During the winter I was caught between my muse screeching about summer dresses and … well … the weather.
I solved this by sewing summer dresses out of winter fabrics.
One of them is the Betty/Don-Dress.
Vogue Vintage 8789 – pattern
The pattern is Vogue Vintage 8789 which had been marinating in my stash for quite a while. I really wanted to make it in a striped fabric, but I knew I was OCD enough that anything but a perfect match if stripes in the middle would be unacceptable.
So I went to find other fabric.
At Karstadt, I found a subtly marbled fabric meant for suits, and I immediately bought it.
On my way home, it struck me how subversive the dress would be!
The cut is something Betty Draper would wear in Mad Men: it’s airy and flirty, just the thing for Betty, who’s presented as rather ditzy (I’m only in season three!).
At the same time The Suit is the uniform of those who in power in Mad Men.
So, sewing a Betty dress out of a Don cloth… it’s almost a bit like cross-dressing 
Anyway, the pattern.
I LOVE it!
It only consists out of three pattern pieces (front bodice, back bodice, armhole facing) plus a rectangle for the skirt.
The pieces for the front and back bodice are self-facing, so you just fold the top edge to the inside, et voila: nicely finished edge.
I recently noticed that I hate to finish raw edges with a narrow seam. I know it sounds crazy, but I’d rather bind an edge in bias tape, which is what I did here
Vogue Vintage 8789 – edges bound in bias tape
It’s a nice contrast to all the gray.
The pattern calls for a gathered skirt, but I never get gathers to cooperate, and it doesn’t flatter my figure either.
So I decided to use box pleats instead, which IMNSHO are a better match to the severe lines of the bodice.
Vogue Vintage 8789 – the finished dress
The dress definitely needs a belt of some sort, but other than that I really like it
BTW, under the skirt I’m wearing a petticoat by Malco Modes.
Details
Pattern: Vogue Vintage 8789
Mods: no waist-stay, box pleats instead of gathers for the skirt
Specials: finished edges by binding in bias tape, handpicked zipper
[...] as I mentioned in The Betty/Don-Dress, I was a bit cowed by the task of making the stripes match in the front [...]