I recently saw this photo in a magazine and thought I would love this maxi dress, but at 995.00 dollars- ya, not gonna happen!
Then I remembered I had just picked up this New Look pattern from Value Village for .99 cents!! Complete with coffee stains! It's out of print now and looks to me like it could be from the early 90's. Anybody know?
Now I'm thinking with a few little alterations I could make this happen. Obviously the length, and I will grade it out to an slim A-line. I'm sure I could figure out how to extend the shoulders to make cap sleeves. My fabric choice will have to have two 'right' sides for the hood or I could cut double pieces- in fact the inspiration photo just might be doubled. I will need maybe 3 meters of fabric just to be safe. Then there is the belt. I like that it's detachable which means I can place it where ever I want . I'm still stuck in the 80's and I like my low slung hip belts on my figure shape, but I can work with empire as well. Natural waistlines tend to make me look like a sack of potatoes tied in the middle! I don't have any prints like this in my stash so I will have to go fabric shopping, OH DARN! So off I go.
Ha! Last night the husband says to me he was looking at all the fabric I bought - pretty fancy- but I'm not sure about that 'Aztec-y' print! Now I'm second guessing my choice not just because of his comment but it's a lot of print on a long dress on my small fame. No matter- I think I'm going to go through with it anyway. If I feel over whelmed in it, I will just cut it off and make it a tunic! That's always been one of my biggest challenges in sewing, choosing the right scale of print for my size.
The pattern calls for a seam down the center back, but I think I will place it on the fold as I don't want to have to match up any more horizontal lines then I have to. I'm sure I can fit it through the sides or add some vertical darts in the back if I have to. Besides, if it becomes a tunic, it won't really need much fitting.
I guess I should start cutting it out......
As the sewing Fates would have it ,I just happened to have Vogue pattern 6869 on my cutting table ready to cut out next , it has the exact type of cap sleeve I'm looking for! So I made a simple pattern adjustment by copying it to my original with tissue paper. The directions for finishing the are to just fold under and top stitch,but due to the weight of my fabric I may face the the cap to give it a better weight. Does that make sense?? Or (thinking outloud) I may add a binding. My fabric has a great boarder print that I can take advantage of here. That would look even better. This is one of those figure it out as you go along projects which I seem to get mixed up with all the time!!!
So far so good. My hood turned out pretty slick , with the border print along the edge, and I did self line it. The instructions were a 2 inch hem. I cut that off and just left a seam allowance.
Now that I see this in picture form, a binding is a must, other wise it just looks so cheap and off the rack. The other problem I'm encountering - it's just way too much print for me!!! Guaranteed this will be a tunic. It will look cute with capris or long shorts(is that an oxymoron?) for the summer. As a tunic it might look good with a kangaroo pocket or pockets of some sort or even a draw string like the original pattern.
I'm not sure how old something has to be, to be considered vintage - so I'm going to consider this pattern vintage. So what I've noticed is what better quality it is. The tissue is thicker and stronger,and the instructions are better. More detailed pre-construction tips such as fabric descriptions, prep stitching, needle choices, larger illustrations, etc. I guess I never noticed when things started going south and it's bothering me now because I just bought a 35$ Vogue pattern and it was torn before I even took it out of the envelope!!! End of rant!
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