Princess Seam 40s Dress





I pulled my wedding going-away suit out of storage recently and got it all ironed and ready for wearing again, and I realized that I never actually posted a picture of the dress without the jacket as I promised!  (To see the whole suit, you can go to this post.)  I was surprised at my utter lack of a brown brooch to finish the look, but I'll figure out a remedy for that in the future!
I made this dress and it's matching jacket out of some poly-mystery fabric found in a thrift store.  Before my wedding I was a college student on a budget, so in the authentic spirit of "make do"--if not the authentic fabric--I bought the poly-mystery and used a 1940s mail order pattern to create it.  These pictures are after a day at work, so pardon all the wrinkles!




 

I had never done princess seams on a garment, so this was a good learning process.  I need to do a bit more adjustment on the, ahem, bust area to give myself a bit more room, but otherwise it's perfect!  The only thing that threw me off at the time, as a not-as-skilled-as-I-am-now sewist, was that there were no facing pieces at all for the top, which includes the neckline, armholes, and straps all as one continuous line.  Now that I know things, it's obvious to me that bias tape would be a perfect way to finish this... but not then.  So... improvements will come in the future!
It's nice to know I've grown in my sewing skills.  I feel like there is still SO much to learn, always a new technique, some new specialty I'd like to learn.  But at least I am definitely growing my knowledge little by little!

(And look!  I made my first gif! Admittedly, I'm not on the cutting edge of technology, so this is cool to me.)


Outfit details
1940s brown shoes: Decades (Springfield, MO)
dress: me made, Mail Order 3700
red sweater: me-made, Sun-Glo 40 No. 2292
scarf: flea market

17 comments

  1. Your gif is great! I've never made one so you're lightyears ahead of me!
    And I hate facings. But I also hate bias tape..... This proves problematic at times. Lol
    In the spirit of disclosure though, I do like the way facings look (as long as they aren't doing that annoying flippy thing!) I just don't like sewing them. :)

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  2. I really really like that dress ughhhhhhh!!!

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  3. Such a lovely dress - the button detail is gorgeous and I LOVE that sweater, I've been wanting one like that in mustard for years now...*sigh*

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    1. It was REALLY easy to knit and REALLY fast, so if you ever wanted to try, this is a great pattern to make up!

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  4. This whole ensemble is so cute - I love the dress and even more so with the thick cardigan. Also, your hair roll is adorable. Two thumbs up! CC x

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    1. Thank you very much! And that hair roll is my flat-hair-day go-to 'do! Back comb it, roll it, and scarf it!

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  5. Such an adorable look on you! Love this dress. Love the lines and the way it fits you. Perfect!

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  6. Gorgeous dress and your GIF is cute! Also, you must be the only person I know who can still fit into anything from their wedding!

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    1. Ha, well it was only a year ago. And my grandma is still the same size she was in high school! Now THAT is impressive! I'm hoping to follow in her footsteps!

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  7. Beautiful outfit! This dress and its colours suit you splendidly. I love your hair and makeup here as well. The whole look is off-the-charts terrific!

    ♥ Jessica

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  8. This is such a cute outfit Emileigh! I don't have very many brown items in my wardrobe, but I'm trying to add more and this outfit is just another good reason why I should. I love the cranberry red cardigan with the dress, it's such a lovely combination. ❤ One of these days I hope to knit this pattern up myself!

    xox,
    bonita of Lavender & Twill

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  9. Your dress looks lovely, it has pretty shaping. I like it paired with the red cardigan.

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  10. I love the dress and the cardigan. I am a huge fan of 1940's fashion and you nailed it wonderfully! Great blog by the way.

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