1940s Floral Color Block Dress

This has to be one of my favorite projects this year so far. It was so much fun! The giant floral reproduction print my sweet husband bought (along with a few other prints) from our friends at The Singer Featherweight Shop as an early birthday gift for me, and even though I knew I wouldn't fit in this dress long, I had to go ahead and make something with it!

 

But because it was so busy and colorful, I wanted to pair it with some solids to tone it down. I quickly settled on a vintage Butterick color block dress pattern, which I've had for 3 or 4 years and never got around to making before. The next step was choosing which colors to accent!

 

I didn't want to choose the navy and red, for fear of it looking too patriotic themed, and wanted something more interesting than white, so that left me with the coral pink, leaf green, and French blue in the print. Now, a lot of 1940s color block dresses used VERY interesting color combinations - certainly ones I wouldn't necessary think of putting together! I wanted this dress to look nice, but also Period, with perhaps a color combination that would be a bit of a stretch for me...something I wouldn't normally do.

 

I had some French blue leftovers in my stash that were the perfect match, and since blue is a good color for me, I chose that as the main accent. I had nothing for the second color, so I went to the local quilt shop and matched the pink. Thankfully they had one solid shade that was the right color, and it was even on the clearance rack. I only needed 1/8 yard, so ended up paying just $.63 for it - definitely affordable! :-)

 

With the colors chosen, I cut out the dress and started work on it. The yoke was the trickiest bit of sewing I've done for a while. At first it looked like nothing that would resemble part of a bodice. I had to carefully match each step to the instructions, and may have used the seam ripper once or twice... I've done similar collar construction, but not with little pieces to put together correctly first, and various seemingly random gaps since parts of the yoke were also the facing and would be folded back! Thankfully my concentration paid off, and it came together without too much hassle.

 

The rest of it was easy, with a basic 2 piece skirt and button front. I flat-lined the floral part of the bodice, and made the back tucks into darts so it wouldn't bag out too much at my shoulder blades. I was intending to use white buttons at first, but ended up settling on these blue ones instead. Might as well keep with the colorful theme!

 

I am super happy with the result. It looks interesting (and unique for me) yet put together, and really pretty and spring-like! I was very careful with the construction (matching & finishing seams and such like) so I hope this may be a good candidate for our county fair later this summer.

 

Now that I have the complicated yoke part figured out, it should be easier to do a second time - and I love the look of this dress well enough to have a second version planned already, this time with all solid colors for a perfect polished 1940s style combination. That version will have to wait until after the baby comes, however.

 

Because the dress is so colorful, I paired it with mostly white accessories. Maybe eventually I will get more adventurous!

 

I may only get to wear this once or twice before I have to put it away for later, but it makes me very happy nonetheless! It's one of my projects that I really think looks like it could have stepped out of the era, which delights my history-loving soul. :-)

 

Comments

[Anne von beswingtes Allerlei]

You always look so great and wear the great clothes with so much elegance and self-understanding that it is really a pleasure to look at you.

Thank you :)

Greetings, Anne

[Karen]

I just found your blog and am now spending a lovely Saturday catching up on your beautiful sewing. I absolutely LOVE this dress. And yes, it does look like it stepped right out of the 1940s. I hope now that your little one is here you were able to pull it out a few times this summer.