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.
I love it!
i love it! is it possible for me to find this pattern???
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.
Love it, well done, I so wish I could sew when I see gorgeous things like this
It looks great. Has me thinking I should wear a dress tomorrow too!
Cute dress! You are very clever. I'm wearing a loud dress tomorrow to #pbevent instead of a loud shirt 😉
That looks great Cintia! I love it!
I love how it turned out too — gorgeous Cinti!
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
I love it.
I don't just love it; I frikkin' love it! Awesome work Cinti!
Great dress. Really great dress. I like the sleeve treatment you have given yours too. Subtle retro look but very modern. Amazing.
I love it too. Especially the belt around your oh-so-slim waist. Super flattering!
wowsers, it's reeeally awesome, well done and you rock it superbly! i particularly love the collar and neckline.
I love it! and you loook fantastic in it!!
You're so clever. It's gorgeous. It's always wonderful when you make something for yourself and it turns out. xx
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.
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.
The modification was quite simple. I didn’t use interfacing, just the same fabric was enough to hold its shape.