Sewing Through The Decades

I have decided to join yet another sew along type thing. Now that I have finally discovered just how awesome they are, I just can't stop myself from joining in!

The premise as stated on Rhinestones and Telephones:

"The basic thought is to challenge yourself to explore different time periods (which can be three years in one decade—1943, 1944, 1945) or several patterns across several decades (50’s, 60’s, 70’s). You can sew blouses, skirts, dresses, trousers…whatever you want! It will be fun to share our experiences in sewing from different time periods. The patterns can span both vintage and modern years."

I want to work on some patterns from the 40's and 50's. I am going to use the vintage/retro reproduction patterns because they are already in my stash and that will help me with my Stash Busting Project and my 13 by 13 goal to use up lots of my stash. Here are my selections:

1. Vintage Vogue 8811
2. Vintage Vogue 8812
3. Retro Butterick 5209
4. Retro Butterick 5748

I haven't even looked at fabrics yet. I'll blog about that another day.

The Thanksgiving Dress: Butterick 4790 Finally Posted

I made this dress for Thanksgiving 2011 and never got pics of it until now. I even had this post written and waiting.

I LOVE this dress. I saw this post on the Edelweiss Patterns Blog and absolutely had to make Butterick 4790. It is a gorgeous wrap dress pattern originally published in 1952. Perfectly retro. Luckily the pattern is one of their "very easy" patterns which means I actually had time to complete it in a couple days. Two bonuses: I already had  the pattern in my collection. I also already had this great, drapey, 100% cotton homespun fabric that I found on clearance for $1.50/yard at Joann's in my stash. Let the crafting begin!

I used Ms. Casey's advice on how to choose the correct pattern size by using your above bust measurements instead of your regular bust measurements. I measured 35" so I used the size 12 pattern. I did not alter the seam allowances for the rest of the pattern as suggested. There wasn't enough difference between my measurements and the rest of the pattern measurements to make it worthwhile. I used hook and eye closures at the waist because it was only about 1/2" to small. Instead of the bias tape overlapping, the 2 pieces are next to each other. She also suggests that the bias tape not be visible. I love the contrast so I decided to leave it on the right side. The instructions do not have you apply bias tape to the bottom edges of the dress. I hate hemming curves (probably because I stink at it) so I decided to use bias tape there also. It took almost exactly 2 whole packs to edge the bottom of the circle skirt part. I do not think there will be enough tape to finish the bottom of a larger size because there was only a couple inches left over. This does not include the binding at the bottom of the front panel. I sewed the bodice back to the skirt back with right sides together and then trimmed the edges to about 3/8". I used bias tape to encase the raw edges on the right side of the dress. I like how this helps define the waistline. I used almost 6 packs of 1/2" double fold bias tape to finish everything. I hate having raw edges open on projects and bias tape is my default method. I did not alter the bodice piece because it already came up high enough under the bust.