Category Archives: Vintage Pledge

Vintage Pledge 2017 Dress

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I finished my 2017 Vintage Pledge dress just in time, on the penultimate day of the year.

This was an interesting project,  it took a long time to make despite not looking too complicated. This was mainly because I hacked the pattern and kept changing my mind about the style details.

The pattern was a gift from a family friend last Christmas. I posted a photo of the pattern cover on Instagram earlier this year as I had hoped sharing my intention to make this dress with the sewing community would spur me on to get it done. My major stumbling block was that I couldn’t make a decision about which fabric to use. I had an image in my head of a beautiful version in silk dupion, but as I had never attempted the pattern, that seemed a bit of a risky investment. Towards the end of the year I searched through my fabric stash and came upon  this forgotten peach cotton lawn from Atelier Brunette.

On finishing the toile I realised the style of the pattern wasn’t really to my taste. The full gathered skirt swamped me and looked very old-fashioned.

I shared some images of the toile on my Instagram stories seeking advice from my fellow makers about whether to proceed with the pattern as was, or to hack. The majority chose hack, so hack I did.

I drafted a completely new skirt, kept the cool back detail, and modified the front bodice to give me a bit more coverage across the bust.

The instructions included with the pattern weren’t the best, and as I had made so many changes I basically had to disregard them and make up my own anyway.

The original pattern called for a button closure, but I extended the wrap and added ties, which I prefer.

I decided to finish the front edges of the dress with bias binding, rather than facings, and I am please with how this turned out. I admit I did intend to finish all the seams with bias tape too, but I got lazy and overlocked most of the seams instead. I love to finish a garment really carefully so it is as beautiful on the inside as the outside and to extend its life, but I was worried that this dress might not turn out wearable, so I found I was a bit reluctant to invest so much time into beautiful seam finishes.

Happily, I am really pleased with how this dress turned out and really surprised by how much I love this colour on me – I really need to experiment more with colour. It was out of my comfort zone, but I’m so glad I went for it, as I think it really suits me.

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Vintage Pledge 2017 dress Attie and Dora 3

Vintage Pledge 2017 dress Attie and Dora 4

Vintage Pledge 2017 dress Attie and Dora

Vintage Pledge 2017 dress Attie and Dora 6

Vintage Pledge 2017 dress Attie and Dora 7

 

Bye Bye Birdie Vintage Pledge Dress 2016

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This year I signed up to the Vintage Pledge challenge for the second time. Last year I pledged to try my first vintage pattern and this is what I made. I really enjoyed the challenge and loved the resulting dress, so thought I would give it another go this year.

My pledge for 2016 was to try and sew at least 3 of the vintage patterns in my stash.

The first I have chosen to make is this pattern:

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which if you follow me on Instagram you may have seen me mention a few times.

This was kind of an odd choice for me as I am not a fan of 80’s fashion and if I’m honest I didn’t immediately like the style, but something about it grew on me and looking past the shoulder pads I could see potential.

I thought that the shape of view B was quite minimalistic and modern looking and chose a fabric with a modern feel to reflect this. I bought the black Bye Bye Birdie Atelier Brunette fabric from Sew Over It’s online store. I have used Atelier Brunette fabric before here and the quality is sublime, I am a big fan.

I found the construction of this dress really odd, particularly the collar construction. I am used to assembling the collar separately, topstitching and then sewing it between the facing and the dress, but in these instructions you sort of attached it piece by piece, first sewing the undercollar to the neck edge of the bodice, then the top collar to the facing and finally sewing the top collar and facing piece to the undercollar and bodice piece. The topstitiching was done after, and personally I found this method confusing, however I got there and to be honest I don’t think the method was bad, I think it was just the fact that it was new to me that threw me a bit.

The other thing I have to remark upon is the really odd zip placement. The top is very loose fitting and kind of boxy, and the zip is placed 1/4 of the way down the bodice through the waist and into the skirt. I found my zip stuck out oddly at the middle of my back where there was excess fabric. I ended up having to remove the long zip and just insert a 9 inch zip into the C.B. of the skirt starting at the waistline and this seems to suffice as the top is so loose fitting I can pull it over my head fairly easily. I am not sure if this was an oversight in the drafting or whether I added too much fabric when I made my lengthening modifications for my height (adding 5cm to the length of top and skirt). It may have been worth removing the excess fabric from the back, but I liked the look of it, so I kept it in and changed the zip position, as mentioned, to overcome this.

Another thing to mention is I left off the belt as I didn’t feel it was required and I added a snap fastener to the inside of the lapel to hold everything in place.

Here is my version of the dress

Vintage Pledge Dress 2016 Bye Bye Birdie Fabric

Vintage Pledge 2016

Vintage Pledge Dress atelier brunetteI am actually quite shocked by how much I love this. I really didn’t expect to like it as much as I do. I think this is one of my favourite makes to date and I love the style! I might be a fan of 80’s fashion after all.

I originally tried to take photos at the very scenic Noss Sound, but it was freezing, windy and started to snow, so we abandoned the mission and took some photos before Sunday dinner at my parents house instead. I left a couple of the Noss sound shots in as even though they weren’t the best images to show the detail of the dress, they sort of act as action shots….

Vintage Pledge 2016 Plans

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Hi all,

Just a quick one today. I am really excited to read that sign up has begun for Vintage Pledge 2016. I really enjoyed taking part last year. I managed to achieve my modest aim to try my first vintage pattern in 2015, if you didn’t see my 2015 vintage pledge make before you can find it here.

I was quite pleased with how it turned out. Looking back there were some fit issues, which I could have improved on, but I wore it to a wedding last year and felt quite chuffed with myself. I adored the triangle cut-outs on the neckline. In fact I’m starting to wonder if I should make it again in a different colour with the fuller 50’s skirt…

This year I would like to up my Vintage Pledge game a little by tying a couple more patterns.

In 2016 I, Elie of attieanddora.com, pledge to sew at least 3 of the vintage patterns in my stash.

I don’t have a huge vintage pattern stash, but I dug out a couple for inspiration today.

This first pattern is so 80’s and I’m surprised at myself for liking it, as I don’t usually like 80’s fashion much, but there is something about this style. I think it could look pretty cool in a crisp cotton lawn, I love a good shirt dress.

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This second one was a gift and I’m not sure if it’s vintage, vintage reproduction? It is 60’s I reckon, which is one of my favourite eras in fashion. Anyway, I love this pattern. I’m not entirely sure where I would wear it, but I could even bypass the outfit for now and possibly have a go at making the accessories. I might get some faux fur and try and make that hat or scarf.

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What do you think of my initial choices?

Can’t wait to get started now and to see all the vintage pledge makes!

Vintage Pledge Dress

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Back in March I signed up to the Vintage Sewing Pattern Pledge challenge. My goal was to try my first vintage sewing pattern in 2015.

Joan Holloway style dress

I chose this pattern as it was classic, but the triangular cut outs gave it a modern feel. I selected a simple black linen/cotton mix as I felt any design on the fabric might look cluttered with the cut-outs, and I really wanted them to stand out. I was aiming for a classic little black dress, to wear to formal events. I decided to omit the sleeves, as I felt it would look more modern without them.

Vintage Pledge Dress 2015 (attieanddora.com)

Vintage Pledge Dress 2015 (attieanddora.com)

Sewing Vintage Dress Shetland.attieanddora

Back Darts Vintage Dress Shetland attieanddora


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This was my first move away from Indie sewing patterns and it was a real eye opener. Indie sewing patterns really hold your hand through the process (which is great for those inexperienced seamstresses among us), but in the instructions for this vintage pattern a lot of knowledge was assumed.

DSC01744 (1)I found I was able to bumble my way through using the skills I have already acquired from my past projects, which was encouraging.

The neckline construction with the triangular cut outs was a little tricky, it involved sewing a facing to the bodice, stitching along the lines, to give the triangular shapes, slashing between the stitching and then turning the facing to the inside and pressing. This was a bit fiddly, but gave a good result. The neck bands were then sewn to the top edge of the facing.

Besides challenging myself to try my first vintage pattern the other main focus of this project for me was to build my skills in fitting. I am tall, so I always have to add length to my pattern pieces. In this case I added two inches to the length of the bodice and two inches to the skirt length. I did a FBA, as I often find dress patterns which fit me in the waist and hips, are slightly small in the bust. I made a full toile of the dress to check my alterations.

Despite taking care to make a toile and check the fit along the way, my first attempt at this dress just wasn’t right. I had spent ages working on it, which was really disheartening. Unfortunately the bodice was too loose on the shoulders and bust, and the zip was buckling on the side. I haven’t included any pictures in this blog post, as it was too painful.

To remedy this, I had to do some major reconstruction. I unpicked the bodice from the skirt and removed the additional length previously added to the bodice, bringing it back to the original length. I unpicked the zip (sob, it was perfectly inserted) and moved it down the side seam by another 2 inches to eliminate the buckling.

These alterations fixed most of my fitting issues (WOOHOO). There are still some small gripes I have with the fit of the final dress. I think the bodice is still a bit too big, it would probably have been best to go a size down or to redo the FBA to add less fabric across the bust, but overall I am pleased with the dress and it’s such a relief to have overcome my fitting issues, and finished with something wearable that I am really proud of.

Signing up to the vintage sewing pattern pledge has been a great experience for me. It has pushed me out of my indie pattern comfort zone and opened up a world of possibilities for new sewing projects. I can’t wait to try another!

Pattern: Simplicity 3285 Slenderette

Fabric- Black Promenade Plain Linen & Cotton Blend Dress Fabric from Minerva Crafts

Vintage Pledge

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Today I signed up to the 2015 Vintage Sewing Pattern Pledge. I kept my pledge simple, as I am new to sewing with vintage patterns. I have pledged to use my first vintage sewing pattern in 2015.
Now, I could have made things a lot easier for myself I am sure, but I am so tempted to give this pattern a try…

Joan Holloway style dress
I was looking through my stash and just couldn’t resist it. Its not my usual style and looks complicated, but I love the cut out detail in the neck and I think it could look really awesome in the right fabric. I’m putting this choice down to my obsession with Mad Men and possibly the fact that I just finished reading Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

View 1 (Right) reminds me of something Joan Holloway would wear in Mad men, while View 2 (Left) is more Betty Draper. I think I will go for the Joan.

Not entirely sure which fabric to use at the moment, the pattern suggests a variety of fabric types from silk to linen, satin, wool or even jersey. 

I think I will make a toile first as I am guessing the vintage proportions may not favour my height.

This project will no doubt be a long one, so I will keep you posted.