Pattern Tissue TLC & Some Hand Stitching

My 1920s pattern, Vogue 2535, comes from the lovely Sew Weekly Pattern Swap I attended.  It is one of the Vintage Vogues that I initially missed because I was not buying Vogue patterns back in 2001.  I recall seeing the image in the pattern book at JoAnns, but the style did not interest me at the time.  Since then, I have kicked myself for not picking up each and every one of the Vintage Vogues that were available.  Every once in a while I come across one that got away and develop severe pattern envy.

A previous owner of the pattern did something extraordinary, if the style lines drawn on the instruction sheet are anything to go by.  But this also meant that the pattern tissue was cut apart in quite a few spots.  Lucky for me, most of the scraps were present, and I was able to tape things back together.

The hem was the first thing that I completed!  I used a hand rolled hem because I love to hand stitch.  The cape is also hand rolled.

One thing I would change about the order of construction is attaching the capelet to the bodice pieces right away.  I generally like to follow the directions, but having all of that extra fabric flopping around was a bit of an irritation, especially when attaching and fiddling with the gathers on the skirt.

The pattern calls for double seams and leaving all of the edges raw, but you didn’t think I was going to leave it like that, did you?

I have some lovely dusty pink rayon seam binding from Mattiecake’s Etsy Shop, and I love the way it looks with the gray fabric.

The piping trim along the waistband is a fun bit of added interest – I will have to remember this technique in the future.  I did not have any cording on hand, so I substituted a length of yarn from my stash.  As I recall, the yarn is acrylic, so it probably would not shrink, but just in case, I washed and dried a length before encasing it in the bias fabric.  There is no sense going to the extra trouble only to have the seam go wonky!

And while I generally avoid side snap closures, this dress is not fitted, so I decided to use the vintage technique.  I did add one hook and created a thread loop at the hip (the only place that might have a tendency to pull) just to make sure those snaps did not open up.  One thing that this opening has going for it is that it is created with the dress fabric, so there is no weird polyester zipper buckling on the soft rayon.

Now I just have to go through my pictures of the dress so I can show you the finished product!