The first of these projects is to make a dress for an upcoming awards night. (The other two projects will be the subject of future posts.) If I can make something now, I won't have to stress about finding an appropriate frock at the last minute. Starting now also means ample time for trial and error; the inevitable unpicking, resizing and resewing which accompanies unfamiliar patterns. My sewing machine – freshly serviced and purring like a kitten – has been receiving plenty of attention lately. Success, it seems, breeds success: one garment leads to another, courage is fostered, ambitions grow, sights are raised. Trawling through a vintage pattern site I happened upon Simplicity 4467:
Love the clean and elegant cut of this dress, and the button detailing on the back is beautiful (not sure about that pocket though). Am feeling a little apprehensive about working with a vintage pattern, and this one seems to have a lot of pieces.
Not to mention that, according to the measurements, 60s women clearly weren't the same proportions as me ... who has a waist that small? One thing is clear from this pattern: it was designed by a human. It's lovely and I can hardly bring myself to put scissors to paper. (Then I remind myself I bought this pattern to use, not to put in a safe deposit box to sell for $20 when I'm like, 70, or something.)
Many of the modern patterns in my collection are typeset in some flavour of uniform-sized, all-caps Helvetica Condensed. A mass of text and no hierarchy; built by an engineer rather than a designer. (As if some of these patterns aren't confusing enough.) This vintage pattern, in contrast, has a clear and easy to follow hierarchy. It's almost a pleasure to read and follow these directions.
Armed with several metres of calico, I'm well prepared for Round 1. Worst case scenario is that I have a stylish calico number to step out in!
