DIY | A Swift Shift Dress

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B L O G  P O S T //

 

I have a thing for vintage patterns, but I rarely use them for sewing projects. I'm always terrified I'll damage or destroy the delicate tissue, so they often stay lovingly wrapped in plastic tucked in a collection of banker boxes arranged by numerical value.

Today, I decided to change.

I had a small window of down time and on a whim, pulled out a roll of black cotton blend fabric leftover from Apricity's last batch of the LAWN crop top and skirt set. I found the perfect pattern from the 60's, Simplicity 8349, for all the following reasons:

1.) It was already precut (I never defile factory folded patterns from their original pristine condition),
2.) it was (somewhat) my size!
3.) the retro jumper style dress is exactly the thing I want to wear these days.

Apricity Blog - Simplicity Vintage Pattern 8347
Starting point.

Apricity Blog - Simplicity Vintage Pattern 8359 - Shift Dress

Yes, I know. I should iron out the pattern first. I'm lazy, sue me!

This cotton blend fabric is a bit sheer so I changed up the pattern a bit by replacing the front / back interface with a full lining in self fabric.  Also, the sizing is generous so I omitted the zipper completely and just seamed up the back panel for an easy pullover style dress. 

A bit of impromptu bust detailing

Finished in under an hour! Please disregard the chalk marks, I was too excited (and was too impatient!) to do the detailed finishing.
Original free flowing bag form.

The cover illustration for view 2 appears to be above the knee, but it ended up being quite long on me (I'm 5'2"). No complaints though, this midi length is a more nightgown-like, which is pretty much the look I'm going for.
Belted. And now I can wear this out in public!

This dress is everything I love. Soft, cotton. comfortable and versatile. With pockets. Next project, I'm making myself the same exact dress in white.  This is what happens when bag dresses happen to good people.

Till next time!
~Eileen
black blog diy dress pocket pockets sewing vintage

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