April 23, 2018

Brown Gingham 1940s Dress


This is one of those dresses that *really* didn't turn out how I planned. I based it off a Pinterest photo from the 1940s of this really cute dress with a wide bias cut waistband and pleated skirt...which you can tell it didn't really end up with;)



The biggest problem was that I didn't have enough fabric--I had 1 1/4 yards of 45" fabric, which, for the record, isn't enough to make a 1940s dress with a bias cut waistband and a pleated skirt. I had the cut the skirt a-line, and then when I tried to add the waistband....haha...it really didn't work. So, I ditched that idea, and just added the skirt to the blouse and...that didn't really work either. There were several problems, such as the skirt being too tight, and me forgetting to face the top, so the buttons were all strange, and the fact that I didn't have enough fabric to make a decent belt...just saying. I didn't do anything to fix the dress, just hated it while it hung in the closet, until I pulled it out last week and put this sweater on top and fell in love with it. 


I think the deal is I love the fabric and the skirt but not the dress so the sweater covers up all the dress except for the skirt which turned out okay...so it works:)




The dress buttons down the front with fabric covered buttons made to match the belt. When I was making this, I couldn't decide if there should be a brown collar, a white collar, or no collar. Each time I wore it I chose a different one and it was pretty funny when people were saying, "wait I thought that dress had a brown collar..." haha. 


I also added this little bias cut pocket which is too small to hold really anything, but it's really cute and I love the interplay of the grain lines here. The sleeves are also cut on the bias, but you can't see them here. 


Wearing my favorite ever shoes again, my RV Peggy Spectators:) 




My hat and necklace are both vintage: the hat is from the 1940s, but I don't know when the necklace is from. 


What I really love about this outfit is how it doesn't *quite* match: I mean, brown and black and navy and white and cream and turquoise? But all those colors interplay into something quite pleasing, and it feels like a *real* outfit from the 1940s that a lady would just put on to go to town, not 100% caring if it really matched or not. 




It also is a very elegant-feeling, yet comfortable outfit, something I really like:) 


Do you think that ferry is going to be around anytime soon? 

Thanks for reading! 

Photos by my sister:) 

1 comment:

  1. I just discovered your blog and I love it!!!! You make such pretty things, can't wait to see what you post in the future!! :) Great job!

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