Marian Martin 9279: The Krazy Klown dress!!

Pattern: from the 1950s, Marian Martin 9279 featuring cuffed sleeves, gathered yoke on front and back, a-line skirt and buttoned front. 

 Fabric: the magical un-wrinkleable polka dot poly from Jo-Ann. While I bought 2 yards of this on a whim a few months ago, they still have a lot at the store. 2 yards was just enough.

 While it says for a 34 bust, it fits rather nicely and didn't turn out too big. This is a case where the harsh sunlight is a plus, to show off the details that otherwise disappear in the busy fabric.

Cost: pattern and buttons were a gift, fabric was maybe 10 bucks?

 Time: This has features that are similar to other dresses I have made recently, so I didn't need the instructions and I whipped it together in a few hours. The fabric is quite awful, and I had to hem it by hand because the machine hem made it so stiff that it stood out awkwardly and lost all of its drape. Maybe 4 hours in all. Buttons took part of Murder on the Orient Express and the hem was an episode of Project Runway.

 Notions: white thread, 8 red vintage buttons

I actually made no changes to this pattern and it fits great! Oh, other than my usual shortening of the bodice, sleeves and skirt. I ran out of fusible interfacing, so I decided to sew in white muslin instead. It worked so WELL! I think I am a convert! It also prevented teh dots from showing through on the facings and cuffs and collar. 

 And look! I called it the Krazy Klown dress and as we were leaving California Park, there was a birthday party with 2 DJ-ing clowns! How fortuitous!

Tomorrow I am dragging Andrew to the Randolph St Market so that should be fun. No dog beach for T-Rex this weekend; there is a triathlon going on along the lake.

New dress pictures tomorrow- and I am super proud of my work on it!

Sew-Rite 8860- A little black day dress

Pattern: Sew-Rite 8860, a 1950s mail order

 Fabric: A black rayon(?) I got for free on freecycle.org

Notions: Three buttons for the front closure and a 7" side zipper (the only thing I bought)

 Cost: 99 cents for the zip, everything else I had and was free

Time: This was quick ad easy to make, maybe 2-3 hours.

 Molly's Ews: I didn't baste the front shut before attaching the bodice to the skirt, which accounts for that wrinkle next to the bottom button. I also cut the skirt on the wrong angle so the sides were extra droopy. I spent a long time trying to cut it even, and it just kept getting shorter and shorter! Finally, I used the tape measure as my radius and made chalk marks all around in a circle and then cu and hemmed it. I should have done that from the start.

 The back is quite nice. The buttons are cool and they remind me of dice. They are black circles with white squares inside. I only had three and it was perfect!

 As you can see, it's a bit shorter than my usual, but it's not skanky looking.

Also, we went to the air show on sunday and watched it from farther north up the lake. The weather was awesome and it was nice to sit in the sun and people watch.

 I like towering over the skyline like a giant.

 This cracks me up every time I drive by. Some comic book store on Western puts the Spidey on the bike every day and chains him there so no one can steal him. LOL

 Have a good Tuesday!

1950s Sun Dress

I got a giant bag of vintage patterns on freecycle.org and miraculously they were all my size! This pattern was adorable, and perfect for summer, so I made it first.




It is an Advance pattern 9077, size 12. It does not have a date printed on it, but it looks very 50s to me.


It was a very simple and fun dress to make. The only confusing part was that the pattern pieces did not say how mant of each to cut, so I wasted quite a bit of time pinning and repinning pieces until it all fit and made sense. I ended up cutting two of everything, and that worked out pretty well.


The measurements say 32-25-34, but I think that would make for a baggy dress. If you made it exactly like it says to, it would easily be at least one inch bigger than your measurements everywhere. Fortunately, the bodice fitting can be adjusted when you put the zipper in the back. The waist fit, but I cinched up the bust so it wouldn't gape.


My only complaint about this pattern is it did not have lines to shorten the bodice. The dress would be perfect if I had attached the skirt about half an inch higher. But I am very short, so that would not be an issue for most people.


Overall, it is a beautiful dress, it fits very well and is perfect for summer here in New Orleans (with the gathered and lined bodice, you can easily skip a bra). I can totally see making this again in a different fabric- easy and cute!



The fabric is a bright purple with tiny white polka dots, not blue like in the pix.

I have bought the fabric for my next dress- and I think I will start it tonight.