I made a dress…for me!

I’m seriously excited to show off the new dress I made for myself. It’s the first time I have tried anything so complex, and I’m so pleased that I took the time to treat myself.
I love how it turned out. I used a vintage pattern Butterick 4835 which just happened to be my size, win!

I was motivated, partly because I had some time up my sleeve whist Emma was on holidays at the farm, and partly through the frustration of not being able to find anything in stores that I liked and suited me. So when I came home from a visit to some pretty boutiques last week, I dove into my pattern stash with the intention of creating something great!

The hardest part was finding the right fabric in my vintage stash. It’s ironic, I probably have hundreds of meters but it was hard to find something suitable, for the following reasons:

width + length, vintage fabrics are narrow so you need quite a lot for a dress length (about 3m) which is not always possible when you buy thrifted pieces.

stains, I had my heart set on a couple of beautiful prints but they had stains from age/rust/water damage that I just couldn’t cut around.

fear, the fact is a couple of super special fabrics were too good to cut into for a first attempt, if I stuffed up I couldn’t just nick down to the shop for some more.

So I rummaged and found a ton of this chambray (which I’d forgotten I had) in a suitcase. I thought the red contrast would make it extra special, which I think it has.

See how neat the collar and top stitching is? And did I mention it has pockets? I love a dress with pockets.

I took extra special care, and even basted where the pattern told me to. I never baste or hardly even use pins, so this was like sewing 101.

The only part I did modify were the sleeves. If you follow me on instagram (@mypoppetshop) you would have seen a stage by stage update including the original sleeves. But they looked a bit star trekkie on, so I decided to give them the flick and just drafted some simple facing pieces for the sleeves.
No other adjustments were necessary. I look forward to making this pattern in another fabric really soon.

So what do you think? Do you love it? Say you love it. I love it!

Oh and because I’m avoiding doing my bookkeeping, I made a matching dress for Perty too. Tune in tomorrow to see how cute it turned out.

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19 Comments

  • CheezyK says:

    I love it!

    • dianne says:

      i love it! is it possible for me to find this pattern???

      • Miss Cinti @ My Poppet says:

        Hi Dianne, you may have luck googling butterick 4835, I found several patterns in different sizes on etsy and eBay, you may just need a little patience to find one in your size. Good luck.

  • Maryanne says:

    Love it, well done, I so wish I could sew when I see gorgeous things like this

  • PlanningQueen says:

    It looks great. Has me thinking I should wear a dress tomorrow too!

  • Crash Test Mummy says:

    Cute dress! You are very clever. I'm wearing a loud dress tomorrow to #pbevent instead of a loud shirt 😉

  • Amy says:

    That looks great Cintia! I love it!

  • bron @ baby space says:

    I love how it turned out too — gorgeous Cinti!

  • ::The Beetle Shack:: says:

    I LOOOVE IT! I want to take it off you RIGHT NOW… (not so i can see your undies, so I can have it. Gosh).

    will you take custom orders?

    xo em

  • Nat @ dear little house says:

    I love it.

  • Vic says:

    I don't just love it; I frikkin' love it! Awesome work Cinti!

  • Kristine says:

    Great dress. Really great dress. I like the sleeve treatment you have given yours too. Subtle retro look but very modern. Amazing.

  • Anna Bartlett says:

    I love it too. Especially the belt around your oh-so-slim waist. Super flattering!

  • daisy says:

    wowsers, it's reeeally awesome, well done and you rock it superbly! i particularly love the collar and neckline.

  • Cath @ chunkychooky says:

    I love it! and you loook fantastic in it!!

  • one yellow jumpsuit. says:

    You're so clever. It's gorgeous. It's always wonderful when you make something for yourself and it turns out. xx

  • Tracy Mitman says:

    Beautiful, and inspiring…..I found an old pattern at a thrift store a few months ago, later found some clearance fabric I liked, just haven’t gotten started. It’s a rainy day so I’m not going out – might as well give it a try! Thanks for sharing.

  • Kathleen says:

    I love the dress! I’m glad you changed the sleeve/flange things since I thought the original would be a bit uncomfortable. I probably still have a similar pattern, and the fabric I would have used was a light denim, too much bulk in the underarm area since the idea was that it have that Star Trek look and stick out, which meant complete facing and a stiffer interfacing. I need to go through my old patterns and see what I have. I used to use them for wrapping glassware when we moved, but haven’t done that for a long time.

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