Past Projects · 1950s Ric-Rac Dress

This dress has been a favorite for years!  I found this super cute ric-rac fabric on clearance at Hancocks a few years ago, and wanted to do something interesting and out of the ordinary with the stripes.   I found pictures of a vintage dress that fit the requirements and then went to the work of replicating it!  This dress was a really big challenge to pattern and fit, since moving each seam or the angle of a stripe by just a fraction of an inch ends up affecting the whole bodice in unexpected ways.   But, (other than being completely unable to match the stripes on the side seams) I was successful! :-)  Once the hard work of drafting and fitting the pattern was over, the main part of the dress was really was easy to make.  The fabric is sheer enough to easily see the stripes from the wrong side while sewing, so making sure everything matched up while it was being assembled was a breeze!  I get lots of comments of "Oh!  I can't imagine matching all those stripes!" but I always have to smile, because the process of actually sewing it was a piece of cake! ;-)

The skirt is trimmed with a band of bias fabric.  The neckline is edged with fabric and then the front detail has bound buttonholes with fabric trim (which is incidentally a very handy place for storing small scissors while sewing! ;-) )

And, as always, silliness abounds with the Yens. ;-)

· Pictures by Kathryn ·