Going Retro, Mad Men Style – Amy Week 2

 

This week I sewed a 60′s retro pattern by Butterick (B6582). I purchased the pattern a year ago during the last challenge and considered it might come in handy as part of a Halloween costume. Well, it never did. Joanne by chance had purchased the same pattern separately. So, this week we decided to both make the same dress.   

Butterick B6582 Retro Pattern

As I figured would occur, I didn’t get an early start on my creation. I waited until Friday night to cut out the pattern and Saturday to cut the fabric. Luckily I found some clearance fabric at Hancock Fabrics that was blue and shimmered red at an angle, and was only around $8 for the yardage I needed.   I got started sewing on Saturday evening.  I put in the darts, which went smoothly. Next was finishing the facing pieces of the slit in the back of the dress. The directions were frustrating, so I called it a night.

On Sunday I got back to it in the afternoon. A new perspective brought clarity and I worked through the directions, finishing the facing and putting in the zipper. Next came the interfacing pieces that finished the shoulders, arm holes and neckline. Each part was a bit of a stumble.  Oddly the diagrams or renderings of the directions were opposite or mirrored. I was concerned I’d flipped the fabric (it looked the same on both sides) and put the darts on the wrong side of the front piece. As I worked through each step, the dress came together. I surmise the direction’s drawings weren’t quite right since it did all come together.   

Amy's Retro Dress - Week 2

Once the front and back were finished it was time to sew the side seams and shoulders. I pinned the shoulders and put the dress on the new dress form. (Mark helped me set it up for my measurements.) I pinned both side seams so the dress was fitted to the form. It showed I needed to put in 1” side seams versus 5/8”. The dress was about complete and I tried it on. It fit! Really well. Like a glove. A tight leather glove. Well, at least it was a bit snugger than I prefer to wear. The dress form really worked – almost to a fault! I added the hem and did some top stitching around the neckline and arm holes. It was finished by 8:30 p.m. on Sunday. Overall it was probably one of my best creations, especially considering the difficulty level of the dress. 

The only major snafu was at the base of the zipper. When I removed the basting stitches at the zipper, I ripped out a little lower than I should have and ended up creating a hole in the seam. I couldn’t just put it back in because the zipper obscured the seam. So, I used a zig-zag stitch and overstitched the hole. It wasn’t pretty, but it did the trick.

For reveal day, I decided to style the dress as best I could for the 60s. I attempted a Betty Draper hairstyle, put on some pearls and used liquid eyeliner. All in all it was a success. Likely the only time I’ll wear a cocktail dress to work!

For the record, I hope liquid eyeliner never comes back into style…. It isn’t easy to get right!

Until next week!

Amy

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