Vintage Pledge – Emma and her Machine

I dragged my Mum round some vintage shops in, Stockport, the town where we were brought up a few months back and picked up some vintage paisley silk feel fabric. I got 3 metres for £9, which was a bargain. I stashed it for a bit and then decided to return back to my 1970s Maudella dress. I love the fabric, the colours are so Autumnal.

Like last time, I missed the collar out and put the zip in the side instead of along the front, which is much neater, I might add. I graded it down slightly in the waist, as I felt I needed it last time.
I also made the sleeves a little larger just to make it more comfortable and I made them a bit shorter.

It needs lots of ease in the sleeves, but I like the effect.
It was the first dress for my dressmaker dummy too, which was fab to use, it made the hem length really easy. I have named her Suzie. I did the hem a bit longer than last time so it falls below my knee, not Suzie’s, she doesn’t have knees!

That’s it! I love this super quick make and I’m really pleased I chose a vintage pattern for my vintage fabric! I wore it to have a minichino with my lovely niece!

To make sure that my blog is regular, my plan is to post every Friday about my makes or a least my plans for making that weekend. What else does a hard-working 9-5er have to do on a Friday? Feel free to drop by and have a look at what I’m up to.

I have been browsing vintage patterns on Ebay for some time and have been rather indecisive about whether or not to buy them in case I couldn’t get them to work, what with size changes and all.

After seeing the Vintage Pledge on A Stitching Odyssey I thought I would have a go so I bought this 1970s pattern by maudella, who I haven’t heard of before, from a charity seller on Ebay.

I used this cotton fabric, which I thought fit the theme well.

This is the first time I have worked with a dress pattern which is all in one (not a separate bodice and skirt) which was nice and meant it was quite quick. I made LOTS of alterations from the original pattern though.

Firstly I omitted the collar and the provided facings and used bias binding in the same fabric on the neckline.

I also cut the front piece on the fold as I wasn’t sure whether I wanted the zip or not (turns out not). Instead I ignored the front zip and added a side lapped zip instead. It’s not the neatest but certainly passable and not bad for my first try.

Secondly I omitted the contrast cuff on the sleeves, though I will put them in if I try it again just for the skill practice. I also added a little box pleats at the top of the sleeve for added detail.

I think it adds to the Vintage feel to have the sleeves a bit stuck up like that.

I did a deep hem because I know from taking up some of my Nanna’s old dresses some years a go that 70s dresses tend to have a deep hem. I may be wrong but it feels and looks right.

Overall, I love it. It’s beautiful! 💗

This dress is almost trapezium in shape and isn’t very fitting past my chest at all but I like the shape of it. It feels casual and definitely skims the lumps and bumps! If I did it again I might take it in a bit at the waist though.