at the lower edge.

By just a quick overview of the directions, this dress is really easy to construct!


Modifications
*I fused interfacing to the neck facing pieces instead of basting interfacing to the neck edges as illustrated (typical method used in vintage patterns).
*I omitted the zipper due to using a stretch fabric.


Would you recommend this pattern?
Yes, I definitely recommend this pattern if you can get ahold of it. The dress has a style that would look great on anyone. This pattern seems to be one of those hidden treasures that retro/vintage sewing freaks like me want to get. I have placed bids on this pattern on e*ay and lost. I found this pattern on etsy.


Conclusion
This is one of the easiest dresses that I have sewn! I'm planning to make the dress with the scalloped neck and in a non-knit material.