I wore it to death when it was new, and then it sat in the closet for a few years, and now I'm back with it, but the wear it's getting these days is more around the house, across the street to the coffee shop in the morning, whenever I don't feel like putting on "real" clothes.
I realized last week that what it's turned into is more or less a house dress. Which made me flinch, because my aunts and my grandmom lived in house dresses and I think of them as shlumpy cotton dresses with cutesy buttons and too much rickrack, but serving basically the same purpose as my dress.
I took the original dress, ironed it and put it on my work table. Then I used way too much tracing paper to trace the shapes of the pattern pieces. The bodice was actually pretty easy - other than the interesting seam shape, the upper bodice is plain. The skirt front is in 3 panels, and the pockets are basted to the side panels and then the pieces are attached. The original pockets were as long as the skirt and had much more gathering, but I was working with the limitations of my fabric and I'm pretty pleased with them.
The bodice back was cut on the fold. There's a dart at the waist. The skirt is 2 pieces, with 3 darts on each side to gather in some of the fullness. (Also because I cut the piece way wider than it should have been, but whatever).
All in all, I think it's a pretty good copy of the original. Most of the changes are changes I made deliberately - I wanted it shorter, I did actually want a little less fullness in the skirt, though I would have perferred the pockets to be more like the original
Hope everyone had a fun and fabric-filled holiday weekend. Back to the real world tomorrow!
7 comments:
Run him through the coverstitch! I love it! Ha!
This is just right for around the house a quick trip around the corner. I should make one since my housedress leaves nothing too the imagination for holes and tears. It's a mess. People have been begging me to trash it.
Great reproduction. Love the fabric.
Oh yes, I remember my grandmother and mother wearing house dresses. Nothing wrong with that! It's a new trend, this wearing of dresses. Enjoy it, and if I were your hubby, I'd stay out of your sewing room!
My grandmother only wore house dresses at home! But this doesn't look remotely like one of hers! ;) I'd love to see the original.
My mom and extended circle of aunts still wear house dresses. Yours is much cuter.
My team and I really enjoyed your post about the April Cornell design you sewed in a new fabric. Did you know I have a colorful and wide variety of fabrics with Moda? If you'd like to share your project with our Facebook fans, I am sure they'd enjoy it too!
April Cornell
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