I'm venturing into vintage!

As if I haven’t got enough current patterns in my stash, I have recently acquired some very nice vintage dress patterns. I thought that I would make a start with this ‘swinging sixties’ little shift dress, complete with neck bow.

I have pictured the pattern with the fabric that I am using – a Liberty print, double silk, called ‘Broadwick Flutterby’. This 2 metre piece of fabric was a super-lucky find at the bottom of the remnants bin in the Liberty store during one of their sales, at a cost of £19.98 (about 30 US Dollars), which is an excellent bargain. I am thinking that the overall effect should be very similar to View 2 (the one on the right on the pattern envelope above).

As it turns out, the sizing of this pattern is (almost) just right for me. It’s a Half Size – which my vintage Simplicity Sewing Book (dated 1958) tells me is “designed for a fully developed figure, shorter than the Miss-Woman, with larger waist, narrower shoulders”. Does that mean short and fat? Well, whatever, it fits my figure type rather well.

My flat pattern measurements told me I still needed to do an FBA and, after making a muslin, I raised the armholes to give me a bit more arm movement but then I was good to go. So, wish me luck, my first vintage dress is now under construction and I’m hoping to show you a picture very soon ………..