I’ve had this Vogue pattern for a goodly while and decided to make it to take on holidays with me. As usual the sizing was all wrong for me, so took it to my pattern making class for the alterations.
As the title of this post claims – this is a 1947 Vogue pattern (Vogue 5759) and although I love it, those tiny waists are part of the appeal, and I don’t have a tiny waist! The kimono sleeves are supposed to have shoulder pads, which I didn’t bother with, but they may have made my waist appear smaller (on the other hand, I may have just looked like the Hulk).
Several changes were made to this pattern. We moved the zip from the side to the back, did a sway back adjustment, took a bit of length out of the bodice, removed the neck facings, and took a rather strange set of gathers from under the tunic (the gathered fabric in the front). I did originally toile the pattern with the gathers but I looked like a lopsided milk maid with a pannier on only one side! The neckline was also dropped a fair bit, as it was choking me.
I chose a lovely drapey, swishy, spotted rayon from my stash. I bought this in Spotlight aeons ago, and it must have been cheap because I have quite a bit of it.
Every edge, except the neck edge, has been finished with a hand-rolled hem. I haven’t done this forever; in fact I may never have done it before. I used the excellent Megan Nielsen tutorial, choosing the third, hand sewn, option, and it is rather magical and addictive. Here is a rather feeble attempt at showing off my hand rolling.
The above photo highlights my belt buckle. This was given to me by my mother and is from the 1930s. It is not metal, but some sort of bakelite. It is gorgeous.
The neck edge is finished with bias binding. I did start out with self binding but I felt that the spots showed through, so I unpicked it and put in plain bias from my stash.
This dress is much longer than I would normally wear and I was rather concerned that I might look frumpy, but I think it needs the extra length to add the required elegance for a cocktail dress. I don’t consider this version a cocktail dress. I would wear it for lunch and dinner a deux, but I will make a more dressy version eventually. This dress ticks off another make towards my vintage pledge. I am a bit behind on this challenge, but I have a few plans!
These photos were taken in the club lounge of the Marriott Hotel, Mumbai, India, looking out onto the Arabian Sea. I’m a bit behind on the posts as I am now well ensconced in Sri Lanka!