The summer has been very busy and I don’t feel like I’ve completed very many sewing projects for myself. Really the only reason I’ve completed anything is because I’ve been live streaming my sewing, which forces me to make things from the list of the-things-I-want-to-make-that-I-never-make-time-for. Do you have a list like that? Mine is lengthy!
One of the first of these things-I-don’t-usually-make-time-for projects was a dress made out of one of the fabrics I bought earlier this year. I really wanted to have it for events this month as they are generally quite hot and the fabric I found is nice and lightweight while still being opaque. I found this fabric at a local discount store for the awesome price of $2.99/yard and then later saw it at a regular price store for somewhere closer to $10/yard, which really made me feel like I got a deal!
The pattern for this dress is a Quinnpen special (ie. made by me). I took my inspiration directly from this extant dress at All The Pretty Dresses. Due to that, it qualifies for the HSM Challenge #8 Extant Originals (copy an extant historical garment as closely as possible)!
To start, just the facts:
Fabric: 2.5 yards cotton lawn.
Pattern: My own.
Year: 1925.
Notions: Small bits of contrasting fabric for bias binding, thread.
How historically accurate is it?: I’d say this one is about as close as I can get to 100%!
Hours to complete: Approximately 8 hours.
First worn: August 5, 2018.
Total cost: $10.50 (including the fabrics I used for decorative sash options).
For the bodice of this new dress, I started with my 1927 Blush Sparkle dress (that dress started life as a tube before I added a head hole, armholes, and side seams/darts to about the hip level). For the skirt, I made a circular pattern that had the zig zag top edges that are featured in the extant dress. It was a bit of trial and error process to get the zig zags just right, but I made it in the end! You can see the topstitched zig zag detail on the extant inspiration if you look at the pictures carefully.
The zig zag top edge of the skirt is pressed under and topstitched onto the bodice. On both my dress and the extant dress that detail gets lost in the pattern, but it allows the skirt to have a lovely drape and fullness while the top can stay that straight 1920s shape that is so iconic. Here’s a closeup of my topstitching. Not bad on the pattern matching!
I finished my dress armholes and neck hole using bias, as I believe the original did based on looking at the photos. My only changes here were to use a contrasting color so I could actually see where the openings are (before I put on the orange binding the blue on blue pattern just made a big indistinguishable pile!) and to turn the bias binding to the inside of the openings (given that I was using a contrasting color). Aside from that the only other detail I omitted was a center back seam on the bodice since I had enough fabric not to need it when I was cutting out the pieces.
The photo above shows the dress with two different sash options that I made for it: pink and orange. I bought the orange when I bought the blue, but when I got home I thought it might be too bold and decided I might like the pink better. But I really couldn’t decide, so in the end, I made both!
When I wore the dress, I was still undecided… so I took pictures with all three options: no sash, pink sash, and orange sash. See each look below!
The idea behind a sash was this inspiration: Wilton Williams, The Bystander, August 12th 1925, though after wearing it my preference is no sash! I think that the bold, large scale patterns in the fabrics of the inspiration dresses lend themselves better to a sash than this blue dress. The bonus part of not having a sash is that the dress is easy to wear, there’s no fussing with keeping a sash in place, and the dress really does have a nice 1920s shape to it even though the detail of the zig zag is lost from more than a foot or two away. What do you think? Does one style of sash (or no sash) speak most to you?
It’s fun to have a new dress to wear, discuss, and document! There are more dresses in the live stream queue, so if you want to stay in touch with what I’m making I would love to have you join me for one of my virtual sewing circles. You can join me on Wednesdays and Fridays from 9-10:30pm EST!
The Quintessential Clothes Pen 
All three options look fine to me, I couldn’t choose between them 🙂 Thinking about aesthetics is interesting when reproducing past stylings. I wonder if a 1920s person would lean towards the sashes because looking at pictures of people in their daily lives and fashion plates there is often a touch of fussy detail to 1920s clothing. We are used to simpler lines today
I’m sure that people in the 1920s (or any era) looked at styles and accessories differently than we do today. It’s just about impossible to fully set aside our modern aesthetics. Thanks for bringing that thought up!
That is a seriously adorable dress! I love the fabric, and I LOVE the gardens you are posing in. Someday I want to come hang out with you in those gardens.
(what the heck with the seller of the inspiration dress though? ‘Pristine condition’ for a very faded dress with a hole in it!)
Aw, thank you so much! The gardens at the Crane Estate are so fun to explore! You would definitely enjoy them! (I didn’t catch that description, though. I wouldn’t consider that pristine condition either!)