To the Gallery, and a Fruit Break

“To the Gallery” is the 1940s dress I made myself for the vintage patterns challenge –  a very light, summery dress, which proved perfect for the ridiculously hot Spring day when I took my kids on an excursion to the Art Gallery of NSW.  The fabric is a Japanese quilting cotton from Lincraft – I got the last of the roll and it was just enough – and the pattern I used was Vogue 8811, a 1940 reissue that I’d tried and failed with before. This is a really straightforward pattern, but I underestimated my size when I first tried to sew a dress with this pattern.

I’m not really sure how a 1940s dress is supposed to fit, or where a 1940s shoulder pad is supposed to sit… mine may not be in quite the right place, but their position was also adversely affected by a heavy shoulder bag. Oops – that’s why it looks like my shoulder pad is making a break for it :)/

This dress is not a style I’d normally wear, so it’s been interesting to try a new silhouette – and regardless of whether this is really “me”, it’s a super comfortable dress in hot weather!

I’ve blogged this dress here if you’d like to see more photos or find out about about the dress I was originally going to make.

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And now for something completely different!

While I was going through my stash trying to decide what to include in a giveaway, I came across a loud and fruity cotton seersucker I’d originally intended to use for my daughter – oh, a couple of years ago! There was only a metre of it, so I decided to get cracking and whip something up while a metre was still enough 🙂

I wanted a dress that would provide some shoulder protection in summer, so I used a 1970s pattern with a shoulder ruffle (Style 1862), graded down from a size 12 to a size 6. My daughter loves the fabric, and seemed to appreciate the little details I added – cute buttons on the yoke, and side seam pockets …

This dress – the “Fruit Break” dress – is blogged here if you’d like to read more,