Not so long ago I was sorting through my pattern collection,
fantasizing...sorry, PLANNING all the things I'm going to make this
year, when something occurred to me.
There are two garment styles that I'm
very much drawn to - shift dresses and sundresses - but I
very rarely sew them. Do you do that too?
Now I'm well aware that, as sewing addictions go, it's not unusual to buy a pattern and then forget about it. Also possible is that thing where the longer you hold onto a pattern (without making it) the less you love it. And then there's also the very real sewing problem that happens when some other new pattern comes along and you love it SO much that it rockets to the top of of your must-make list. You can relate, right? (It's also just occured to me that in those last four sentences, you can subsitute the word 'pattern' for 'fabric'. But that's a topic for another post).
And so when I look at my pattern collection and my pattern buying
habits, I realise I've been doing this for years. And YEARS. All these
dress patterns that you see below have been purchased over a period of
eight, maybe ten years. I can safely say I still love all of them and
would happily wear every single style. Ok, ok -
McCalls 4556 Little House of the Prairie look (at left) excluded.
Now I could get shitty with myself for wasting money on all these similar pattern variations (I won't). I could also put myself on a self-imposed pattern buying ban until I make some of them up (pffffttt, of
course I won't). So I'll instead choose to focus on the fact that I clearly know what I like and I like what I know. If I've been loving these classic styles for as long as I've been been buying all these patterns, then I'll be loving these styles in years to come. I'm not going to sew them all, but I will definitely try to sew some more.
Which brings me, finally, to this pattern review - vintage Style 2667 (View D). My daughter actually chose this one when, like a deck of cards, I splayed out all my sundress patterns and told her to "pick a pattern, any pattern". As it turns out, that kid chose well. The fabric I used is our
Hatch Black viscose (available Melbourne only, but also available in
this,
this,
this and
this print).
The pattern was published in 1980 and is further evidence that
Style patterns are - and ever
will be - true, 80s excellence. I've made up enough of this pattern brand now to know how my sizing works. The waist was spot on but I was pretty sure that the bodice would need some adjustment to get the perfect fit. And it did. We had gaping, big gaping. In the end I chose the quickest, simplest fix which was to angle in the seam allowance at the zip.
I graded it from nothing at the waist to 4cm at top of each zip side. No faffing around with unpicking the facing, and problem was sorted in half an hour (cue sewing high).
I also narrowed down the shoulder strap width from 4cm to 3cm. The front bodice piece features lovely, deep, open darts which gives a
really great shape and fit with a strapless bra. Because the viscose was
so deliciously light (I'm talking beautiful, airy, feels-like-nothing light), I block fused all the bodice pieces with our
lightweight BVM40.
Aside from the bodice fit issues, the only other challenge with this dress was the hem. After I left it hanging for a couple of days, I was met with
this (cue sewing low).
Fortunately, with
Dalwyn's able assistance and patience and one of these ingenious
Esy Hem thingys, that hem got sorted. This dress is a dream to wear. Despite the fitted bodice, it's unbelievably comfortable and that skirt just floats and falls like nothing I've ever sewn before.
Hey summer. Kick around a bit longer will you...?
Yours,
Lisa (and Style 2667)
