Heather Hacks Again - The 1940's Dress

Until this summer my instagram feed was almost 100% sewing content. It's my comfort zone and so I never strayed far from my sewing friends.  However those friends have other hobbies they like to post about. Things that piqued my interest and made me want to know more. If I had to put my finger on the starting point then it would have to be Luxulite brooches.  Both Sarah and Ange posted pics of cherry brooches within a week of each other. That made me purchase my own brooch and start following the maker of those brooches, Katy. Suddenly I found myself going down instagram rabbit holes about pinup style, companies that make reproduction clothing, pin-up models, etc. I started following several people who aren't sewists, but have a fun style and post regular pics of their outfits.

This is all a long way of saying that I found a bunch more people and websites that are inspiring. The first thing that I fell in love with and just had to have was the Ashley dress from Trashy Diva.  My cursor hovered over the buy button numerous times. The fabric print alone is gorgeous and and the style is vintage inspired without being too costumey. Perfect! I was about to pull out my credit card until remembering  A. I can't afford it and B. My bust point is so low that any RTW empire seam always goes across the middle of my bust. Not a great look to have the bottom half your girls hanging out in the waist area.

Ashley Dress from Trashy Diva

OK then, expensive dress purchase averted, but I still had 1940's dress lust in my heart. What to do now? Froggie then pipped up, "Sew Over It has a 1940's dress pattern. Remember?" That's right my furry friend, let's bring up their page and stare at the technical flat for a minute.

Yes, this is excellent. You can see that the two designs have a lot in common.  Both have the inset waist pieces with gathering at the bust, v type neckline, and the skirts appear to be identical. To hack the Sew Over It pattern to be more like the Ashley dress I would need to:
* Continue the waist inset around the back.
* Turn the neckline into a slight wrap bodice and add some shoulder tucks.
* Remove the seam lines from the waist inset and take the center point out of it.
* Shorten/puff the sleeve.
The only thing I didn't know how to do off the top of my head were the shoulder tucks. Luckily I knew this info was in the Helen Armstrong, "Pattern Making for Fashion Design" text. Thank you college education!

Any one who follows me on instagram knows this baby took a couple of muslins.  I probably should have worked out the fit alterations first, before diving into the style alterations. What can I say, sometimes I like to jump in with both feet no matter the consequences.  So let me present to you my tweaked version of the 1940's Tea Dress pattern. Taa Daaa!

I love this rayon challis print, but the pattern does obscure most of the seam lines. Oops. Let me just assure you that the bust seam is now in the right place after dropping it a good 1 1/2". Yikes!!! Good thing I didn't buy that Trashy Diva dress.

Ahh a close up, maybe now you can see the tucks at the shoulder and the pretty piping along the bottom of the sleeve. I did have to slip stitch the bodice over lap together because I was getting too much cleavage.

I'm pretty sure that the Ashley dress has darts instead of princess line seams in the back.  This difference didn't seem worth redrafting most of the back. Instead I added the waist inset and left the rest of the back as is.  The decorative top stitching on the waist inset was also left off because mine needed to be so much smaller. Thanks low boobs.

Pattern
1940's Tea Dress from Sew Over it. They now offer PDF's versions of all their patterns for instant gratification.

Fabrics used
Rayon Challis purchased from Gertie's Etsy store last year.

Pattern changes/alterations
Fitting changes
1. Lowered bust seam line 1 1/2".
2. Moved the bust gathers further towards the center of the dress.
3. Standard 1/2" forward shoulder adjustment.
4. Decreased the back width by taking in the princess line 3/4" on the bodice and increasing the back skirt dart intake to 1 3/4".
5. 1/2" Sway back adjustment.
6. Added 2" of length to the skirt.

Design changes
1. Filled in neckline 5/8".
2. Added pleat cluster at the shoulder.
3. Changed bodice to have a slight wrap.
4. Removed seam lines from waist inset and changed the shape.
5. Continued waist inset around to the back.
6. Shortened sleeve and added extra ease to the cap to make it a puff.

Confessions/Advice
- I didn't put enough length at the center front seams and had a bit of an unevenness in the hem there. Went back and made the seams smaller on the bust line and waist to fix the problem.

- I like the look of the bias bound sleeves on the outside, but I'm not thrilled with them on the inside. It doesn't seem as neat as the rest of the dress. This is the same technique as I used in the "Gingham is for the Birds" dress. I liked the piping on that dress, but maybe because it's store bought.

Husband Comment
"This is terrible! Just kidding, I like your sleeves.  I also like those out of focus flowers shining in the dark. Are you waiting for your man to come back from the war? He's probably taking to long so maybe you should hang out with me."

My Final Thoughts
This isn't the best review for the "Sew Over It" pattern since I went and chopped the top half up. Sorry folks.  I can say that the unmodified portion went together like a dream. Big props to this company for making a 1940's pattern with lots of the details I was looking for. I do prefer to start with a solid base when hacking, rather than having to invent the whole thing.  The original design is also pretty and would be nice for Fall with it's 3/4 length sleeves. Hmmmm do I need to add to the Fall Sewing Plan?

Since this post is already a mile long, I will be splitting out my hacking details into separate posts. Don't worry, I won't leave you hanging if you want your own extra awesome 1940's dress.  So sharpen your paper scissors and get ready for some pattern cutting madness very soon.