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VIntage-Inspired Belle Sundress and Shrug


YouTube video associated with this blog post

This dress has been long in the making. Originally, I bought it from Hot Topic, I think, years ago. We all know my obsession with Disney's Beauty and the Beast. So it was just perfect for me. A few years later, I found another of the same dress on eBay. And a few years after that, I found (what I thought was) a matching fabric on Aliexpress. (Which I don't really recommend). So using all of these items, I was able to make an adorable ensemble of a dress and a shrug.


I was never completely pleased with the fit of the original dress. There were 3 issues. Number 1: My waist is longer then the average, I guess. Many times, the waist seam of dresses are 1 or 2 inches higher then my natural waist. It isn't flattering for me. This dress is no exception. Number 2: The skirt is slightly too short for my taste. And Number 3: I always hate sleeveless dresses on myself. It isn't flattering to my body. And I'm always cold, so I'm going to cover them up with a sweater or something anyway. So why bother sewing them?


For the first issue, I thought about removing the skirt and inserting a panel in between the bodice and skirt. But that would require removing the zipper completely and replacing it with a longer one. Too much work. (And this shade of teal blue is unique, so I wouldn't be able to find a matching zipper anyway). In the end, I decided to make a wide belt to cover the seam. It hopefully camouflages the problem. I was so pleased to use a vintage covered belt kit I found in a thrift store. The belt and also the lining of shrug is leftover fabric from my 1950's Belle Ballgown. To attach the fabric to the metal buckle, the kit included a double-sided sticky backing. I guess because it's so old, it wasn't as sticky as it should have been. In the end, I had to hot-glue the edges of the fabric down. It's a little messy, but it passes the 10' rule. And that's good enough for me.


For the second, I made a ruffle to add a little length. I took the second dress and cut the skirt in strips. Trust me, it was painful to slice up a perfectly good dress. Then I sewed it into a huge loop, hemmed the bottom, and gathered it to fit the hem of the first dress. While it still isn't as long as I would like, it's a big improvement and it's wearable.


And for the third issue, I made a brand new garment. I made a cute little shrug. The pattern was by Gertie, Butterick B6354. This Tiki/Hawaiian/Vintage inspired ensemble is just too cute. It includes a shrug (or bolero), halter-top, shorts, and a sarong/wrap skirt. All the pieces are designed to mix, match, and layer. I will definitely be sewing more pieces from this pattern in the future. Casual summer dresses with matching boleros/shrugs were quite popular in the 1950's and I find them irresistible.

The Aliexpress fabric is clearly a knock-off of the fabric of the original dress. The background color almost matches the original. Close enough that the casual observer wouldn't notice. The scale of the print, however, is much larger on the knock-off. It doesn't bother me too much using it on different garments.

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

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