Following the making of my first retro dress using a pattern from Butterick, I realized that sewing enabled me to make pretty much any dress from the 50s or the 60s. o(^∀^*)o
I had read about vintage patterns and how they were said to be more difficult to understand than modern patterns. That is why I had decided to start with a retro pattern for my first sewing project. But I was so eager to make a "real" vintage dress—and wasn't interested in other retro patterns—that I focused my research exclusively on vintage patterns for this project. I chose the pattern Simplicity 3852 in size 11. I loved the overall dress design (the one in green) and the price & shipping fees weren't very expensive.
Fabric, interfacing, pattern and notions purchased
It took me three visits to the fabric store (two to the same one) to find the fabric for my dress. In the end, I hesitated between this print and another similar to the one I had chosen for my first dress, except that instead of being purple, the little flowers were yellow. Although the buttons I had chosen looked better on the little flowers print, I wanted something different as well as the flowers to show from afar, so I ultimately went with the print that had the biggest flowers. I regret it a little now, well, that's too bad.
My mom and I didn't have much difficulty making the first dress, so I expected this one to be a bit harder. Turns out I had seriously underestimated the complexity of this pattern. I hadn't studied it in advance and didn't notice the side pieces on the bodice. Acknowledging their existence could have at least spawn a reflection on how to sew them and the potential snag they'd represent instead of starting completely unprepared.
The step with the two side front pieces that caused us the most trouble.
I could never understand that darn drawing.
I could never understand that darn drawing.
When making my previous dress, my mom and I didn't rely on the instructions as my mom knew how to make the dress without them. However, because she didn't understand how to sew the side pieces either, decoding the instructions was our only way to go. Thus I learned some sewing lingo and tried to make sense of it in my pattern instructions and illustrations. I knew how valuable this was if I wanted to make other clothes, but my lazy bum just wanted to make the dress without having to search a bunch of words and terms online. I felt like I was constantly interrupted in my work and was only reading and searching, but never building the dress.
After three days of trying to figure out the step and two visits to the fabric store,
my mom and I finally ~sort of~ understood how to sew the side front pieces.
I think that's the same picture as above but with a focus on the armhole.
(I put the picture for future reference in case I ever make this dress again. Yeah I'm nuts.)
Onto the back now. Finally, something easier.
The side back pieces were thankfully easy to sew since they work the same as for the front.
Placing the collar on the bodice
We weren't sure how to sew the collar on the bodice, but it still turned out okay.
Bodice almost finished ╮(￣▽￣;)╭
My mom sewed the sides of the bodice and the underarms.
I can't remember if she sewed the bottom of the sleeves also or before/after.
That step was so confusing to me.
Bodice done
Making the pleats on the skirt
Skirt pinned to the bodice
We realized two issues when pinning the skirt to the bodice (and me trying on the dress):
- The skirt was too large for me. I picked a pattern with a 24 ½" waist and my waist is like 25", so I don't know why the waist was loose on me. Maybe there's something I haven't yet understand about pattern measurements though.
- The bodice didn't fit like the image on the pattern. On our bodice, the two front edges overlapped left a space like ロ at the stand-up collar, while it had to be this kind of V-shape:
I can't remember if we folded both of the front edges more (or if we folded just the one that overlaps the other one), but we folded at least one and cut some of its front edge fabric (because we didn't want too much fabric folded on the inside). In other words, we made the bodice tighter by altering the front edge(s).
I guess that the best would've been to try on the bodice before sewing the front edges for the first time.
Fortunately, the bodice still fit well (and even better) after this unpredicted alteration.
You can now see that the front edges buttoned will give the V-shape to the collar.
We consequently altered the front edge(s) of the skirt and removed the two pleats on the front, the ones on each side of the buttonhole. Yes, it's a big removal, but the skirt was really too large and it would've been weird to ease that much (especially after making the bodice even smaller). I have no idea if this was a wise decision, but it worked.
Bodice and skirt sewed (T▿T)
From the outside
Each buttonhole was sewed two times because I thought it looked too fragile otherwise.
Not sure if this was okay, but they definitely looked more sturdy after.
Marking where the buttonholes will be on the skirt
(forgot to take a pic when I did the same for the bodice).
My mom sewing the ribbon on the collar
Buttonholes, buttons, ribbons ✓
Then I realized I had made an irreversible mistake, as if I didn't have enough issues with this dress already ヽ(ಥ∀ಥ)ﾉ
My collar is making the unwanted square shape when it's supposed to make a V-shape.
(I had altered the front edges precisely to correct that problem earlier.)
This happened because I didn't place the buttonholes further enough from the front edge. I made the error of thinking that the button would lay in the center of the buttonhole—when it rather goes towards the front edge because of the bodice stretching.
To fix this problem, my mom sewed three snaps inside the bodice, next to each button. The snaps adjust the front edges of the bodice correctly to make the V-shape collar. It works well and it's not noticeable from the outside, so I'm really satisfied. I was so disappointed when saw my mistake, especially since I didn't imagine re-doing the buttonholes once I cut them open.
Since the buttonhole mistake isn't visible on my skirt as it is on the bodice, snaps weren't needed.
At last, here's the dress completed:
I found that the kimono sleeves were too big on me, so my mom pinched the sides and sewed them.
With the belt
In the beginning, I wanted a real belt with the prong and the eyelets. However, I wasn't able to find an (affordable) belt kit online and my fabric store doesn't sell them anymore, so we used the belt that came with a dress I had bought at Values Village a while ago. My mom covered the strap with the fabric and sewed it and glued the fabric onto the buckle.
Close-up of the belt. Love that it's the same print as the dress 💛
In the picture above, you can see that the seam on the skirt's left side edge doesn't match with the one on the bodice. I'm too lazy to be willing to fix it right now... so maybe one day. It's not really noticeable with the naked eye, fortunately.
I'm wearing a Liz Lisa sukapan underneath to add some poof to the skirt.
(A petticoat would fit better since the sukapan doesn't go all the way down to the knees.)
I wanted to take pictures of the dress outside, but the sun was so bright that we can barely see the details on the dress...
Not the best pose, but I wanted to show the dress in motion.
Love the skirt shape when the wind blows!
Just not from the front
...
Update May 2nd 2020: We added a loop on the belt which was lacking:
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