Vintage Simplicity 9970

Or is it?

I was given this pattern by my mother-in-law. She'd found a bunch of patterns going cheap and bought them for me. Out of the lot This was the one that had most appeal. It's a simple shift dress with three different neckline and sleeve choices. However I can't seem to find reference to this pattern anywhere! Do a search and not one image comes up for this one, well I suppose it is a 1972 pattern and I can well imagine most people wanting to get rid of anything from 1972. However, it's a gem, a lovely pattern. It's single size 14 - I am not a 14, but with a little bit of alteration...

I decided that I'd have a go at making a dress based on this pattern with some fabric that I got from a charity shop for £2. However I wanted to change the neckline somewhat.

I saw this dress, worn by Nigella in her last series and really liked the collar detail. So I decided to draft a new neckline and collar and add contrast cuffs as well. The dress is longer than it appears on the pattern envelope and even after shortening it's still a bit longer. I've also kept the more A line skirt shape as I know it suits me and it's easier for work.
I measured the pattern pieces and made alterations to the sizing, the hips were fine as i'm a pear shape, but I removed 1cm off each side seam (4cm) total, and increased the waist dart widths by 1cm each side, tapering to the original dart at the hip and in a bit at the bust. the bust dart was OK.
I traced the pattern pieces and made a new neckline and with the help of my pattern book. I drafted the collar.

It's taken me quite a while to make the dress, mainly because I decided part way through making that I needed a lining, and the time it took to make the alterations to the pattern. I didn't really follow the pattern instructions as I've made a few dresses now. I am quite proud of the collar, it rolls nicely and sits well. I think I will catch it to the dress at the back as it gets caught up when i put my jacket on.

The Movie Project - Dress three - sort of.

I've been very inspired by the shift dresses I've seen on TV and film recently. Inspired enough to make a dress.
I may have mentioned that Last year my Hubby decided to watch the top 100 films - well this list crept up to more than 200! and we are still working out way through it. In response I decided to make movie inspired outfits. so Far I've managed 2, and this is the third.

A couple of months ago we watched Rosemary's Baby, but rather than following the plot I was following Mia Farrow's wardrobe and styling. Lots of classic shift and sack dresses.

And I just LOVE some of the styles worm by Megan in the latest season of Mad Men, in particular this very Mary Quant style dress.

So I thought I'd do my own shift dress. I wanted a black dress that I could dress up or down and I think I've achieved it. I made the dress in Black eyelet cotton with a black lining. It's just above knee length as I guess I may wear this for work - and modesty is a big thing where I work! As with the halter dress I made a couple of weeks ago I used the 60's dress by Alexandra from Burdastyle website as a starting point, but I ended up making quite a few adjustments to the pattern to make it fit my style.

I made the dress sleeveless - I extended the neckline to make a boat neck and a shallow v at the back. I chose the pattern as I only wanted bust darts in the front in order to keep the simplicity of the fabric as a feature. I lined up the fabric carefully before cutting, to ensure it was perfectly on grain. I fully lined this in a black poly cotton, understitching at the neck. the lining is caught to the invisible zip in the back and i'm really happy with the finish. I think it looks professional (no raw edges showing) I took the time to hand stitch the hem and it was worth it.

Now - how do I style it? would love to know what you think.