Advance 8898- A World of Plaiditude

Pattern: Advance 8898 from the late 1950s

 Fabric: 3 yards of Jo-Ann's "Plaiditude" fabric in a green and grey plaid. It is very soft cotton.

 Notions: I used the last of my dark grey thread and then switched to black, five fabric covered buttons and 2 hooks and eyes for the waist above and below the button.

 Cost: About $24

Time: This was much more time-intensive than most of my projects. Matching the plaid made cutting take longer, I followed the instructions carefully, and I hand sewed the hem, the sleeves, the buttons and the hooks and eyes. I hate hooks and eyes. I think I will replace them with the ones that are meant for pants at every opportunity. So fiddly and annoying and look, they kept poking out! Now I have to move them again!! I would say this took 7-8 hours to make.

 This was my first real attempt at matching plaid. I am quite pleased. It has a nice look and the stripes matched up on all sides. It has that same giant stand-up collar that my bathrobe has. I think it requires the hair to be pulled up, or it gets in the way.

 The back is the part I really like. It has a slim skirt and a fitted waist, but the bodice back is very gathered and looks very full. Um, that's the wind also. It's not that grippy in the back!

 You can see the volume from the side.

 Plaid alignment!

 Changes:
I shortened the sleeves and bodice my typical 1". I shortened the skirt to my knee, prob 4-6 ". I cut the waist pieces on the bias to show off the awesome plaid. They are heavily interfaced, so they do not stretch out.

I am really happy with this dress! Yay!

Happy dog says "Have a good weekend!"

A sewing first- adding a back stay

This is the first pattern I have made where it calls for a back stay. As you can see on the illustration, the top is blousy, with a wide neckline and the back is very gathered. The back stay stabilizes the back and makes it fit close to the body. This holds the top in place, making it appear loose, while it is really very stable. In all, it makes it so that you aren't spending the whole day tugging your dress into the right shape!

 On this pattern, it also serves as the back neck facing. It is also sewn into the waist seam allowance as well.

Not a lot of links online. They mostly have to do with coats or jackets. It's an interesting thing to know about! I did it at the very end after I had done all the fitting and sewn on the buttons. I thought about leaving it off, but it slid around too much on my shoulders. After spending ten minutes plucking at my dress, trying to get it to sit right, I gave up and sewed it in.

Wiat til you see this dress! I am very proud of my work!

Next up: Advance 8898 with plaiditude!

My next project is this pattern, Advance 8898 from the late 50s. It is! I looked it up online! It has the same stand-up collar as my bathrobe that I just finished. 

I have also liked looking at some new fabric at JoAnn, which they have decided to call Plaiditudes. LOL! That is such a dorky name! I will make sure my pictures are full of plaid and attitude! I chose this grey and green plaid. They all look like wool, but are in fact cotton and feel like flannel or something equally soft. 

I'm excited and so far I have been making a real effort to match up the lines. I hope this looks nice!