Princess seamed dress with short puff-sleeves from 1980’s Style 4603 pattern

TOTAL TIME COMMITMENT: 37 hours including toile

Toile & pattern fitting: 15 hours

Cut out & transfer all pattern markings: 2 hours

Main construction: 9.5 hours

Lining construction, attachment and hemming: none

Finishings (attach buttons, make button holes, hem sleeve and hem skirt): 9.5 hours

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PATTERN CHANGES

• Deepened the scoop neckline

• Changed the patch pockets to pockets concealed in the front skirt seams

SEAM FINISHING & DECORATIVE EXTRAS

• Princess seams on bodice – overlock together

• Armscye & attach skirt to bodice – overlock together

• Skirt seams – overlock together

• Shoulder seam – Overlock each side separately

• Sleeve seam – Overlock each side separately

• Facing edge – bias bind raw edge

• Topstitch sleeve hem

• Handworked buttonholes

 VERDICT & LESSONS LEARNT

This is my first princess-seamed garment, and I spent a loooooong time analysing the fit on the toile, pinching out excess and transferring the adjustments to the paper pattern. In the end, this amounted to removing some excess both just above and just below the waist to account for my hollows, a slight decrease in the shoulder width, and a slight tapering in at the underarm. This is probably the very first garment I have made so many fit adjustments to, and even though this process took quite a while, and the adjustments were really quite small, I am thrilled with the result. It fits me so well, especially around the shoulder and bustline, and hence, looks so lovely on me.

I liked working with the shirting fabric. The Panama weave is quite a loose airy weave, and I find the resulting fabric has that kind of floppy lived-in chic of linen, perfectly suited for wearing on a warm summer’s day.

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Other Dress Sewing Projects

A cropped jacket in cotton twill from 1980’s New Look 6007 pattern

TOTAL TIME COMMITMENT: 16 hours including toile (note this jacket is self-lined in the same fabric)

Toile (without buttons, lining, interior seam finishing, basting stitch removal or hemming): 6.5 hours

Cut out & transfer all pattern markings (both main fabric and facing): 2.5 hours

Main construction: 7 hours

Lining construction: none

Finishings (buttons, button holes, hem): none

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PATTERN CHANGES

I added a waistband and cuffs – attach to the outermost layer, fold to the inside then stitch-in-the-ditch from the outside

Since I didn’t want to make this with shoulder pads (which the shoulder is designed for) but still wanted a ‘slouchy’ ovesized shoulder fit, I reduced the shoulder length by 2.5cm at shoulder head, grading down the armscye by 15cm

Since this pattern has no lining, I chose to self-line the bodice by simply cutting extra pieces of the main bodice, and applying them in reverse. This very neatly hides all the interior raw edges

SEAM FINISHING & DECORATIVE EXTRAS

• Armscye – overlock together

VERDICT & LESSONS LEARNT

This is a fantastic loose fit on me, and is excellent without the buttons. It’s a brilliant summer jacket option in the cotton twill fabric – serves all the same purposes as a denim jacket but a bit different.

These sleeves were incredibly difficult to set in, but I managed it without a single pucker. I took a very long time gathering and pinning in place before sewing, then sewed from the side of the gathers to control that better. The extra careful effort was worth the smooth result.

One thing to note on fit, is that I still think the arms are a little too long for me, which is disappointing for a made-to-measure, and I think it is because when ‘sizing them up’ before sewing, I hadn’t pressed the cuffs down, so they were a little ‘springer’ and higher before sewing and pressing.

I think the cuffs and waistband I added were GENIUS – they really finish this jacket off for me, much more in-keeping with my style at the moment

VARIATION IDEAS

Add just two buttons at the waistband, double-breasted style single row of buttons

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More 1980’s style