Wednesday 10 April 2013

Green wool dress, 40s style



It's ready! Yay! =) This dress took a while to make, partly due to the time of year when I started the project (from now on I should stick to TNT jerseys during February), and partly due to the shifty nature of the fabric. It's 100% wool, with a beautiful drape and a loose weave that makes it easy to press and easy to hide stitches in, but in my mind I named this make "The maybe I'll just baste it first-dress" =) All details have been basted, and though it may seem timeconsuming, the alternative (pin, sew, unpick, pin, baste, sew) would have taken longer...
The dress is made using a pattern I drafted from my blockpattern. This is my third make of this pattern, and each time I alter something. Close up of the altered details:


Shortened neckline to prevent gaping.


Upper front body is underlined in a fitted, thin muslin, hopefully controlling the ease from the pleats to lay still =)


Gathers altered to pleats, at bodice to yoke (front and back), bodice to midriff piece and end of sleeves to cuffs.


Shirtsleeve-placket instead of a bias-bound one. (As usual all the buttonholes are handworked).


Handpicked, lapped side zipper.

Inside of hem

Hem from the right side
Hem reinforced with fusible interfacing, hemline basted, steamed and pressed as shown here. Handstitched.

Regarding what era to pin it to, I'm just not sure... At first I thought of the late 40s, with the pleats and the half-circle skirt, but the sleeves are a bit wrong for that, aren't they? The 70s spring to mind, and it sure does have a lot in common with that decade. The only details landing it in an earlier decade is the length of the skirt and the sidezipper. Maybe late 30s/early 40s? Just at the start of WWII there was a period when skirts were getting wider and more circular again (soon made slimmer due to fabric rationing), and the puffy sleeves of the 30s were still seen. Maybe it would would fit that time period better? Anyway, it's somewhere in the general 40s style =)

Hmm, maybe I can have fun with that... A hairdo, seamed stockings, fancy shoes, and it's obviously a dressy 40s look. Ponytail, cotton/wool thights, winter boots, and it's a more casual 70s look.


So happy to finally have completed and photographed this dress! Sorry about the photo's though, some a bit murky and I'm not sure what's going on with the colour. The colour in the view of the back and in the hemline-pics is the most accurate =)

Love, Erika

11 comments:

Anthea said...

Love it! The dress has so many little details, well done! Love the fabric and its color!

Tasha said...

It's beautiful! I love the sleeve plackets in particular. It's such a classic dress, and I definitely think with such a nice solid color you can dress it several ways. Just lovely!

Foster said...

Darling. Have you ever thought of selling your patterns?

Erika said...

Anthea; thank you! The fabric was really worth the extra attention. Can't beat good quality wool =)

Tasha; Thank you so much! The plackets were nerv-racking... I did a test run in muslin though, that helped a lot =) I love solids, so easy to use as a background both for statement pieces and for showing design lines! I'm planning on pairing it up with the red blouse I made in January, and maybe make a matching red belt to go with it.

Foster; Thank you! Both for the compliment on my make and for seeing me as a pattern designer! The thought has crossed my mind, and I've been very tempted by the idea. I think it's the technical/practical stuff that intimidates me - like drafting programs on the computer, printing or PDF, starting a buisness(!). Maybe in the future, though. It would be so much fun to share my patterns with others!

Kitten von Kat said...

SÅ fin! Bra jobbat, vilken "attention to detail" som dom brukar säga. Hoppas du får massor av användning för den!

Isis said...

Beautiful work!

Erika said...

Kitten; tack så mycket! Jag tänkte först att det var ett snabbt projekt, men detaöjerna tog tid... Kändes dock definitivt värt att lägga lite omsorg på dem :)

Isis; thank you so much!

OnePerfectDay said...

Wonderful dress!
Suits you to a T!!

Cecili said...

What a beautiful dress, I love everything about it! That green colour is gorgeous and you put some really nice details to your garment :)

Erika said...

One Perfect Day; Thank you so much! It did take quite a while to get the fit right, I'm so glad the time seems to be well spent =)

Cecili; Sometimes when I sew I wonder "Will this detail even be noticeble?", and with this dress there wasa lot of those moments... Thank you so much for reaffirming my faith in that the details do matter!

Ivy said...

That dress is so pretty! It looks awesome on you and the color is great with your hair. I would totally make this! Thanks for following, by the way!

Ivy