Sunday, June 22, 2008

Vintage Vogue 5265 - Part 1

Well I've done it again...planned more than I could actually sew...*sigh*

I totally underestimated the amount of time it would take to turn my TNT dress pattern into a version of Vogue 5265. From the drafting of new bodice yoke pieces...to the pleating of the fabric...to even assembling the dress...just way more time than I had originally planned.

First some basics:

Patterns:
Vogue 5265 - the inspirational pattern's description:
Dress with wide box pleat either side of center front and center back joins shoulder yoke with oval neckline. Looped sash worn at waistline or hipline or novelty belt. Short sleeves and sleeveless. Copyright date 1961 by The Conde Nast Publications Inc.

TNT Dress Pattern (Butterick 5932) which has a copyright date of 1998 on it and my revised version looks nothing like the original pattern.

Fabric:
A 100% rayon purchased 13 years ago from a local fabric chain called "The Rag Shop" which is out of business in my area. There was 3.5 yards of 53" wide fabric before pre-washing. Since I'm lazy (lol) I did not measure it after pre-washing. However, there was only enough fabric to get a sleeveless version of the dress and the sash constructed. Even part of the yoke linings are cut from cotton batiste because I needed to insure that I had enough fabric for the sash.

Notions:
3 - 5/8" buttons
1 - 9" zipper

Construction Details:
There were quite a few construction changes...so I am only going to highlight the ones that I feel were important.

First - I did use the pattern pieces for the yoke from the original vintage pattern to make new ones for my interpretation of the dress.


Two - I added several more pleats to the front of my dress than the original one, probably because the original calls for a pleated center front piece and two side fronts that are cut and sewn to the center piece and then pleated. I thought I could achieve a similar look by just pleating a front piece to match the width of the front yoke.

Three - since I was using a rayon fabric for the dress and I was concerned that with time the pleats would fall out, I edgestitched each pleat. This was very time consuming but definitely worth it to me since I will never have to guess how to iron the pleats back in.



Fourth - the dress calls for a side zipper. I don't know why but I hate side zippers so I moved the zipper to the back under the button opening. With the buttons and zipper opening, the dress opens very wide so that I can just step into it. In the vintage version, I probably would have had to slide it over my head, then zip up the side and button the back.



Fifth - I did use what I thought was a really kewl detail from the original pattern...it has you stitch down the pleats at the waistline and then you put the sash over the stitching. It helps hold everything flat and makes it really neat and easy to wear.


Other details:
The instruction sheet on this pattern wasn't as helpful as previous instruction sheets have been...however, it did have the sewist make bound buttonholes for the yoke back. There were only 2 buttons/buttonholes suggested for the yoke back - partially I think because of the bound buttonholes and maybe partially because the yoke back is considerably smaller in the lower sizes. I used 3 buttons for full back coverage.

There is a lot of fabric in this dress...all those pleats...so its very comfortable to wear but absolutely, positively needs the sash to reign in the fullness...also so it doesn't seem as if I'm wearing a maternity dress.

The armholes are finished with bias binding but I found something that I had in my notions/trim collection and used that instead of cutting bias binding from the fabric like the pattern suggests...well I also didn't have much fabric left!

I embellished the yoke front for two reasons - one, the dress looked plain without it and two, it covers some poor marking on my part when I was making the box pleats.


This was suppose to be a "wearable" muslin and then I was going to make the dress again from a red rayon/linen piece...but I'm DONE! I still have to finish the sash and hem this thing...which is going to be a challenge in itself...so this one will be worn as is. I definitely will not be taking this trip again! *LOL*

Finally a headless shot of me wearing the almost finished dress.



It was a challenging project...alot harder than any of the other interpretations I've done. It also looks nothing like any of the other dresses in my summer wardrobe so I'm glad that I went for it and made it. The other surprising thing is that the sash does not cut me in half nor make me look like a stuffed sausage in the dress.

Of course, once I have actually hemmed it, I will post a picture of me in full make-up and heels wearing the completed version!

This was such an all-encompassing sew that I did not add the sleeves to my JCC dress nor cut out or sew the pants for the JCC wardrobe. However, I am off work on Wednesday and will have a few hours to sew, so I will work on those pieces then. It took two days to create my translation but I am glad that I spent the time on this dress and made it work!

30 comments:

  1. Caroline, your dress looks great! You amaze me with your creative sewing skills. I like the print you choose for this dress style.

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  2. That dress is gorgeous on you. Wow! You did a great job interpreting that vintage pattern. The proportions between the top and the skirt are really flattering (well, granted, the photo is headless and with chopped off legs..., so what do I know? lol), so I hope you don't shorten it too much!

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  3. I like this rayon version. The dress is wonderful. Sometimes, I don't understand why they would have buttons and a zipper and put them in different places. Will be waiting to see what Wednesday brings. g

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  4. It always takes much longer to make something than I think it will. Your dress is really nice and different from your other ones. Nice addition to your wardrobe I think.

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  5. I really like this dress. The colour suits you and the style is cute without being too cute, if that makes any sense. I can see why you'd never sew this again, it's a mammoth job. I, like you, always manage to underestimate the time something will take or overestimate my ability to stick it out. You always amaze me with how much you achieve in a weekend, particularly when you work full time and all that goes with it. Well done, once again!

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  6. Your dress looks great, well worth the time you spent on it. Neat constructions details too!

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  7. great construction details, the fit is great, it looks so comfortable and still so pretty

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  8. Thirteen year old fabric! LOL. I'm loving what you're doing here. The details are wonderful. Maybe you'll love this one so much that you'll still do it up in red.

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  9. That looks great! I agree about the sash, they sound scary, but actually they can help to define the waist :D I love the colour on you as well.

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  10. Carolyn, that dress is perfect. The style and fit look good on you and the color complements you. It was workth the ime you put into it.

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  11. LOL I'll echo Cidell, 13 years old, and you know where you got it! I'm impressed. Also with the dress. It is lovely and definitely worth the time and effort. Brava!
    Thanks for showing your process. I am inspired by you to have a couple more tnt patterns. I used my simple SB t shirt tnt to make a totally different t this week.

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  12. Wow! You have another great dress! It looks stunning on you. Thanks for sharing the pattern drafting details. I'm encouraged to try it one day before long. I do feel better knowing that the expert sewers plan more than they can sew, too. I'm looking forward to seeing you JCC!!

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  13. Carolyn, I am impressed how you were able to amend it so much for you; even if it is a little different than you were going for, it still looks great. That's why I have avoided most of the 60's dresses; I don't want it to look maternity, but still have the maternity weight I am trying to get off/camoflage. Great inspiration!

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  14. Carolyn, I love this dress! It looks beautiful on you!

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  15. Very nice dress - I think it would be great in red.... maybe later!

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  16. I love, love, love this on you! I'm glad you stuck with this one - all the details are really nice. Beside the pleats, the belt really is different from your other dresses. You should make another one of these, now that you went to the trouble of figuring out the first one.

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  17. I think it looks very nice. I agree that the current length is quite good for this dress and I love the soft colors in the print. I think I may have some 13-year old pieces hanging around, too, but I have no idea where they came from.

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  18. Don't you dare say never again to this pattern! It's really a great style for you. Just put it away for a while until the pain is forgotten and then take it out for winter and add sleeves.

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  19. Carolyn, Another fabulous dress and creative interpretation. I think the pleats are what really does it for this style. I can see it with 3/4 sleeves in a nice wool crepe for the fall and winter.
    Marguerite

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  20. The dress is lovely ! I so admire your skills and am inspired by the work you put into everything you do.

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  21. Carolyn, this is a great looking dress! I love the subtle color and the buttons and trim are a very nice touch.

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  22. I love the dress, I love the fabric, the buttons and the trim. I love how it looks on you!

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  23. sounds like a mammoth amount of effort went into this, but was totally worth every second because you look fabulous!

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  24. You always impress me with your skills and the dress is so nice. It would only be fitting to do it red.

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  25. I can see how pretty this dress is from this picture! Just gorgeous!

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  26. That looks great!I love the dress! ;)

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  27. The work that you put into this charming dress was well worth it.It looks great on you.Perfect choices of fabric and trim.

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  28. I know I'm quite late seeing this, but I just had to say how pretty this dress is.

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