Vintage Simplicity 3831: The Meet-Up Dress

For our recent meet-up, the goal was to wear a new garment, made from something aquired from the meet-up before that!
I knew it would be a challenge as I'm a very slow sewer.
I definitely put a lot of pressure on myself to finish it on time.  I DID get there.... but I'm ambivalent about sewing deadlines.  They can cause stress (and this one did) but I have to admit, it got results!

Thanks to Kat for taking pics of me :)

This time I made something from a bed sheet that was actually quite wearable, unlike the really bad Pendrell.  (Ugh, now why would I link that fail?)  Bed sheets, you have redeemed yourselves.  However I don't know if I'll be lucky to find another one this lovely (I don't browse op shops much).  What a beautiful print!

The pattern was Vintage Simplicity 3831, given to me in the swap.

I was actually impressed by the instructions- quite clear, which I wasn't expecting!  The pattern only had holes for markings which was new.  I traced the bodice pattern pieces, and joined the dots, heh :)  I knew I didn't want to slash and hack the vintage pattern to bits so tracing was the way to go!

There was loads of hand stitching- the hem, the sleeve facings, the waist stay (which was new to me, eep!), a hand-picked zipper, and lots of hooks and eyes!!  (5 pairs in total- top of zipper, 2 on the waist stay, and 2 on the sash).
 

The waist stay.

The waist stay took forever, since I hand sewed it in.  Plus I didn't really know what I was doing, lol.  But I think it helps hold up the heavy gathered skirt.  Well, I hope it does after all that work.

Detail of the hem.

Some seamstresses seem to think zig zag inferior, but I reckon if it's good enough for ladies 50 years ago, it's good enough for me.

The one thing I'm not so sure about is the kimono sleeve seams under the arms.  They have to be clipped, so I couldn't zig zag.  So they're kinda unfinished and exposed... any thoughts, people?  I'm wondering about them fraying.

Oh, and for some reason I went to the trouble of matching the centre back seam print.... There's not much point in such a full gathered skirt- you barely notice at all!  So much work for so little gain.

Centre back seam on skirt

Okay, just one more detail shot.  The hand picked zip.  So invisible.  So happy!  It sits perfectly together, except it gapes a little at the waist seam (conveniently forgot to take a picture of that bit!).   That seems to be a problem zone.

I made three toiles, which I'll probably post about as I experimented with fitting.  I'm glad it seems to have worked out!

Sans cardy and hat.  It would also go great with Miette, don't you think?

It's definitely not as practical and versatile as some other pieces I've sewn...  but I am so proud of it!  Ooh and I also got a compliment from a waitress as she walked by, "I love your dress!"  That's the first compliment I've gotten in the wild... feels good :)

My last dress made me feel like a real dunce of a seamstress.  This one was a breeze in comparison, so I actually felt competent which was nice.

Hopefully more of my future projects are as enjoyable as this one... who knows, maybe I'm getting better at sewing??