I was invited to my second cousin's wedding and reception held on October 3. So I found a reason to sew a new dress from my almost TNT pattern.
Modifications
* Made a 1" petite adjustment.
* Sewed a large button on the neckband above the keyhole.
Conclusion
My mom came along with us. When we arrived at her home to pick her up and drive to the wedding, she was stunned at first glimpse of my appearance in my unusually high heels and and my red dress. "Wow, you look sharp! Where did you get your new dress?" From my earliest recollection, she could have been one of the most qualified to be Mr. Blackwell's assistant or protege. Yes, my dress passed the "mom test" from her positive reaction. She was impressed that I sewed it and could not believe that it came from a pattern that orginally came out when my sister was born.
ORIGINAL REVIEW
My first keyhole dress created from a 1973 design!
Pattern Description:
"Miss Petites' and Misses' Dress...Designer Fashion: The dress stitched to shaped yoke forming keyhole opening has back zipper and neck band. Top-stitched V. (view 1 is sleeveless. V. (view) has short set-in sleeves.
I found this pattern from a vintage pattern website (momspatterns.com) She has a huge selection and her website may be addictive. I had to grab this one the minute I saw it on her website because patterns with similar styling are really hard to come by!
*********************************************
ORIGINAL REVIEW
Pattern Description:
From 1973. "Miss Petites' and Misses' Dress...Designer Fashion: The dress stitched to shaped yoke forming keyhole opening has back zipper and neck band. Top-stitched V. (view 1 is sleeveless. V. (view) has short set-in sleeves. Remember the coiffed ladies form the Lawrence Welk show? I could imagine them wearing this!
I found this pattern from a vintage pattern website (momspatterns.com) She has a huge selection and her website may be addictive. I had to grab this one the minute I saw it on her website because patterns with similar styling are really hard to come by!
Pattern Sizing:
Size 12, Bust 34"
Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes, except mine is louder!
Were the instructions easy to follow?
The directions were clear, organized, and the illustrations were helpful. I remember trying to do a banded collar to a similar retro dress also by Simplicity and did an inverted version! I found that the illustration for creating the neck band enabled me to do it correctly this time.
What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
I like the keyhole style, especially that it is shaped like a teardrop to reveal a favorite pendant! I also like the aline cut!
The dress was easy to put together, however, I took a little more time to attach the front facing and neckband to avoid time to undo potential mistakes. In general, the pieces fit together nicely. The only thing that needed some fidgeting was the interfaced neck band piece which I sewed to the neck edge from the inside of the dress with the correct sides of the fabric together. I did not have much problem attaching the neck band facing to the band.
Closer view with collar
Wow! I did not know that I have some cleavage due to the shadow caused by special lighting!
Fabric Used:
Cotton with bold print and sequins from Joann's for $3.49 a yard. I was able to get it at 50% off from the original price per yard because the bolt was placed in the wrong section!
Heather, wearing a dress of the same fabric, made a few days earlier from a 1975 Simplicity pattern for girls.
Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made:
Shorten the dress by 5". Otherwise, it would have been well below my knee! I added 3/8" to each side of the dress. I also eliminated the back darts, just in case.
Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
Yes and yes, I highly recommend this pattern or something similar to it (past and or present) if you are looking for sewing a "no-nonsense" dress with distinctive characteristics, that is both retro and current.
Conclusion
Finally, my first official keyhole dress ever to wear and to make! I have not had much luck in finding dresses with a style that appeals to me and works with my figure, but this one is a winner.
