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Easter Dress 2020 (or, Dressed up and no where to go)

I have had this pretty fabric in my stash for a long time, and I decided 2020 was the year to do something with it. It's a lightweight, almost sheer purple-pink cotton blend with a floral print. Some of the flowers are flocked and soft, too! It looks vintage (it might be), so I thought a vintage Easter dress would be just the thing. This spring, I am especially loving pastel colors and dainty flowers. Of course, these come in fashion every year. But for some reason, I am just obsessed this year.


Another new obsession is Splendette reproduction jewelry. They are inspired by Bakelite jewelry of the 1940's and 1950's. They have such a wide range, including bangles in 3 widths, earrings, brooches, and necklaces. They offer each bangle in Maiden, Regular, or Duchess size (small, medium, or large). I own 9 pieces so far and I have an incredibly long wishlist. Here, I am wearing their Drop Hoop earrings and Midi bangle in Amethyst. Sadly , this color was discontinued and these are the only pieces I could get. Isn't it a gorgeous shade?


I hope to add to my collection of me-made vintage inspired dresses a lot more this year. I get impatient for the garment to be finished. And vintage dresses aren't the quickest to sew. When I need instant gratification, I sew a raglan tee-shirt or something like that.



Vogue 9106 has been in my collection for quite a while, and I love it. It buttons down the front and has a side zipper. I will probably be fixing it or replacing it with snaps; I didn't understand how to install the zip properly and it looks really bad. It needs a secondary opening for ease of dressing because the button placket ends at the waist, with no room to go over the head. The cut on sleeves (the blouse and the sleeves are in one piece) are cute and trimmed with cuffs.


The design detail that drew me to this dress, however, is the skirt. It has two rows of gathers on the sides, but is flat in the front and back. The tiered skirt effect is rather Little House on the Prairie, but I love it. It's simply charming.


I made a few changes to the pattern. It calls for bound buttonholes, but I didn't feel like dealing with that at the time. So I just used the automatic buttonhole function on my sewing machine. That function and I are not quite friends yet, and it took several practice attempts for a satisfactory result. If you aren't quite friends with your buttonhole machine either, I highly recommend practicing first. I always do a trial run. Also, I find that using a tear-away stabilizer over and/or under the fabric really helps for lightweight fabrics. Some sewists prefer to handsew buttonholes. I can't do that, but more power to those that can.


Overall, I would recommend this pattern. As mentioned above, the side zipper instructions aren't quite as clear as I would wish. And as long as you are confident with your gathering skills, this dress shouldn't prove difficult.

Yours in hard work, creativity, and a dash of pixie dust,
Sarah

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