Monday, July 11, 2011

McCall's 4395

I completely lost my mojo after I had blogged about the Christmas presents I made for my family, but now I finally have something to blog about again! As a matter of fact, I have made three other garments and am finishing up a fourth garment, which will all be blogged about separately once I get the chance to take some pictures of them. I also have some time consuming tasks at the moment, such as a new job and writing my master thesis, but now that I don't really have the time to sew, I of course have a bigger need to be creative and sew up some new clothing. In fact, after I started my new job, I felt a bigger need to create things that were more office appropriate. Not because there is a strict dress code at my job, but rather because I feel more comfortable being at work in something that is more subtle, while still being truly 1950s and thus completely me.

Onto the new garment!

I love a good sailor dress as much as the next guy and I have had this pattern, which I bought it from Midvale Cottage on Etsy, for well over 18 months:



Here's what my interpretation of view B with the trim detail of view C looks like from the front:



Showing my face on my blog is a first for me and it needs a little bit of explaining. Originally, I was not comfortable with having my face out there on the internet. However, back in March, I was wearing my interpretation of Butterick 6710 to a rockabilly party in my local area and a young woman, whom I had never seen before, approached me to let me know that she had read about my dress on my blog and that she thought it looked amazing in real life as well. Naturally, I was quite baffled to be recognized like this, but it was such a positive experience that I decided that I might as well drop the Headless Horseman act and just take pictures that include my head from now on ;)

For some reason, I forgot to have someone take a picture of the back view of the dress when I wore it, so I just took one once I was back in Denmark again:



The picture is a bit wobbly, so here's a close-up of the back of the collar:



According to the pattern instruction sheet, the ribbon trim was not supposed to cross, but I actually like the look of crossing the ribbons and it was also a lot faster and easier to attach the trim this way. Working with the pattern was a positive experience all in all, even though I had to finish the dress in a bit of hurry in order to be able to wear it to a concert with the very talented JD McPherson in Hamburg. I was very happy with the results and other people seemed to like it as well as I got several compliments :)

Thank you for reading!

14 comments:

  1. I've had this pattern in my stash for sometime and keep pulling it out wanting to do it. I think I might actually get to it this summer...especially now that I've seen someone do it! Did it go together pretty easily? Any complications?
    It looks wonderful on you!
    lilvintagehomemaker.blogspot.com

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  2. Hi Reagan!

    Thank you so much for the compliment!

    I think it came together pretty easily, yes, the only bumps in the road for me were caused by myself. It looks so complicated because of the shield down the center, but it is very simple to do once you actually sit down to sew the pieces together. I remember the muslin went together really quickly and the instructions were very straightforward as well :)

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  3. Totally cute dress! Love how nautical it looks. I'm very envious of your skills! :-D

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  4. Den kjole er rigtig flot og du ser hammergodt ud i den! Glæder mig også til at se de andre kjoler!

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  5. it looks fantastic on you! i really like the crisscrossed trim on the back of the collar, i think it really adds to it. i love these little nautical dresses and i get so excited when people make them up :D

    love your blog, btw. you have a lot of great dresses!

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  6. Wow, it's stunning! I love sailor dresses, but sometimes they look a little costumey -- this looks absolutely gorgeous and not costumey at all! great job.

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  7. That's a very pretty dress! Love the red color! Did you have fun in Hamburg?

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  8. Thank you so much for your kind words, everyone!

    Cille: Tak, søde! De andre ting er en kjole, to bluser og Franks skjorte ;)

    Sarah: I too think a lot of sailor looks can become a little costumey, but I think the good thing about this particular pattern is that the design details are so different from many other patterns. I also think factors such as fabric choice and the width of the ribbon trim play an important role :)

    Alessa: Yes, I had a splendid time. My friends and I were in the first row at the stage and I got to do a little dancing with a very talented fella after the show. I also went to buy a little merchandise after the show, which JD was helping sell himself, and he was very polite and kind enough to pose for a picture. He was also very impressed that we were a whole group of Danes that had taken the trip to Hamburg just to see him play. Jimmy Sutton was also nice enough to pose for a picture and we met up with him later as he knows a friend of mine and we went to a rockabilly bar. A very fun trip to Hamburg all in all :)

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  9. Great job ! I like it, I would like to sew a sailor dress this pattern is a great option.

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  10. Omg I love your blog! Your sewing skills are amazing!

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  11. Thank you so much for the compliments, everyone!
    As for those looking for this pattern, I can say that I see it every now when I relentlessly troll Ebay and Etsy for newly listed patterns. It usually is not all that expensive, but it sells really fast. I got mine as a special request to the seller mentioned above, so having someone help you look for it definately betters your chances :)

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  12. Fabulous execution of a wonderful pattern. Great color, details, and total look. Super cute!

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  13. I feel a "before and after" coming on... ;)

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  14. Yay! I love your "before and after" posts, I felt so honored when you featured my interpretation of Butterick 6063 :D

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