Tag Archives | vintage dresses

Little Letter Dress: McCalls 7743

By on May 13, 2013 in Finished Sewing Projects, Projects

It’s finished! My second version of McCalls 7743 is complete. I’ve called it the Little Letter Dress because that’s what the fabric is called. (So uncreative, I know. This is why I stick to a  theme when naming my patterns. It’s easy to name the next one when they’re all named for Vancouver area places [...]

Read full story • Comments { 48 }

A Different Kind of Waist Stay

By on May 10, 2013 in Projects, Tips, Work in Progress

I mentioned the other day that this pattern, McCalls 7743, has a waist stay built into the dress. It’s constructed in a different way than the method I picture when I think ‘waist stay’ so I wanted to show you how it was done. It’s really quite smart, you sew seam binding into the skirt’s [...]

Read full story • Comments { 29 }

Surprising Things about McCalls 7743

By on May 8, 2013 in Projects, Work in Progress

This vintage dress pattern has some interesting things in the instructions! For one, you make a bound buttonhole at the top of the back opening. Seems like a lot of work, doesn’t it? In all the years I wore the first version of this dress, I never once had to unbutton the button on the [...]

Read full story • Comments { 24 }

McCalls 7743: Revisiting a Favourite Vintage Dress

By on May 6, 2013 in Projects, Work in Progress

Remember this dress? (Perhaps not – I sewed it three years ago!) The pattern is McCalls 7743, a vintage dress pattern from 1965. I’ve worn the first version of this dress (the one in the picture above) so many times that it’s worn right out. The neckline has developed holes, the fabric is fading and [...]

Read full story • Comments { 34 }

An Alternative to Tracing Patterns: Photocopy!

By on January 18, 2013 in Tips

This might seem a bit random but I thought I’d share an alternative to tracing vintage patterns! (Remember this post on tracing vintage patterns to preserve the originals?) I know that it’s a good thing to do in theory, but in practice I usually just want to sew already! I came across these photos from [...]

Read full story • Comments { 59 }

A Thing I Made and Never Blogged

By on December 7, 2012 in Finished Sewing Projects, Projects

Sometimes things don’t turn out like we want them to. Sometimes we have a vision, and once the vision comes to life it isn’t good. Even if it’s well-made! I sewed up the dress in today’s post way back in the summer, after coming in on a weekend to sew for fun. I was feeling [...]

Read full story • Comments { 51 }