Vintage Sewing: Part Four

I left you all on Saturday morning, when I had created my graded pattern but had yet to cut out my fabric. Things went fairly smoothly, aside from accidentally leaving the zipper opening on the right, rather than left, side of the dress, ripping out the seam on the left side, and then restitching the exact same seam, which of course required ripping it out again. Argh. By the end of the evening, my sewing friends had completed the full muslins-as-linings for their more complicated patterns, and, because I had no lining to mess around with, I had a finished dress:

I say “finished,” but I have every intention of going back in and putting in a side-seam pocket. I need pockets. As long as I keep altering this pattern, I think I’ll also move the zipper to the center back next time, which will call for a doubly-long zipper but eliminate the whole right/left issue. Now that I’ve successfully sewn my first vintage pattern, and graded/altered it as well, I just can’t seem to stop messing around!

I wore the now-referred-to-as-Dragon Dress out in public to go to the store on Monday, and received no fewer than SIX compliments on my dress from complete strangers. How lovely! It’s cottony-comfortable, fun to twirl in, and apparently looks quite flattering. The only caveat (aside from a serious lack of pocket) is that when I crouched down at the store to look for something on a bottom shelf, the skirt spilled around me in a three-foot radius, thus preventing a store clerk from restocking a wide swath a shelving until I got up again. Which really isn’t a problem for ME as much as for the people AROUND me.

Tomorrow: Vintage Sewing Weekend’s Bonus Dress