A little ditty of a late 50s sheath dress. For the full story of how it came together, click here.
I think the pattern I worked with is a size too big, but it's tough as I think I'm in-between sizes, being tall but on the less curvy side. The ease got me with this one. This is the fitted muslin so there's still room for adjustments on the next version. This being the case, I did quite a few alterations to get it to fit closer -
Some quick pattern notes:
- The pattern has a straight skirt that flares out slightly at the hem, I wanted something closer in cut to Natalie Wood's dress here. To get this I tapered in the side seams from the mid-hip down so it nips in at the knees more.
- The apex of the bust has a point (because of the silhouette / shapewear of the era) which I clipped out so it’s smoother as I won’t be wearing a cone shaped bra with this (a small adjustment that did so much for overall fit and silhouette) as well as taking in the princess seams.
- Because of bust adjustments I took in the sleeve seam a bit as well.
- I shortened the bodice using the pattern marked adjustment system.
- Lengthening the darts at the skirt front worked wonders for puckering that was buckling too much over my hips. (Which I’m guessing was happening because I shortened the waist so it moved that dart tip up from where it would have originally ended.)
- Lastly, I took in the back darts to further try for a more fitted bodice.
- Beware, the sleeves on this pattern are evil. Again, read all my notes here.
In the end it definitely fits closer than if I had left the pattern ease where it was, but it's not as closely cut in the bodice as I want. (Doing a full adjustment that will involve the sleeves is just a step too far for me though.) I'll be doing a second mock up so hopefully I can take it in just a bit more in the side seams.
If you make this, good luck!
*This pattern is an original and part of my personal collection, I don't have scans available for sale at this time nor do I know where they can be acquired at the moment.