In an attempt to get back up to date with high street fashions, I’ve been browsing the shops. I am both delighted and disgusted: 70s is back ‘in’ particularly denim pinafore dresses and high price, poor quality, strange fit are all still ‘in’ too. I don’t shop much these days. Let’s focus on the 1970s though. I would have loved to have lived through that decade of fashion and I have quite a penchant for sewing patterns of that era. Style 1568 was a late night ebay purchase being sold for charity. I was happy to help!
I mentioned in a previous post that I’d been hoarding this fabric because it felt precious. This chambray wasn’t expensive, or difficult to find, I just really wanted to love what I made from it so hesitated every time I almost removed it from the stash pile. I’m glad I waited because I really love this fabric-pattern combo. I’m trying to work out the morale here… is it that it’s good to stash and wait for the right pattern to come along or is it that I should just make something because I’ll probably love it anyway?
If you’re thinking ‘she wore it all day, look how creased it is’ you’re wrong. I pressed it, put it on, bent down to do up my shoes then stepped outside for blog photographs. I’ll get over how easily it creases soon enough.
I played around with top stitching but not too much.Just a touch of rusty coloured thread on the straps and a single line across the pockets. Simplicity is key for this dress.
The trickiest part was positioning the button holes to get a good fit. The thing with button holes is that the hole is a slit, the button is anchored at a point… that point can slide from one side of the slit to the other. The buttons on the straps go through two button holes (the wrap part of the dress). Without careful consideration, the fit across the bust could end up too big by a button hole width and the button hole on the underlap would peak out. Alternatively, shifting the overlap button hole across too much might produce a flappy overlap. Yes, I really did over think this part and it turned out ok.
The crossed straps were somewhat of a last minute decision and not suggested in the pattern instructions. The dress feels more secure this way but I could easily change it by re-positioning the buttons. Which brings me to…
The buttons. A bit of a let down ebay purchase. The seller’s photograph was quite different, darker thicker grain lines in the wood and a smooth shiny finish. I guess with ebay you win some and you.. er… win some rubbish?!?