I was at Joann's (of course) when I learned that Simplicity had released a "new" vintage reprint of a 1950s shirtwaist dress. I was a little concerned about the collar - it's huge and I feared that it might be a little much for modern everyday wear, but I couldn't know for sure until it was made up. I decided on the sleeveless version without the detachable collar so that the collar wouldn't be any bigger than it needed to be.The fabric strikes me as a little more 60s than 50s, but I think that the overall effect is cool. Since the fabric is rather loud I opted for some boring buttons that pull out the turquoise in the fabric but are otherwise subdued.
I was confused when I looked at the envelope back and learned that View B (no sleeves) required 1/2 yard more fabric than View A (short sleeves). I wondered if the the skirts were different lengths since sleeves usually takes more fabric than no sleeves. It turned out that the tops of Views A and B are cut 90 degrees from each other, and the extra half yard was about accommodating the rotated front pattern piece. Fortunately, I had already decided that I'd rather have the top be on a vertical stripe than a horizontal one because it's more flattering.
There are not very many pieces in this pattern, which is nice, and many of the top pieces are printed individually by size, so there is a lot of flexibility in reusing the pieces. I had to add a little bit to the waist, and was able to do that by extending the lines on on the front and back and effectively cutting the paper wider than intended. It was pretty easy and I can still see the original size markings.
I was a bit miffed when I cut out the pieces because it looked like I had over a yard of fabric left over! But then I realized that the skirt was comprised of 6 pieces (2 center front/back, and 4 side front/back) and I'd only cut 3 of them. I had to cut two of the side pieces upside-down to fit, so the stripe colors will be in the wrong order. Not a big deal, I'll just stick them in the back and no one but me will probably ever notice. Besides, pattern matching was basically impossible since the stripes are crooked.
I got off to a good start on this project, but the understitching through me for a loop. Since the collar facing is actually the side of the fabric that you see you have to do the understitching on the seam allowance and the fashion fabric instead of the lining. I figured that out the hard way, and had to pull out all of that stitching so that it would be hidden under the collar. I've never been so glad that I do my understitching with a basting stitch so it was a lot of stitches to pull, but they were relatively easy to remove!
Closeup of the understitching on the wrong side, and the pile of threads that I pulled! Eventually I got it right though. Look at those sharp lapel angles.
Next up were the buttons and buttonholes. Since the buttons stop at the waist there is also an invisible side zipper. I seriously considered faking the buttons by leaving out the buttonholes and just sewing up the center front. However my sewing machine decided to play nicely with the buttonholer this time, so getting three buttonholes stitched wasn't too bad. Of course I tested the holes on some scrap fabric first, and it took a couple of tries to get a shape that I liked, but I was happy with the results. I think that the buttonholes look pretty even on the garment as well. I'm glad that I did real buttons - they make it easier to get in and out of the dress especially once I realized that the zipper didn't extend all the way to the armpit.
Testing buttonholes on scrap fabric and then the buttonholes on the actual project.
With the buttonholes done I could attach the buttons and stitch up one of the side seams (I still had to leave the other one open for the zipper, but it let me get a sense of the fit. Admittedly the side darts are a little high, but frankly they're too high on the stylized drawing on the envelope cover. Yes, the collar is kind of large, but I think that it's proportional with the rest of the dress.
The top of the dress with the buttons in place.
The top was nearly complete at this point, so it was time to start on the skirt. I laid out all six of the panels to tried and match the stripes as much as possible - it's not perfect, but it looks nice enough to not be distracting for me. Obviously I wanted to add pockets to the dress because they just make life easier. However, that proved trickier than your standard inseam pockets because there was still a side zip to contend with! There are a ton of tutorials that will show you how to add a zipper to a pocket, but not as many that show you what do do when the seam for the pocket is also part of the zipper seam. The gist of it is that you attach one half of the pocket to the front side seam of the dress/skirt just as you normally would, but DON'T attach the other half to the back. Instead you sew the two halves of the pockets together. Now you treat the back half of the pocket as part of the side seam and insert the zipper. Voila! You now have a pocket in your side seam and you don't have to get indecent to reach into it.
Functional pocket and zipper in the same seam!
I opted for the sleeveless version of the dress, but before I could attache the armhole facings I had to insert the zipper. I don't have a lot of experience adding a zipper that stops an inch or two below the top of the garment. I've certainly worn dresses like that, but I hadn't made one before. I ended up trying to sew through the zipper and broke my needle. Oops! This is why I keep spares!
Sorry the photo came out blurry, but I threw the broken needle away so I can't retake it. Anyway, not only did I manage to break the needle in two, but one part also bent into an almost 90 degree angle.
The biggest challenge with this dress was deciding where to hem it. Left to its own devices this dress is about tea-length on me. I know that I'm short, but that's kind of ridiculous. It's tricky to gauge the length on the pattern since the envelope is so stylized. If I had to hazard a guess I would say it's a little below the knee - but that's the widest part of the calf and is an unflattering length to my eye. At the end of the day I'm making something to make me happy - it doesn't matter if it's 100% historically accurate. Usually I hem to just above the knee because that tends to be flattering. Quite frankly, I intend to wear this to work and if I get too caught up in the historical details I risk looking like I'm wearing a costume - I don't think that that's a professional choice. So I needed to balance the proportions of the dress (is the skirt long enough to balance the collar) with modern conventions and my own body type.
The dress in her nearly completed glory awaiting a decision on hem length.
After debating for too long I decided to keep the dress at full length. I zigzag stitched the raw edge, folded it up 5/8", folded that seam allowance about in half and stitched a scant 3/8" from the edge. It's long, but I like how full it is. I really like how the stripes work with this skirt, and I'm glad that I did them with a stripe that I didn't have to pattern match. If I ever make this dress again - I'm seriously considering it - I'll probably redraft the skirt pieces so that they are closer to knee-length but are still have the same circumference of the original pattern.
Front and back of the completed dress. I think it needs a belt for styling purposes. I'm torn between a slim navy belt that I own and a wide black one. I like the proportions of the navy, but I like the black because that's one of the stripe colors.
Item: 1950s Shirtwaist Dress
Completed: August 2020
Material: 4 1/2 yards Quilting Cotton
Pattern: Simplicity 9105
Year: 1950s
Notions: Thread, Invisible Zipper, Buttons, Interfacing
Hours to complete: 14
First worn: Probably to work tomorrow
Total Cost: $2 pattern + $27 Fabric + $1 Buttons + $4 Zipper + $4 Thread = $38