This is a new dress — I’ve never posted one from this pattern before, I don’t think.
It’s from this pattern, which as far as I can tell is Australian. (Also, I am amazed by the namespacing of this pattern line: one letter of the alphabet, and one number? That is some concision right there.) Also, it’s labeled “Woman” just in case you needed a hint, or to enforce strict gender performance, not sure which.
This is a fantastic Saturday dress, by which I mean you can get up at a reasonable (not ungodly) hour on a Saturday morning, sew this thing up, and wear it out for a late brunch. (Not that I’ve done that more than say, twice, so far. Stay tuned.) It’s ridiculously simple. And I love this little shoulder detail, which I’ve never seen before, and which sold me on the pattern:
Such a nice way to do bust fullness. Also, it’s very comfortable.
Another thing I like about this pattern is the skirt: two side pleats, then gathers to the side seam, but the center front is flat. This is great for ease of wear without too much bulk. Here’s my (mostly) matched plaids at the waist.
And the side zipper:
And the back. You can tell this was a lick-and-a-prayer ironing job, can’t you?
I wore this yesterday, with turquoise Keds that matched this blue, and a bright orange sweater (okay, and blue glasses and an orange watch, for maximum matchy-matchyness). For some reason, this getup gets LOTS of comments (Even more when I wear it while riding my orange bike). Mostly they were of the “that’s from the fifties/sixties, right?” type comments, but I was also asked (twice!) if I were in town for the Early Childhood Development conference (not that there’s anything wrong with that) and also “Those are some good colors!” which was followed up by a “you lookin’ good, baby!” (Usually being told “you lookin’ good, baby” makes me want to pull out my nail-studded Louisville Slugger from the Bag of Holding, but this guy was so nattily dressed himself, and had such a distinct Grandpa Aura that I just said “thank you, sir,” and went on my merry way.)
The only thing that bugs me about this dress is the neck facing — I’ve tried a real facing and I’ve tried bias tape facing and I’m not happy with either. I think I will have to experiment a bit more. Suggestions?
A Dress A Day 
You might just wanna line the bodice. It eliminates any and all facing issues, and you don’t have any darts that would have to be sewn in triplicate. (I’m currently constructing a Vogue 8811 in GIANT LOBSTER FABRIC and I’m lining the bodice because I know there is no way in heck those facings will do as they’re told.)
LikeLike
Where oh where can I find GIANT LOBSTER FABRIC? I could do surf-and-turf with this: http://www.dressaday.com/2009/06/01/did-you-miss-me-i-missed-you/
LikeLike
Michael Miller, of course!
http://www.fabric.com/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=852e66b4-6b73-4f2c-a0a7-0fc9ef187185&CategoryID=30cd4a71-13e5-4f0b-a595-504fe753fd27
It was a toss up between that and the crabs in blue or orange (http://www.fabric.com/quilting-fabric-shop-by-designer-michael-miller-fabric-michael-miller-going-coastal-collection.aspx) but the lobsters match my favorite cherry red wedges better. 😉
LikeLike
p.s. giant lobster fabric in action here:
http://wesewretro.com/2013/06/lobster-dress/
LikeLike
Great colors, I can just see you tooling around on your orange bike! Really enjoying 100 dresses in 100 days. Thanks for sharing them with all of us. 🙂
LikeLike
Orange! now I want to make something in orange and turquoise.
that is a very natty dress and the outfit sounds superb.
LikeLike
That is a great dress.
I sewed a Burda pattern with a similar neckline. The neck facing extended all the way to the shoulders, so that they can be caught in the sleeve seam. It kept the facing in place instead of flipping out. Have you tried that?
In this case, you don’t have a sleeve seam, but you could extend out the neck facings, and then hand tack them to the shoulder seam allowance.
LikeLike
This post made me laugh so hard I got a cramp! 🙂 Orange and blue is my favorite in a very long list of loved color combos, so I dig this make muchly. I second the lining the bodice suggestion. Whenever I try bias finishing on an angle that tight at the shoulder seam, it’s an epic disaster.
LikeLike
Must… Replicate… Shoulder pleats… (runs to drafting table)
P.S. I love the 100 dresses posts so far, and I love seeing so much of your sewing! Great to have you back, so to speak!
LikeLike
Lovely dress – I think you’ll find that ‘Woman’ refers to the magazine that released this pattern. It is an English/British magazine, published through the 1950’s [if not before] to about the millennium [it may still be in print, but I haven’t seen it lately]. It used to be a lead magazine here in England with its companion mag. Woman’s Own. They released dressmaking and knitting patterns as special offers through the magazine articles.
LikeLike
Ohhh, I’m Australian and I have this pattern, I think I have a couple of this brand, and they were available via mail order from a magazine or newspaper, (woman mag?). Enjoying the 100 dresses posts, looking forward to the book.
LikeLike
Love the colours! Love the shoulders! Can’t wait to see number nine.
LikeLike
I am really enjoying the daily dresses! Where can I find this pattern? I love the style of it – it’s vintage and yet so currant at the same time.
Your book sounds interesting1 Congratulations!
LikeLike
This is a vintage pattern, so I would search online, especially the sellers over there on the right, cough. 🙂
LikeLike
Oh how I miss the patterns and such from those vintage magazines. was Quite sad when Woman & Woman’s Own went out of print! Deemed too old fashioned for the modern woman; Sales figures went down.
I still see the patterns in charity shops on occasion.
LikeLike
Oh how I miss the patterns and suchlike that came with those old vintage magazines! They finally went out of print because they were deemed too old fashioned for the modern woman and sales fell!
LikeLike
Where can I get a copy of this great dress pattern?
LikeLike
[…] by A Dress a Day in her excellent Hundred Dresses series of a pattern I meant to revisit, I set about turning a very 70s red white and blue (and blue) […]
LikeLike