Sewing a Swing Dance Dress - Part Two - The Final Version

Last week I posted about the first version of my latest sewing project, which was a dress from a 1941 pattern intended for a small costume party with friends. The trial version was done in gray cotton. 

 

After studying Version One, I realized that the tucks in the front were not going to show up nearly so well on the blue and white printed fabric that I wanted to use for Version Two as they do on the solid color, yet I really wanted to use that printed fabric. What to do?

My next thought was of incorporating a solid color just for the front bodice, which just might happen to make a color block 1940s dress - another project on my to-make-someday list. And I happened to have on my re-imagine stash a large jacket thrifted for its buttons and shoulder pads which was the right color of cobalt.

I just so barely, after picking part the side seams and flattening them out, was able to squeeze the front bodice pattern piece into the back of the jacket, which thankfully had no darts or other seams. 

 

Then I cut out the facing above the pocket. Now there was not much left of the original jacket, but to reuse is good, right?

 

The rest of the dress I cut out from the blue and white cotton blend. Taking away the two pieces I had cut out of the jacket meant I had plenty of fabric left. Maybe not enough for another dress, but enough for a significant part of another dress, or a skirt or blouse at least. That made me happy. It's great to stretch yardage to more than one outfit and makes the fabric more budget friendly too. I hope to pair it with red buttons!

 

But after consideration I decided to do something different with the sleeves. On my gray dress I had tried shirring for the first time, but I decided to try something else with the blue and white dress. Yet I didn't want to have just a plain short sleeves, so I decided to invert the pointed detail of the tucks and make shaped sleeves.

To do this I first cut out the short sleeve pattern piece, then laid it across a piece of fabric on the bias.

 

I marked the center as high up as I thought the point should be, which was 3 in....

 

...and the same distance from that mark to the edge on each side, which turned out to be 4 in. This is where the curve will start.

 

Next I eye-balled it and cut it up to the center mark. I then folded all 4 layers in half to make the curves even.

 

So now the bottom layer (facing) and top layer (sleeve) are exactly the same.

 

The facing part next got trimmed down a little, evened out, and then cut a few inches wide. 

 

It's a perfect match, see?

To do the sleeve, all I have to do is stitch the facing to the sleeve, clip it, sew the sleeve/facing seam, turn the facing in, and tack it down like any other sleeve facing.

 

After a very little bit of sewing, I can begin to see how the dress will look. What do you think of the color block inspiration? It did mean some switching out colors of threads on the sewing machine until the bodice was done, but that's a minor detail.

 

Because in my trial dress I found that this pattern is about 2 in. too large at the waist, on this version I deepened the 2 back tucks, and made the corresponding skirt seams 5/8" instead of 1/2", which meant I could French seam them and save myself some work. They ended up corresponding perfectly at the waist seam, and the waist fits much better with that small alteration.

 

But I am glad I decided to use a solid color for the fancy detail part since you can hardly see even the skirt gores in the printed fabric much less the tucks and top stitching!

 

Of course since the neck extension is part of the front bodice, that means there is a little of the solid blue showing on the back as well, which helped me to solve my next problem, which is what sort of a belt to pair it with.

I didn't want to cover up the front tucks at all, especially since I had gotten them even with the center front seam this time! Besides, it it looked nice without a belt. But more importantly, since I was dumb enough to forget to lengthen the waist a little when cutting it out, the dress is a tad short waisted which looks flattering, but doesn't work with a belt. Yet there was always something at the waist in the 1940s! I didn't want a sash, but after some thought decided to squeeze a short back belt out of the blue jacket fabric, which will tie in the blue on the back and make it look nice and trim, take care of the extra give of the slightly too large waist, as well as leave the front undisturbed.

So I cut and made bands from the one piece of the jacket that was still long enough, to overlap and button in the back, and basted them into the side seams before stitching.

It's another reason to keep even the pieces you don't think you'll use until a project is finished. I'm so glad I didn't throw away the rest of the jacket when I was done cutting!

Now only the sleeves, side seam and zipper, and hem remain. And tacking down the facings and shoulder pads.

 

I think the vintage metal zipper I used for the back makes it look more authentic! And this time *ahem* I got the extension edges even!

 

After all the handwork and a good pressing, here is the finished product!

 

These buttons were the only ones that came close to working. I realized later they actually tie in the swirls on the fabric, so I'm happy with them and very pleased I decided on the belt since that ties in the blue and gives it a trim appearance, as well as dealing with the little bit of slack still remaining at the waist, yet without covering up my nice V in the front.

 

The sleeves worked out perfectly, I'm happy to say! At first I thought the point might be too high, but when worn it looks great. My first compliment when trying on the dress was, "Wow, Kristen!" and then "I like your sleeves!"

 

It looks very 1940s, in my opinion; which is just what I wanted.

 

As often happens, though it's different than my original idea, I like it even better the way it turned out! It's my current favorite thing I made (until the next project)!

 

And just right to wear to a small swing dance with friends.

Comments

[Kate-Em]

I really like the colour block bodice, it does show off the details wonderfully well. The back belt and buttons are good details too. You have made a great dress.