Lulu (no website link, she called herself "your classic lazy lurker") was nevertheless energetic enough to send me this … time will only tell if I'm energetic enough to sew it!
It's proportioned for 1" gingham, so that the tucks and pleats make solid bands, as you see here. I would definitely get rid of that tacky black lace on the skirt, but, hey, YTMV (your tacky may vary).
I love it in black, but I would ADORE it in pink, or brown, or grass green … even red, if you didn't mind looking like a picnic. (And who really minds looking like a picnic?) You could even make it in blue, and then next Halloween you could be Dorothy, with minimal effort.
The pattern also says you can use 1" stripes; I'm having trouble visualizing that, so I may have to make it just to see if my imagination is working. Call it a diagnostic test!
A Dress A Day 
Fabulous dress! How do I know which size pattern to buy? In modern sizing I’m a 6/8, but in vintage I seem to wear all sort of different teen-numbered sizes. That page doesn’t seem to give measurements to correspond to the size. It look like it should be modern sizing, but I’d hate to buy the wrong one. Help!
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I love this dress. I’ll be buying fabric and pattern for it this week. I’d like to do it in a raspberry color, but I haven’t been able to find any raspberry in 1″, other then by the bolt. I like the tacky band, so I’ll be leaving it. -Miriam T
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Ooo, gorgeous! Ive actually thought of making something similar for quite some time now. And I dont mind looking like a picnic at all!
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Amber, In this pattern the 6/8/10 would probably work for you. There will be plenty of ease at the bustline so you’d want to sew the size closet to your waist. Love the style and would look great even in a non-gingham. I’d lose the lace band too. I’ll be buying this pattern when JoAnn’s puts them on sale for $3.99.
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WWWooow, I love this and that lace near the hem gives it the kick out of the kitchen into the party. Love the whole look.
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If I were making this (which I am not, since I don’t think my midsection can stand the attention), I would rearrange the buttons so that there would be one button every two inches. In other words, I’d put a button on every black square — or perhaps every white square. –Anais
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I’ve seen this technique used in two other applications: kilts and smocking. With kilts, they are using a different type of pleating for sure (cartridge pleats, anyone?), but the smocking thing definitely looks very close. Which means that you can use other regularly “plaided” (if there is such a word) fabrics, not just gingham. So, for those of us who don’t want to look like picnic tablecloths, other plaid fabrics are, I think, a definite possibility – you just have to make sure that it’s an even plaid.
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Sigh! If only these patterns came with the tiny waist required to wear the finished dress.
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I love the idea, but I can’t help the sinking suspicion that I’d wind up looking like a thick-waisted peasant. Boo.–Lydia
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Amber, go here for Vogue’s sizing chart:http://www.voguepatterns.com/indextec.htmThey generally advise you to choose the size based on your bust measurement and adjust other areas to fit, but of course in this case, you want to make sure that the waist is perfect! And don’t be alarmed if your pattern size is quite different than your RTW size – I usually wear a size 8/10 in stores, but make a size 12/14 pattern.Before sewing, also check the finished garment size (they usually print the bust and waist measurements on the pattern pieces themselves, and thankfully, some companies are now starting to print this information on the envelope). Compare the finished garment size to a garment you own that fits the way you want your new dress to; sometimes, even if the pattern is drafted for your measurements, you will find that the designer has included more or less ease (the difference between the measurement of the garment and the measurement of the body that’s wearing it) than you personally like.
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What would happen if you did the gathers with a stretchy thread? You’d have something wonderfully comfy at the waist! The lace around the skirt looks like an insert with no fabric behind it to me–isn’t that a bit of leg peeping through?
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I don’t understand how this pattern can be made into different sizes, all using 1″ gingham, and turn out looking the same. Am I missing something? Wouldn’t a larger size require a larger gingham to get the even stripes?Intriguing design. The lace seems gratuitous. I’d rather see a band of 2″ grosgrain ribbon in an unexpected color. Like brown and white gingham with an orange ribbon. Or green and white with navy.
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Ooo, That’s Gorgeous! Whew, that precise tucking & pleating would be tedious.
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Oh, sign me up for the tacky lace. Actually I think I am going to use black eyelet (I have a piece lurking in the stash) instead. I already bought the pattern and have ordered the fabric in black and white. Would love to see it in stripes. Lurker Mary Fran
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Wow, love this dress, and it looks like it would be super easy to sew as well. Lorraine, in answer to your question, there’s a set of tucks in front and another in the back. They don’t go all the way ’round the dress. So they add a little extra form at the seams sides for the larger size patterns. Yeah, I can also visualize stripes. They would run lengthwise on the dress and the mid section would appear to be solid. Yeah, and the lace has to go, at least in a gingham or stripe version.
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I think the dress is challenging enough to be encouraging to attempt. Even though I’m not much of a dress-wearer.The irony is, I showed the pattern to the husband, who is now telling me how sexy he finds the see-through effect. What a surprise (ha!)….guess I can make it to wear for my 2nd anniversary….
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This has nothing to do with this dress, fabulous though it is: Our own Erin is featured in the current issue of The Week on(surprise!)the Book List page. Good going, Erin! (Not to mention great book suggestions.)
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I love this dress . . . I visualize it in red-white gingham with white eyelet inset at the hem. Makes me long for Spring . . .
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That is so cute! Love it! I kind of like the black lace band, but not as see-through (THAT is the tacky part to me…). I might just sew it onto the fabric, after placing it over for a peek into how it would look first, of course. Something white could always go beneath the lace if pattern + lace = headache- and nausea-inducing.
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I think the dark wast band would have a slenderizing effect! I like the idea of doing this in a plaid. I’ve got some dark plaid taffeta (symetrical of course!) tha might work really well with this
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I can’t decide if I like that dress or not. I suppose if that is the case then I shouldn’t make one.
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I like the design but not the gingham. There’s too much going on for my tastes. And that black lace at the bottom looks like that chicken scratch embroidery that was popular in the ’80’s. Yeah, you’d definitely would have to have a tiny waist for this one and hips!–Judi
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I love the YTMV acronym!
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If you are familiar with gingham embroidery- snowflaking- Chicken Scratch, that would be retro and fun for the border.
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what confuses me is the length of both the models torso and her neck – whoa nelly! she’s like triple long! like preying mantis or something, a mantis in a cute checkered dress.BTW the stripe idea sounds SO appealing.
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The minute I opened this blog, I loved the dress! and the peek a boo lace. . .yes!
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What a great idea. I never would have thought about tucking to make solid lines.
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It’s a cute dress and I love the peek-a-boo lace. But sewing it looks tedious and I just don’t think it would look good on me. I’m alot bigger than that model! : )
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Don’t know if you can get to correct page, but I thought you might be interested in this fabric (having noted your comments about pinks and brown poka dots. If you cant see it by googling this address, the fabric is on Farmhouse fabrics. A brown ground with pink poka dot feather wale (I think).http://webstore.quiltropolis.net/stores_app/images/images_198/11-3-sm%20pink%20dots%20lg.jpg
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I love the effect this creates. A good excercise in folding exactly.
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I can see this in a red and white stripe with a solid red band sewn on the bottom. And perhaps solid red lapels. But that might be overkill.That having been said, I have so many other sewing projects ahead of this one, I will likely let it pass me by, mostly because I don’t want to buy the pattern and then spend the next several weeks/months/years looking for *the* fabric.I wonder if a person could purchase one-half inch wide stripes and get the same effect by making twice as many tucks twice as close together. Amy
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Love this! I agree with Amy above, I’d do stripes with a solid band at the hem instead of gingham + lace. Although if I was going to do lace, I’d use eyelet, not whatever they’re showing here. I’d love a muted color with off-white instead of pure black & white.
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I really like your site and your appreciation of the clothing from my era.You have even sho9wn a dress or two like ones I had.Clothes were so pretty and femenine. With full skirts, I always wore three petticoats.
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Holy moly!I made my Butterick retro wrap dress in a large scale navy gingham. Does a girl need two big and flashy gingham dresses in her closet? Maybe, maybe.
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I don’t particularly like this dress, but the tucking effect is haunting me. Maybe it’s because I’m a math freak. I have to incorporate this into something immediately!Crazy thought: What if you made it in multicolored stripes?!
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Great dress, I would love to make it for myself, but would have to figure a way to make it work on my short-waisted figure. ??How about elongating the middle tucks, lessening the intake gradually and ending them at the high hip, essentially changing them from tucks to darts??? BTW, I just got my first Jean Muir (next post) AND a length of 1″ black gingham , but which I intend to use for fitting pants (a project started last spring, and got a usable pair for around the house, but not out). I recently have used almost 10 yards of cheap poly jersey knit, trying to get a high cowl collar to fit, ended up abandoning the style for me. I seem to make a lot of fitting test-garments that I am never happy with, and so do not get much done in the way of making real cloths.
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Delish! Now, I know what to do with that Swiss lace I’ve been collecting. Love that gingham embroidery idea too. To the lady who asked about making the midriff stretchy. I did that in the 70s with a dress. You can get elastic thread to wind in the bobbin using regular thread on the top. Wonder if that thread is still around? K Q:-)
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I love this pattern, and the lace. It arrived today in the post, I had to order it from the US as it’s not out here (Oz) yet. I love the combination of design and fabric. I am facinated by it. I showed this and 3 other patterns to my husband and the only comment he made was that he thought the lace panel was very sexy.
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I made this one — loved it… http://www.flickr.com/photos/andreadecker/4658170269/in/set-72157594532963245/
xoxo, longtime fan Andrea
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