1940s Confetti House Dress

This was one of the dresses I would have made this summer had I not been pregnant. Now I quickly am squeezing in a few cotton house dresses this fall yet, even though the weather has already turned. I do wear them year-round anyway, just layer with sweaters in the winter. At least the dark color is a bit more fall-appropriate.

 

This cotton is perfect for an everyday dress since it won't show stains or dirt easily, and is dark enough that I won't need to wear layers under it when it is hot. It's not a reproduction print, but works very well for a vintage style dress. I call it my confetti dress, since that's what the print reminds me of.

 

I've made this 1940s pattern before, and it is one of my most-worn everyday dresses. I reach for it constantly when it is clean and in my closet, so I decided it was time to make another version. 

 

The print has many colors in it, so I originally wanted to keep the buttons navy so that I could accessorize with any of the colors. But all-navy buttons didn't look right with so much navy already in the dress, so I went with some pretty, textured, new-old-stock vintage shell buttons from my stash.

I also added some white lace trim to the sleeves to break up all the blue, but hoped that since white is such a generic color, I could still accessorize with pink, light blue, yellow, or red from the print. It does look nice with a white belt, and I always gravitate toward accessorizing blue with red, but for these pictures I did something different and paired it with light pink. I think that works too. 

 

It was such a quick and simple dress that there's not much to say about it. The shoulder tucks are the only detail - everything else is pretty basic. I glanced at the instructions maybe 2 or 3 times while I was sewing, and made the whole thing from start to finish in less than 3 days. 

 

Another time I must remember to lower the the waist a tad since it hits a little high. This version I also made a bit longer since my green one was on the short side. 

 

Otherwise there's not much to say! It's a nice addition to my everyday wardrobe, and I'm glad to have this cotton off my shelf (where it's been waiting for a few years) and in my closet. It will get a ton of wear year round, I am certain!

Comments

[Rebecca Young]

I love the style and colour of this dress

[Irene]

Very pretty dress ! The patience to see sew all those buttons ( my least favorite part of sewing)
Love your hairstyle! I also use sponge rollers it does calm the frizz in my hair. How may times a week to use your sponge rollers?
Always enjoying your sewing projects!
Blessings,
Irene

[Lynne A Johnson]

I love the design of your dress. It is very flattering and comfortable looking. I don't think I've ever commented on your photography. The photos are so clear!!

[Kristen Stoltzfus Clay]

Thanks all!

Irene, I usually set my hair 3 times a week, and take photos on the first day. The next day I usually pull it back into a barrette, and use side combs.

Lynne - thank you! I use the Portrait mode on my iPhone 8 plus. It's the best camera I've found yet. :-)

[Rebecca]

Love the style of dress! Where could I find the pattern for it?

[Kristen Stoltzfus Clay]

Hi Rebecca,

The pattern I used was a vintage one from the 1940s, Simplicity 4662. You may be able to find a copy online, but if not, your best bet is to look for one similar in style. This type of dress pattern was quite popular and there are many different versions out there.

[Lynn]

May I ask—how is the reaching room in the back and sleeve? I love the vintage look, but find so many patterns are too fitted in that area and are constricting. Women had yo do all kinds of work in those dresses, so surely they were made with reaching room! If you have any wisdom about that, please share.

[Kristen Stoltzfus Clay]

Hi Lynn,
You are right, often there is some restriction on arm movement with some of these patterns. It doesn't generally bother me that much, but if it's a big deal, you can easily find vintage patterns, especially from the 1940s, that have shoulder gathers in the back, or raglan set sleeves, which allow for complete range of motion.

[Lynn Schofield]

Thank you. Raglan sleeves I have not ventured into in my relatively new vintage clothing sewing hobby, but that is food for thought. I have been considering the fullness under a back yoke option, though. On another post you model a dress you made with an inverted box pleat in the middle of the back that was stitched in place at top and bottom. Do you recall what pattern that is? (Brown patterned fabric). I love the way that pleat looks and I also think it would give more reaching room, as would a back yoke with gathers (like a blue dress you made with white Rick-rack trim) or the traditional men’s shirt central box pleat. I’m considering adding variations of these to some dress patterns and would love to see how that inverted box pleat was constructed in your dress. Part of my problem is broad upper back, prominent shoulder blade, high rounded back, and forward shoulder, which require many pattern alterations for a good fit, but if I broaden the back enough to reach easily in the dress, unsightly excess fabric folds appear. I have made a vintage shirt dress I made work for me by adding underarm gussets and a wedge gusset between the back armscye and sleeve, which fold up like a pleat would when my arm is down, but still make the dress comfortable enough to wear while driving a car. But maybe the back yoke with controlled fullness via pleats or gathers would work better and look better! Thank you.

[Kristen Stoltzfus Clay]

Sounds like you have already done a good job of problem solving...but if you want a pattern that fits better without a lot of alterations, I'd definitely recommend trying raglan sleeves and/or gathers under a yoke.

I think the dress you are referring to is this one: https://verityvintagestudio.typepad.com/my-blog/2022/02/late-1950s-leaf-dress.html
Basically instead of gathering the fullness, it's just pleated into the yoke with one large center pleat. I top stitched it down above the waist because I liked the look better. But yes, it does extend the reach of the dress.