Burda Style For people who sew
Vintage 1970s Orange Silk Floral Maternity Dress
Views
2028
Description
This is my take on a vintage 1978 maternity pattern, the McCall’s 5921 “Carefree” dress. It’s done and I (mostly) love it, but there was NOTHING carefree about the weeks of blood, sweat and tears I poured into this dress. I’m not sure what possessed me to attempt all of the following on one project on a tight deadline… My first: vintage pattern, woven dress muslin, attempt at sewing with silk or working with large-scale prints, collar… I’ve included before and after photos of the muslin so you can see my alterations, but for an excruciatingly detailed review with pattern images showing how I adjusted the bust and tummy (adding 6" and 22" respectively!), see my blog, Polka Dot Overload
Material Notes
The main fabric is a bold Maggy London orange floral silk twill, bought online at Fabric Mart for $3.99/yard. Such a deal and SO gorgeous and SO me, but this was the hardest part of the whole project—this stuff slipped, slid and shifted so much it was like sewing sheets of Vaseline. The solid trim fabric is a much crisper and more cooperative nubbly silk “chantoune” bought at “It’s a Material World” for $7.99/yard. Total fabric cost: about $16. The interfacing for the collar and bands was a soft knit fusible.
Difficulty
Intermediate
Categories
- For
- Maternity
- Garment Type
- Dress
- Style
- Bohemian, Business, Casual, Evening Wear, Vintage
- Material
- Silk
Credits
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Mar 16, 2010, 03.13 PMby leeavent
Looks great, beautiful fabric.
Mar 16, 2010, 04.32 AMby caramia-made
Oh man! You’re HIRED to do my entire maternity wardrobe one day…. Fabulous!
Mar 16, 2010, 02.10 AMby wzrdreams
You are rocking the maternity wardrobe honey. Keep it up with your feet up.
Mar 16, 2010, 01.47 AMby pieriangirl
I saw you post this over on SewRetro, too and it’s absolutely fabulous! None of the problems you say you had in the making show in the final result. You look wonderful in it!
Mar 16, 2010, 12.52 AMby ink
Oh MY. I loved that fabric when I saw it online and HERE IT IS as a dress! FANTASTIC! (I hope you can wear/fit into it for awhile after all your hard work.) Well worth it and you can always take it in….. ahem! I know you don’t want to hear that after your experience…but Imagine….all that you learned. You look fantastic!
Mar 16, 2010, 12.38 AMby nenasew
Adorable maternity dress. You look lovely in it.
Mar 15, 2010, 10.26 PMby sunnyb64
That fabric is stunning! And I’m really impressed that you’d go to all the trouble of making a muslin for a maternity dress—never been pregnant myself, but I’d imagine that would be quite the fitting challenge! It looks great, though.
Mar 15, 2010, 10.14 PMby tradsahm
I LOVE the dress!!! Great job! Wish I had it when I was expecting. :)
Mar 15, 2010, 10.12 PMby wackyblonde
Lovely dress, I adore the fabric. It really suits you.