Butterick 5919

I was watching the episode ‘Sleeping Murder’ in the latest TV series interpreting Agatha Christie’s classic stories about Miss Marple, when I knew I just had to make a dress similar to this one:

So I found this pattern on eBay for a mere 99 cents:

And made this:

For more pictures and details about scalloped pockets, please visit my blog 🙂

Butterick 6020

Here’s the pattern:

And the result:

Feel free to visit my blog for more photos and a description of the process 🙂

Simplicity 4015 (1952)

The original. I have this weird affection for wrap dresses. I’ve been chasing this one for a while and finally snagged it off of eBay. Dated 1952. Project photo set here.

It has the biggest pockets I’ve ever encountered. Not complaining, I just find it amusing.

Can you believe I actually found shoes that match the fabric??

This is shown without shoulder pads or crinoline. I have fairly square shoulders so it fit me just fine without pads (and, frankly, the idea of putting pads in kimono sleeves strikes me as kind of weird). Everything else is made just as the pattern dictated.

This was a nice, easy, pattern. My only minor quibble is that the bodice, since it’s simplified, is not very fitted and looks a bit sloppy. Not a lot sloppy, though, and I’ll freely admit that it looks much better on a body than it does on a hanger. I was pretty sure it was going to be a shapeless horror when I saw it in pieces, but I was mostly wrong. The back even stays closed better than I expected.

Mom calls this the “Waffle House waitress” dress since I made it with brown trim in a print that includes orange dots amid the blue ones. Ha ha.

The Maternity Muu Muu….NOT

I found this dress pattern in the maternity section at Lanetz Living. That’s probably why it was there long enough for me to debate for weeks to buy it. I’m not sure many modern women want to knowingly make a muu-muu to wear when they’re pregnant. However, since I wasn’t in the “family way” I thought McCall’s 6712‘s belted version was adorable. The fact that it had a self-fabric belt and pockets just made it ideal.

Worn with cheap but lovely 50’s-style jacket from Forever 21.

As soon as I saw this Denyse Schmidt “Katie Jump Rope” fabric I knew it was the one. Now, why it took me an entire year to make this dress though, is a mystery. But it is now done and just in time to catch the dwindling summer days of 2008. In addition, if I find the right knitted cardigan it could possibly stretch into fall.

For more construction details, see my blog post here.

Please excuse the blurry full-length photo.

Tutorial

I just posted a pockets tutorial on my blog that explains how to put side seam pockets into a garment that doesn’t have them (which was one of the modifications I made in the dress I posted here yesterday).

I would appreciate feedback on the clarity of my instructions.

Thanks!