~ Stitching Stories: Talkin’ About My Girl 50’s Dress ~

 

This dress. It’s my last me-made item of 2013, and {incredibly enough} I actually managed to make it up in four days ~ from cutting, to the buttonholes and belt. The hem took only an hour or two to hand-sew on another day, but I was still so surprised that I got that far in such a short amount of time.

Mind you, I was working on it close to constantly. I wanted to finish it in time to wear for our family Christmas, but had to wear it un-hemmed on the day {please tell me I am not the only one that does this?? (o⌒．⌒o)’ }. Nobody cared though, so I didn’t either. ╮(๑￫▽￩)╭  It was definitely one of those last minute “I-want-a-new-dress-to-wear” projects!

 

The pattern is an early 1950’s pattern according to the Vintage Pattern Wiki:  Simplicity Pattern 4282 Vintage One-Piece Dress and Bolero Jacket dated 1953. This includes; The bodice of this sleeveless dress is fitted and has a low cut neckline and front button closing. The skirt is gored. The bolero has kimono sleeves with cuffs and the collar is cut in one with jacket front. View 1 features rounded patch pockets on skirt and saddle stitching trim. View 2 has contrasting bolero.

 

I made up the pattern for a belt, and when that turn out to be too small {not quite sure how, but it was one of those fortuitous occurrences} I added the bow to make up for the length. This worked out really well, and as you saw in the outfit pictures above, I quite like it when the bow is turned to the back as it adds a lovely detail.

My invisible zipper turned out, well, not so invisible, but as it’s under the arm I put up with it! (~￣▽￣)~ The corded {raised} buttonholes are machine done, and as I love how they turned out, I will definitely be using that technique again.

 

I used top-stitching detail on the bodice and pockets as the pattern suggested. I didn’t do a saddle stitch, I just set my machine to it’s longest stitch length and used a thick cotton thread to create that top-stitch. It worked ok, but it looks weird at the back. I hope it doesn’t fall out as the tension is all wrong and loopy!

~ Project Details ~

• Year: 1953
  
• Pattern: Simplicity 4282
  
• Fabric: 3 meters approx. of thrifted sheet. I think it was a single sheet, but it could have been a double ($9.00)
  
• Notions: One 16” invisible zipper and four shank buttons ($8.00)
  
• Time to complete: Four days! New Record!
  
• Make again? I don’t know that I’ll make this pattern again ~ not because it’s bad; it’s just that I have so many other pretty dress patterns to do still. It was actually quite an easy pattern to sew up, even though I was having troubles. That was due to things like blunt sewing needles and sewing parts of my dress into the waist seam {!!! Frustration!}.
  
• Wear again? Absolutely! I really love this dress ~ it’s lovely and light for summer. Add the cute curve detail at the neckline and the wide-cut shape of the shoulder straps with such a sweet pink floral lattice print and dainty carved buttons; these elements really come together to make this dress a complete winner in my books.
  
• Total Cost:  $17.00

xox,

bonita

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Talkin’ About My Girl 1953 Dress | Me-Made, 2013
Shoes | Modcloth, old

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