Butterick 5814: The Draped Wiggle Dress

Now that my coat is finished, I'm embarking on a new project: sewing up my other new Butterick pattern for myself! (It's Butterick 5814, and it's currently on sale for $3.99 online.) While I don't quite have the stamina to do an official sew-along for this one, I will be doing a series of detailed posts on its fit and construction. Like I did with the coat pattern, I wanted to start with a post on the design and its inspiration.

From the beginning (when I proposed this design to Butterick), I've always called this "The Draped Wiggle Dress." When I think of the classic wiggle dress, I usually think of something in wool, with sleeves and a higher neck. (Like the one in my book!) But then there's also the cocktail-style wiggle dress, in a fancier fabric. The genesis for this one was the green dress Joan wears in a Mad Men poster.

I loved the side drape on the dress she wears here. From this point, I started looking at other designer dresses from the era, particularly the work of Peggy Wood. It was her use of little raglan sleeves and bodice draping that inspired by own bodice design. Here's an example of a typical Peggy Wood bodice:

{source}

So now you can see how my own design was born; it's a mish-mash of a couple favorite styles.

It's certainly an interesting way to design. It's obviously nothing original, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have its challenges. While working on a pattern like this, things constantly need to be tweaked and re-imagined. Taking cues from photos is one thing, but then the process of putting those details into an original pattern can be quite time-consuming and difficult.

Tomorrow I'll write about the construction of this dress. While it looks drapey and soft, it has a serious inner structure, including steel boning, underlining, and a grosgrain waist stay!

Finished Rose Applique Dress

It's done! The Joan Holloway-inspired dress I blogged about last week is now complete, thanks to an old tablecloth and a little crafty thinking. (A big thanks to those who gave me applique tips in the comments; I took note for next time!) It seems pretty appropriate to post on Valentine's Day, doesn't it?

The pattern is this one that I draped last year, and am still perfecting the fit on. (I wear my green polka dot version all the time, and get so many nice compliments on it.) And yes, it's more of the pinky-red merino I made that little suit out of. And I still have some left! I must have bought out the entire stock of that stuff. What can I say? It's my color.

It has a centered, lapped zipper, just like Joan's would have. (I also have a classy Joan-esque chignon, thanks to the multi-talented Fleur!)

It's lined in bright red silk Habutai, and the midriff section is interfaced to keep it smooth. 

An applique close-up:

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say I've gotten a little applique-happy. There's a vintage lobster tablecloth coming my way in the mail. (Lobsters!) And then all the products I have to look into: stabilizers, interfacings, threads . . .  Watch out, world!

In Progress: The Joan Rose Applique Dress

I realized that I don't do a lot of posts as I'm working on a project lately. Being a drama queen, I'm all about the "big reveal." But I feel like there's something useful in watching the progression of a project, right? So I thought I'd do a little post about what's in my sewing machine right now.

So, you all realize I'm obsessed with Joan from Mad Men, right? I know I'm not unique in this obsession. But I do feel a personal connection to that character. It has nothing to do with her personality, it has to do with her hips. That's right, hips.

I know lots of us find it refreshing to see Christina Hendricks's body type on a current program. And for me, it's become almost therapeutic. You know those "OMG my hips are huuuuge!" moments? When that happens, I say two words to myself: Joan Holloway. ( I refuse to call her Joan Harris, it's true.) And it actually works! Instant therapy. Actually, it only works in conjunction with a mental image like this one:

So, long story short. I think about Joan a lot. I also think about her dresses a lot. And one of my favorites is the rose applique dress she wore on what I call the "accordion dinner party episode."

I recently had the idea to copy this style by taking vintage rose fabric and using it for appliques. I found this tablecloth:

source

It has many large stains on it, so I didn't feel bad about cutting it up. (I don't think I could bring myself to cut a usable vintage tablecloth!) The background matches the pinky-red merino wool I have. So I started cutting out individual roses, leaving 1/4" around them. I experimented with appliqueing them by hand, but found I preferred the polished look of machine applique instead.

I assembled the bodice of my dress and arranged my roses around the neckline, pinning them in place.

This took a lot of playing around and squinting at it. I even had to sleep on it one night, and come back to it fresh the next day. When I was happy with the arrangement, I glue-basted the roses in place.

Next, I began machine appliqueing them in place, using a narrow zig zag on a very short stitch length. I did a couple samples to get the setting I liked best.

And here's where I am! It needs a little work cleaning up the edges of the appliques, but you get the idea.

More to come!

Has Mad Men Really Changed the Way We Dress?

Isn't it interesting how Mad Men has become synonymous with retro fashion? Anything from sheath dresses to skinny ties to regular old pencil skirts are now described as having "Mad Men style." I'm a huge fan of the show, and the fashion is undeniably one of the main attractions. It's given us a language for clothes, in a way. I look at vintage sewing patterns (or even things on ModCloth) now and think, "Oh, that's totally a Joan dress" or "Peggy would so wear that." And the show has definitely put early 60s fashion—which can become a gray area between poodle skirts and love beads in the cultural lexicon—on the map.

But perhaps the descriptor has become a little broad. I've seen patterns from the 40s marketed as "Mad Men style" (huh?) and chain stores like Banana Republic have gotten in on the action to push what looked like pretty straightforward business casual to me.

Banana Republic window display

And it's not as though retro was not a trend before four years ago. But there is something undeniable about the way the show has touched a sartorial nerve. Perhaps the stage had been set—after all, companies like Stop Staring had been making reproduction wiggle dresses long before a certain curvaceous redhead graced our screens. Is it possible that Mad Men came along at the perfect time in the zeitgeist and helped us put a name to something that was already building? Or do we really dress differently because of Mad Men? Perhaps a little of both. One thing is for sure: we can probably never  look at a red wiggle dress the same way again.

What do you think? Has Mad Men changed the way you dress?

A Tour of the Mad Men Costume Shop!

In celebration of the return of Mad Men tonight, I thought I'd post this awesome video. It's a tour of the Mad Men costume shop with designer Janie Bryant.

This is a great look at the designer's perspective on the period, especially when she said this was a time when "people weren't afraid to dress." I love that idea! It seems maybe we do have a fear of dressing today, maybe due to our uber-casual era that we talked about in this post. I think it also directly relates to some of the excellent points brought up in the feminism comment thread: perhaps this was a period of greater respect for our bodies and our appearances.

Some other great moments include Bryant showing off a gorgeous green and blue printed chiffon dress, a fabric that she notes as being "so popular for this period." She also mentions a donation that they received of loads of vintage fabric and patterns.

I also loved the peek into the tailor's shop, where the cutter is constructing a beautiful green dress. I wonder if it's for Joan!

Bryant hints at the costumes for the upcoming season, which is set in 1963, with lots of "dramatic shapes and colors."

Squeee! Will you be watching tonight?

The Joan Holloway Dress: Take Two

Sometimes after I finish I project, I can't stop thinking about how to improve it. Especially the fit. I usually continue to obsess about it until the only option is to immediately make the project again. It's very exhausting to be me sometimes. (It also requires a lot of fabric.)


As I wrote about earlier, my first stab at Simplicity 3673, a reissued vintage pattern, involved a lot of fitting around the waist and bottom hem. As I wore the dress (twice in two days!), I found I was also unhappy with the bodice fit. It kept gaping around the front and back neckline, the armholes, and a deep wrinkle formed around the bust. Here's how I altered the pattern. While wearing the dress, I pinned out the extra fabric. Here's a couple views of the tucks I took out:

Then I measured the depth of the tucks and transferred them to the pattern. You have to slash and overlap the amount of the tucks, like I did in this sba tutorial.

So I made this again with my altered pattern, in a nice red double knit from Gorgeous Fabrics (it's on sale now!). The alterations on the bodice made the neckline a little higher, but I think it's a nice alternative to the original look. It's possible I got a little overzealous with tucking out fabric, because now the under-bust seam keeps riding up. See, this is why I should really always make a muslin after major alterations to a pattern. Live and learn, right?

I'd never worked with double knit before, and I liked it, but I think the wool crepe is a better choice for this dress.

I've been getting really into Ambiance Bemberg lining (I buy mine at B&J in the Garment District, but you can buy it online here), and I used a coral color to line just the bodice in this version. I like how it creates a rich monochromatic color scheme.

Whew. I think I can lay this pattern to rest now. On to the next VoNBSS project!

Channeling Joan Holloway

I am a huge Mad Men fan. When I first saw this emerald green wool crepe at Paron Fabrics, I thought "Joan would look fantastic in that color!" Alas, Joan is a fictional character, so I had to buy it for myself instead. I think she'd approve though.

I made this little sheath dress from a vintage reissue pattern from Simplicity.

This was my first time using a reissued vintage pattern, and I have to say it was a little disappointing. I made my usual size (14), and when I put it on, it looked like a sack. Perhaps I should have gone down a size, but then the fit probably would have been off in the hips. I really had to do a lot of finessing to get the hourglass look of the original pattern illustration. I took it in about three inches at the waist, and reduced the hem circumference by four inches (to get that nipped in look at the knee).

It seems like one of the major things pattern companies do to modernize a vintage pattern is to give it much more ease for a "contemporary" look. This seems kind of counterproductive to me. If I wanted a contemporary fit, I'd just buy a contemporary pattern design. The envelope photographs probably should have clued me in. Look how baggy the gray version is in the skirt!

But anyway, once I got the fit I wanted, I was pretty happy with this pattern. I especially like how the bodice is lined to the edges rather than using facings. I like the full-skirted view as well, so I might give that a go at some point.

What have your experiences been with reissued patterns? I'd love to hear about them in the comments!