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Wednesday 10 December 2014

1957 Cocktail Dress

My first blog post!  Woo!

Today's feature: McCall's 3971
Created for: Historical Sew Fortnightly Challenge #23: Modern History
Don't get the wrong idea!  Does not fit with the historical mandate of the Historical Sew Fortnightly.  It's post-1938, but since I haven't finished my 1770s stays yet, it does the trick nicely.  It also provided an excellent opportunity to wear my crinoline.  


What It Is: Cocktail DressThe Challenge: #23 Modern HistoryFabric: Embroidered tulle, satinPattern: McCall's 3871Year: 1957 Notions: thread, zipperHow historically accurate is it? Accurate pattern and fabric. Hours to complete? Longer than necessary... Let's leave it at that! First worn: November 22ndTotal Cost: $60 not including the crinoline.

I took this lovely find (a present from my husband):

And turned it into this:

I adore tea length!  I wanted more fullness in the skirt and so gathered the leftover fabric to get a nice pouf.  The issue?  I didn't adjust the bodice pattern properly to fit close enough to the body.  Because I'd taken all the extra fabric and gathered it into the skirt I had to disassemble the bodice tulle, re-cut, and re-assemble.  Lesson learned.  I've been getting flashbacks to my drafting teacher saying, "you have to take out the extra ease!"  Thankfully, less Pavlovian than expected.

I wore it all night to my Christmas party with the perfect kitten heels and Value Village pearl necklace.  I even managed to french twist my hair.  I'm quite pleased!

Next up...
1770s Shift & Stays



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