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100% cotton, daughters, Fall for Cotton, patterns, sew exhausted, sewing, Simplicity 4432, Vintage, vintage dress, vintage pattern, vintage patterns, vintage sewing
When the Fall For Cotton Vintage pattern challenge was announced a while back I hopped on board for 3 reasons.
#1- I love vintage patterns and have a ton! (And if you have a ton you should use them if you can!)
#2- I love cotton. It is simple, feels nice, and comes in all kinds of prints, colors and designs.
#3- I LOVE sewing with the sewing community! It’s like an international sewing bee where we get to support and be supported!
And I also decided 2 things. I was going to make a dress for Holly out of a vintage pattern that has been at the top of the stack for ages now… And I was going to make myself one too… Because “The Mistress Demands” that I do. Wellll, actually I made a sewlution (New Years Sewing Resolution) back in January and it involved TWO vintage dresses and a coat. To my chagrin I am not even close to completing that and this year SPED by so fast I am still trying to catch up! I must say though that the “Keeper of the Jar” is a hard taskmaster when you have not started what should have been started. We were chastised just this past week. But I will persevere regardless of the fact I only have 100 days left. (Hey, that actually isn’t too bad!)
But for now, here is a really LOVELY dress if I do say so myself for my middle daughter Holly. I couldn’t resist turning this picture in to a vintage pic!
Holly is 18 years old and just graduated from high school. She is attending the Junior college in our area and is majoring in Theater Arts. She is also taking sign language. She would like to be a high school teacher down the road and teach drama and sign and maybe have a community theater on the side. (Unless she makes it BIG in the acting world and in that case she will buy me the BEST sewing machine there is to buy!)
For this dress I used a vintage pattern in keeping with the Fall for Cotton Challenge. We were able to choose a pattern or look from the 20’s to 70’s. From what I could glean on the internet (and correct me if I am wrong) this pattern is from the early 60’s. It is Simplicity pattern #4432.
I used 100% cotton of course! It was a piece of fabric I fell in love with on my recent trip to Oregon. It was on the clearance table and another 50% off so I paid a total of $9 for the whole piece! As soon as I saw it I KNEW it was going to be this dress and it was going to be for Holly. π
The inside is fully lined with a white cotton. It actually started out as a light weight car cover my grandma gave to my mom, and my mom was going to get rid of. It was so soft I said NO! I can use that cotton fabric for lining! And I did!
To take the pictures I took Holly to “Cruisin’ Grand.” In our town, every Friday night from April through September the old classic cars gather up and down the street, musicians come out, and people come to look at the cars, eat, and have a fun friday night. I knew it would make a perfect backdrop for Holly’s classic dress!
Isn’t Holly a doll? Haha… She totally got in to the fun of it. While we were taking pictures a woman came up to me and said Holly looks so girly and feminine and pretty! She said it was so nice to see a young person dressed like that and she thanked us for for bringing back great memories of when she used to have dresses just like that! π
As you can see we had tons of fun modeling with all of the cool cars from all different eras. (ha! 20’s to 70’s are allowed! Just like our challenge!)
The dress was very simple. It did not call for lining but I wanted to fully line it so she didn’t have to go looking for a slip every time she wanted to wear it. The skirt is very full and spins! Always a good thing in a skirt! π
This car is from 1963-Β probably around the same year as the dress I made!
I will be starting on a Fall For Cotton dress for myself on Monday. I have a pretty dark solid green cotton. Fingers crossed I get it finished in time! This Friday night will be the last Cruisin’ Grand for the summer. Maybe I will take my pics amongst the classic cars as well! In the meantime I will leave you with some more pics of Holly and Grand Avenue on a summer night!
~Laurie
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I love everything about this dress. The style and fabric are a perfect match and Holly looks gorgeous! Great pictures too!
Thank you so much Shar! I am very pleased with it. Makes me want to make her a whole slew of them!
Holly, the dress, and the pictures are wonderful. Very 1950’s. You did a great job on the dress and showcasing it. DD
Thank you! Holly was thrilled to model and enjoyed the attention immensely! π
Your daughter is so pretty! The dress is perfect for her! Love the print, the style, and the awesome cars – what a great photo-op location! You did such a wonderful job on the dress!
I would say the pattern is definitely ’60s – just look at the hairstyles of the envelope art. That’s usually the easiest way to date them, and colors used sometimes helps too.
I never thought of looking at the hairstyles! Thanks Brooke. I am biased ofc but I think she is pretty as well! π
Gorgeous work! And I love that fabric, so cute. Beautiful!
Thank you! I loved the fabric too and am so glad I got it!
What a wonderful dress and photoshoot! Your daughter looks stunning!
Thank you Vicki Kate… π The photoshoot was fun!
Lovely! Holly looks stunning!
What a lovely dress! That fabric is so cute, too, and perfect for that pattern. Your daughter fits it perfectly! π
Yes she does! Thank you! The fabric was one of my favorite things about it. Not really vintagey looking at all but so bright and cheerful!
What a beautiful dress! It fits you perfectly and it certainly has that vintage style.
Thank you!
Such a beautiful dress, and the perfect fit on your daughter. She looks great!
Thanks… I was very happy with the result. π
Gorgeous dress on a gorgeous girl! Your daughter looks amazing in the dress!
Thank You Michelle! π She is quite impressed with it!
Beautiful work. I love the simple lines of it. They really let a great print like this one shine. I sell vintage patterns in my Etsy shop and I’m certain you have a ’60’s pattern there. I think you’re spot on with the date of 1963, as there was a very short window in the ’60’s when Simplicity omitted dates from their envelopes. If you didn’t find a date on the envelope or directions it’s probably 1963 or 64.
Fabulous! Love the dress, it suits your daughter perfectly. The car show makes the perfect backdrop π
Thanks Elaine! The car show was a flash of inspiration when I looked at the completed dress. I thought it would be a perfect backdrop and it was! π Just started following your blog. I see you have a vintage pattern you are working on now… π
This dress is so bright and cheery!! Love it!
Thanks Shanni! π It’s one of our faves this year for sure!
Gorgeous dress! Love the fabric choice, it looks so fun and modern.
Thanks Gjeometry. We are very pleased with it- and YES- I thought a vintage dress with a modern fabric COULD be a little chancy but this style is so classic it turned out great! π
NO!! I love vintage patterns with a modern fabric. Especially on young people, like your beautifully stunning daughter! It lets her look young and fresh while still having an air of that vintage sophistication.
Thank you! I thought it was pretty neat that despite it being a modern fabric a lady recognized that it was a vintage pattern. π holly is so in love with the dress she’s already asking me what’s next!?!
love this fabric and Holly is super cute in her dress.
Thank you Rachel! So, guess what??!! You are my 100th follower! I have a little gift for my 100th follower so if you send me your address (sewexhausted@gmail.com) I would be happy to send it your way! π
Beautiful! So beautiful that I was asked to make 6 similar ones for my kids school play. – Any chance you can let me know how long it took to make one of these dresses? Also, what do you think about a more silkish material for these types of dress. I would prefer cotton but I think they already purchased the material.
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