Merry Christmas and a Happy New Dress

With the last week of 2023 fast approaching, I thought it was time for something a with a little more pizazz.

The Fabric

This project started off with the fabric. I’ve had this fabric since I was around 17 years old, inherited by my Great Auntie Daphne who was a dress maker by profession. Most of the fabric, patterns and trimmings are from the early to mid eighties, but some stretch back to the late 1960’s. I think the fabric for this project is an 80’s classic, bright emerald green with a high sheen. I don’t know for sure as it didn’t have a label or a note attached like some of the other fabrics but it is some kind of viscose or synthetic silk of some sort. The fabric has a subtle square pattern, like an orderly polka dot. The pattern isn’t that noticeable and the squares are tiny, but they are matt and take out a little of the impact of the high shine of the silky background, I think it gives it a little more class and makes it look a little more high end.

The INSPIRATION

Whilst sitting in the chair having my hair cut last month, I got chatting to the hairdresser about the ladies of an older generation and the way women have changed having their hair cut over the decades. She told me that when she first started working in a salon, she would meet the older ladies on a weekly basis for a wash and set. We chatted about what a luxury that would be! I have very thick, long hair and having someone else wash and blow dry it and never having to do it myself would be something I can only dream of. She told me that she hardly has any clients that keep up this tradition. It must be pretty costly but also I couldn’t help but wonder if it had been phased out and lost with the women of that generation.

This conversation reminded me of my Nan, who would always have her hair washed and styled at a salon. I remember her telling me of the days her, my grandad and all their friends would go to a dinner and dance. They’d put on full evening attire around once a month, just for an excuse to get dressed up and socialise. My Nanny and her friends would have had their hair done for them that afternoon. I have vivid memories of my Nan telling me about her beehive style hair that had pearl beads threaded through. I was jealous then and I’m jealous now! I’d be lucky to get dressed up like that once or twice in my life, let alone once a month. Definitely something to aim for in the future!

You can see in the first photo below my Nan and grandad with her siblings and their partners, she’s in the green dress and my Grandad stands to the right of her. The second photo is them all at a fancy dress party, I think my Nan still needed to aim for a more Audrey Hepburn style fancy dress than making herself look ‘silly’. After all it was an excuse to put on a nice ‘frock’. She’s in the pink dress with the long pearl necklace and her fabulous beehive hair do. My Grandad looks brilliant in a beret, sun glasses and a stripy top. I love this photo.

The 1960’s glamour is just brilliantly over the top. Adding more shine, sparkle and hair spray than ever before. Whilst we go all out for Christmas in my family, we don’t go quite as far as an ‘evening gown’. So I took the high shine from the evening wear look – the emerald fabric – and went in search of a more casual style of the 1960’s for the silhouette.

You can see in the photos below, (Photo 1) my Nan with her Mum standing next to her Brother’s new car in a sort of shift dress with contrasting cuffs and a Peter Pan collar. (Photo 2) Shows my Nan with my Grandad’s mum behind her and my Dad and Auntie ready to go to a fancy dress party of their own. You can see in this photo if you look carefully, my Nanny wears a jacquard shift dress with a twisted collar and a similar ‘mini’ skirt style. I just know that the green fabric I have will look great cut to this shape. It’s also a shape I am comfortable wearing myself, so I know I will get the use out of it.

The Pattern

I quickly sketched something that I resembled the dress I wanted to make and then thought about whether I should make a pattern from scratch. The top half of the dress is almost exactly the same as a dress I have made previously for my sister’s 30th Birthday present a year ago (See the photo below). I used the McCall’s M8032 for this and as we are very similar in size, I knew that the pattern I had cut for her would fit me. I had already modified the skirt on this to be longer to suit her style. Now I needed to shorten it again and remove some of the volume.

As well as taking some volume out of the skirt, which I did using the measurements of the pinafore dress I have made previously, you can read all about that HERE! I also wanted to lengthen the sleeves as it is designed to be worn at Christmas when it will be chilly. I won’t add a ruffle as it doesn’t suit the 60’s aesthetic I am aiming for. I also won’t be adding the ruffle to the bottom of the skirt either for the same reasons.

The dress

The fabric was a nightmare to sew! Cutting it was a slow and tricky job, it is so slippery and moved around under the roller cutter. I used pins to hold it in place but I think it might be time to buy some pattern weights. The overlocker chewed it up, no matter how I adjusted the settings and I gave up in the end. More so because Christmas day was looming and I was running out of time. The fabric frays and I want to come back to the seam edges at a later date so I feel confident that it won’t die a horrible death in the washing machine.

I self drafted a Peter Pan collar, I’ve never done this before so that’s another challenge I have over come! I like to add a little challenge to every project so I learn and push myself, even if it takes me a couple of attempts to get right. I have to say, this was an easy task and all worked out ok. The fabric, as I mentioned before is not the easiest, but the pattern making itself was pretty straight forward. I’m thinking about doing a little ‘How To’ video at a later date if anyone would be interested? Let me know!

To style this dress for Christmas day, I went to the wardrobe, taking Elsie with me to bounce ideas off of, she told me the cowboy boots looked best and I don’t need telling twice. I’ve had them for years and I bloody love them! They’re not exactly the obvious choice for a 1960’s style minidress but I like to mix my self made pieces with things I already own and love wearing. I also paired it with some Christmas sparkle in the form of my Nanny’s beautiful pink Kunzite ring (a copy of one Jackie Kennedy wore), on the other hand I have a Aquamarine and Peridot ring, which was a gift for my 18th Birthday from my Nan and Grandad. Lastly I have a gold bangle, belonging to my Nan which I think is probably from the 1970’s. I’m normally so boring with jewellery, but at Christmas I remember to switch it up a bit!