Back to the Journey... Second Dress, Spring 2005

Before I update with my latest project, I figured I would return back to my re-cap of the vintage journey-- it's been awhile. Let's review: gored skirts and one sadly juvenile-looking dress are all she wrote. It's my senior year of high school and EVERYONE--I mean EVERYONE--I know is making their prom dresses. I was the only person in my group of friends whose prom dress was not made by them or someone else. It's a sad story, really...

*Cue sad music*

I had originally planned to make my prom dress out of an amazing, early 50s slip pattern that could easily be made to look like a gorgeous formal dress. ON MY WAY TO THE FABRIC STORE, I said, "Mom, let's stop at the mall and just look at the prom dresses for fun, just to have the experience." As luck (or stupidity) would have it, I found one that I fell in LOVE with and changed my mind and bought it on the spot. The day of prom, I did my own hair and just looked really bland. I looked like regular me wearing a dress. I totally and completely regret not making it. But, oh well. Such is life.

*End of side rant*

OOOoohhkaaay, enough of that. (Sorry, I have bitter feelings towards prom and its lack of awesomeness. They played NO good music and I felt like I looked blah. Sorry.) ANYWAY! So, because I failed to make my prom dress, I wanted to make my graduation dress. Being the rebel that I was (not), I wanted to make something black, even though we were instructed to wear white under our not-flattering-on-anyone yellow gowns. I saw this pattern and thought, OOOH, nice shape, I like it, let's do it:



Enter, Vintage Simplicity 7649, Circa 1976.

Now, to be honest, I have no idea exactly where my patterns were coming from at this point. I can't remember if I had already bought some, or if I was just still "borrowing"............them from the drama department's amazing stash. Being that this one has a sticker on it leads me to believe I had SOME purchased, probably from the best place of all time to buy vintage patterns for insanely cheap.


Needless to say, I didn't have much of a selection, but I remember LOVING this one. Now, being the optimist that I am, I said to Mrs. F, "I'm not sure I like either view as it is. I don't want the pockets. I just want short sleeves, but on the dress. Oh, and it's not exactly my size, either." Being the inexplicably wonderful and willing teacher that she was, she gave in to all of my "demands" and helped me alterthe pattern and make all of my nit-picky little changes. One of the funniestmoments I remember from her class was standing on top of a desk, rotating around with the chalk-dust-sprayer to self-mark the hem. (If you have no idea what that is, look here. It's quite the snazzy instrument, especially if you don't live with anyone who can help you with your hem.) I experienced my first "upper-level" sewing tactics with this dress: a collar, sleeves, belt carriers, and--probably Mrs. F's greatest idea--covered buttons. She said, "Since the dress is all black and so dark, you should do two things: get a really nice brightly colored belt to go with it and cover your own buttons!" To do this (it's really cool), you have to go to the fabric store, buy some blank metal buttons that come with a button-cover-tool (so technical, I know), pick the fabric you want, and stomp 'em out. (Google "cover your own buttons" and you'll see). So, there you have it, The Graduation Dress:

Now, this picture does it much more justice than how it turned out originally. This is after taking it in (which Mrs. F. insisted it didn't need, but, uh, it DID) and after discarding the pathetic belt I purchased for it. Observe:

Graduation Night

Eeeewwwww. Granted, however, I was SO SICK in this picture. I almost didn't make it to graduation because I was SO. FREAKING. SICK. Andy had to carry me to the car and I subsequently missed EVERYONE'S graduation parties.


In any case, I love this dress to pieces and it has definitely gotten the most use out of any of the things I've made. The black color and the style of it actually make it easy to give it a more 1940s feel. As a result, it's been used for Halloween (I was the girl from The Notebook), I wear it every year during my 6th graders' "History of Fashion" unit, and, most recently, I had a cameo in my school's production of Annie Jr., which takes place somewhere in the 20s-30s, so I figured with a little period-hair, I'd be close enough:


I REALLY wish I didn't have to cut out the kids, because they were SO DARN CUTE. Darn privacy and legal issues. This will make me more mad when I post about the Annie dress. Alas. Also: those shoes are not vintage, but I bought them because they sure look it! They were actually a Macy's find around 2005 and I've cherished them ever since. (Also: ironically, I was thisclose to being REALLY sick in this picture, too. I started feeling bad right after my part and I think I missed about 3 days of school after this! Yikes.)

Soo, in conclusion... (haha).......

-MAKE YOUR PROM DRESS!
-TAKE IN STUFF WHENEVER IT'S NECESSARY!
-USE VINTAGE PATTERNS, THEY'RE THE BEST!

Garment Features:
-Belt Carriers
-Covered Buttons
-Hand-stitched hem