You might have noticed my most un-regular posting this past week. The main reason for that are that I’ve been struggling to finish my by now late entry for challenge 22 – Modern history.

But now finally it is finished, and here comes a quick write up.

My inspiration pic.

I decided to make a 1930s dress using a lovely plaid fabric I’ve bought a few years ago for another project.

I cut the pieces on bias to get a nice layout of the plaids.

The cut pieces.

I’ve started this project about a month ago and since my last update, I’ve fixed some problems and encountered some new.

I took the skirt in a few more centimeters to give it a better fit. Some huge seam allowances before trimming.

So far so good.

I’ve pinned the zipper to the side seam and stitched it in place.

I redrafted and cut new sleeves, which now fit much better (not perfect though).

But what the heck is this!The bias cut of the slim dress make the zipper wobble and pucker something enormously.

I didn’t know what to do to fix it completely, but I ripped the zipper out, fussed on some interlining and hand stitched it back, making sure to shortening it as much as possible. It does look better but not near as good as it should.

I then finished the dress by stitching a bias tape to the inside of the neckline, hemming the skirt and making the belt and bow.

The finished dress:

 

Just the facts:

Challenge: nr 23 – Modern History

What: a 1930s plaid dress

Pattern: I drafted my own based on the inspiration pic.

Fabric: 1,5 m of polyester plaid, 0,3m of white polyester satin and a scrap of black cotton velvet.

Notions: Thread, zipper, fusible interning, and bias tape used for facing.

How Historical accurate: So so. The look of it is about right, and the plaid is plausible but It should probably have been made in wool.

Time: Way to long! And its a miracle I finished at all with all the trouble I’ve had whit this dress.

Cost: Since everything came from stash it was practically free but If I would have bought everything new I probably have spent about 200 Sek (32Usd).

Fists worn: Dec 22 for a photoshoot. It was meant to be worn for Christmas, but I’m not totally convinced I can pull it of (guess I will decide after the photoshoot).