Wednesday 6 July 2011

UFOs

Last week was UFO week over at The Sew Weekly.  I think this qualifies, since it's been hanging in my sewing corner since February:



Beautiful McCall pattern from 1948 that should have been a quick weekend project, but it resulted in this:


Aie chihuahua, but that's an unflatteringly high neckline.  I hate being strangled by jewel necks, but also the instructions for the tie were strange: the bias strip was meant to be sewn on the inside, then folded over twice and sewn on the outside.  So you end up with a tie that is 6 layers thick (plus the fabric of the neck = 7 layers).  It was so stiff that it was sticking straight out!  Granted, it is a muslin made of '70s polycotton sheet, but still... 

Now, I know perfectly well that I will never have a humanly impossible tiny waist like Lady B on the pattern illustration, but this was looking a little dumpy and needed something to define the waist a bit better.  I tried making a tie-on peplum belt, à la Casey, but it only added bulk where bulk was not wanted.  (I thought I had a photo of me with the peplum tied on, but I guess I deleted it from embarrassment). 

So I hung it up and left it there for 5 months.  


Luckily, it was an easy fix:  
1: unpick the bias tie
2: drop the neckline
3: re-sew it as a typical double fold bias
4: fix the arm seams
5: sew in the side zip more neatly (yay, invisible zipper foot from Amazon!)
6.  add shoulder pads
7:  cut up peplum to make fabric covered belt (used a $1 CK belt from the VON shop)  


The (almost) finished UFO:  



(Yeah, I know those shoes are '80s, not '40s, but they're the only neutral coloured, somewhat appropriate ones I own.  It was these or black mary janes or purple spike heels, so I figure these were my best bet.)


Still needs hemming and shoulder pad attachment, but close enough to post, I figure.  I cut out another one in a silky blue and white vintage polyester, so hopefully I'll finish it in less than 5 months this time around.   


****************************************************************
1940s  1950s  1960s  1970s  1980s  1990s  2000s  2010s 

only 1950s left!

3 comments:

  1. Little changes make a BIG difference. I love this dress. It's so flattering. I love the fabric too!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Beautiful dress. Love the bright print. Adding the belt was a good move.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks guys! I'm still a bit wary of wearing it outside the house.... I'm afraid it may be one of those, "Oh.... did you.... make... that?" kind of dresses.

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...