(Hello! Can you spot Little Terror?)
I have been admiring vintage patterns for a long time and wanted to try sewing one. I saw this Vintage Butterick 4309 first in a giveaway and fell in love with the collars. So I scoured Ebay for one and luckily it was for a reasonable price. I was very excited to sew my first vintage pattern but I had a lot of issues with this dress! I started sewing this dress a month ago but it was only finished yesterday, :) During the first fitting before I hemmed and added the sleeves the overall look was so frumpy and maternity… and bad idea to cut the middle panel on bias!!! It really adds on pounds, sigh! And the red and grey plaid fabric, as I quote my seamstress friend, has a STRONG personality, so I guess the original A line pattern would work well if I used a more subtler fabric or a solid colour.
The BEFORE picture..frumpy…please excuse the picture quality as it’s from my camera phone, taken nearly during midnight! Yes, Little Terror (2 years 3 months old now) has decided that she will sleep around 10pm to 11pm now instead of her usual 9pm so it’s tougher to find time to sew recently.
Once I got to this stage, I was really discouraged to soldier on to finish the dress, I asked myself if I could do anything to jazz it up..I took in the sides to make it more fitted but it still looked bad..so just 2 weeks ago I decided that I will just leave it as a UFO and actually rolled this project up and placed it in the ‘recycle bin’. Yesterday, I still couldn’t forget about this failure so I picked it up again and just what the heck, finish it, will you??!! As Tim Gunn would say, ‘Just Make it Work!’
After I sewed on the sleeves and put it on, it looks much more wearable. Wear it Again? My husband actually said, ‘Hey, not too bad for a fabric that looks like a picnic mat’. Grrr….. But I would say the saving grace for the dress were the two covered buttons placed on the collars. I am thinking of wearing it to work..will I ever?
Little Terror decided she wanted in the picture as well – ask her why the wooden plank is in the picture! :)
I did try to match plaids using Tasia’s Sewaholic.Net’s matching plaids tutorial but I only matched the black lines (it took me a looonnng time), and only realized later that the boxes are of different colours when I sewed up the sides, oh well!! Hey at least the plaids did match at the zipper (and invisible zipper wasn’t too bad too, just consoling myself here)
The fabric is ‘Tanaka Japanese Cotton’, 2 yards, bought on sale for RM6 per yard. This dress is fully lined underlined with the grey collar fabric (RM7 per yard, about 2 yards), the pattern was USD$4.50 (incl. shipping from the U.S.) ..so total cost: USD13 or RM39. Money aside, was this dress worth all the grief and issues (haha) ?? :) What do you all think?
Lovely dress and fit! I think the bias plaid centre front is a nice design element and with the fit you've achieved doesn't look frumpy to me.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on using a vintage pattern for the first time too! Have never used one myself and can only imagine that it is much harder.
What a beautiful dress - I love all the unique style details. You picked a gorgeous fabric to make it in - although it was tricky to match up you have done an amazing job.
ReplyDeleteI like this dress on you, especially with the thin black belt. It really works. It would be interesting to see in a simple black and white or navy and white combination, very smart I would say.
ReplyDeleteHey Sertyan! I'm always so amazed at people who use vintage patterns! This is definitely a really classic pattern. If you feel the print is too "loud", pair it with a dark solid colour cardigan and belt it on top of the cardigan. I usually do that with prints that I think might be too loud to wear for work, like tone it down with a dark grey cardigan or something.. and yeah men sometimes have strange comments about fabrics haha.. just rock the outfit and own the style! ;-)
ReplyDeleteI really like the bias front, and the collar is a very pretty touch, too, a really love the cut and the buttons! I think you did perfect in matching the plaids, the back looks immaculate. Very cute dress overall, I don't think it looks frumpy at all!
ReplyDeleteAnd don't listen to your hubby, it doesn't look like a picnic mat, lol. Men just say the darndest things about fashion. :/
What a great choice of pattern and fabric.lovely!
ReplyDeleteSertyan, I love this dress and the pattern. I'm so impressed with what you have done to make it yours. I think the buttons and bias plaid are such nice touches.
ReplyDeleteI hope one morning you wake up and decide today is the day to wear this dress! It's really smart and a great fit.
LT is adorable in her big shoes, but what's with the plank of wood?
i like it! it is definitely loud but i don't think that's a bad thing at all. you can always tone it down with a solid color cardigan & tights, but i say work it as is!
ReplyDeleteand omg your little girl peeking in the back of the pictures just made me die a little. PRECIOUS.
Love this dress!
ReplyDeleteYou did a great job matching the plaid.
ReplyDeleteHey, I loove your dress and congrats on finishing it hahaha... it looks like a designer's dress. I love the collar and yes the buttons made the look of the whole dress a winner. I hope you will wear it to work if you have not done yet. Go on, show it off. Looks too pretty not to. :)
ReplyDeleteLittle Terror look so adorable and hahaha... what is that piece of wood for?
I love the dress, I don't think it looks frumpy at all. I love the collar and buttons, you did a great job on the invisible zipper and yes I would definitely wear it to work. I also have been wanting to try sewing a retro dress, I finally found one and ordered it, it should be here soon. Maybe I will post it if it turns out good.
ReplyDeleteI think it's gorgeous! Definitely suits you and you should definitely wear it wherever you would like to!
ReplyDeleteI love your dress!! its just a little large in the bust, maybe you should check out some of the bust adjustment tutorials - but I think it looks GOOD, I'm glad you are blogging still!
ReplyDeleteHi Sertyan,
ReplyDeleteI think you are bein too hard on yourself! This dress looks really cute on you and is such a happy looking dress! I have a hard time with princess line dresses too. If they dont fit perfect they can look so frumpy but i think you fixed your problems. Thanks for linking up!
Justine @ Sew Country Chick.
I think this dress is absolutely gorgeous! I love the fact you cut the central panel on the bias. It's so cute! In fact, I'm off to seek out that pattern right now.
ReplyDeleteThe pattern is beautiful and very classic :-). Hey, I bought the same fabric at the same price, but haven't have time to sew it yet :-).
ReplyDeleteOH! I'm so glad you found the pattern! I was sad that you didn't win it in my contest. :( But this turned out really cute, despite some of the problems you had. I love that you paired the grey with that plaid, and the belt and black shoes definitely modernizes the pattern a lot. Looks very cute, and I think it'd be a really interesting work outfit! LOVE the collar, and your little helper there is adorable. :D
ReplyDeletewow, I love it!!
ReplyDeleteVery very cool :) I like the collar and the dress looks really well-made.
ReplyDeleteLittle Terror looks so cute peering from behind the dress :) and terrific job on the dress! I noticed that vintage designs looks great on you by the way :)
ReplyDelete