FO: Lucienne Day Shirtdress

I think I'm going to have to throw out all my other shirtdress patterns, because I love this one so much.

In spite of some misgivings about the first dress I made using this 1980s pattern, it was getting frequent wear so I knew another one would be a good idea. The fabric I've used this time is a reprint of a design by 1950s designer Lucienne Day. It's a cotton poplin from the John Lewis sale, reduced to £5.50/m from £14.95/m. As a 50s repro fabric, I felt it was a great match for a pattern that's '80s doing 50s' style. I am so enamoured with the dress and it's pretty much turned out exactly as I hoped.

As I've written this pattern up before, I'll just give a brief rundown.

Pattern Used

Style 4280 from 1984

Fabric & Notions
I just adore the fabric. It is lovely quality fabric although the softness means that it creases more than I would like, considering how infrequently I iron. I love the 50s fabric design. Lucienne and her husband Robin were both designers - he designed furniture and she designed textiles, with their work being quintessentially 20th century British in style. They worked as design consultants for John Lewis between 1962 and 1987, and this fabric was designed around 1954. Neatly, 30 years before this pattern was produced

Let's talk about pattern matching. I tried, I really did. I matched the notches on the front bodice up with the skirt, and those bits match OK. But all the pleats kind of threw things off so now I just hope this doesn't look too crazy. As for the pockets, I also tried! I managed to get the vertical lines matching, which is good, but I haven't exactly matched the pattern. I dunno, a more diligent seamstress would have made a better job, but I think it's fine. Honestly, I find that my best pattern matching happens by fluke - I never seem to be able to anticipate which bits are most important to match up!

On the back yoke I ran the pattern horizontally, which I think looks nice and handily combats the pattern matching aspect. You can see the vertical back pleat:

I used clear plastic buttons from my stash. I think they fit pretty well with the fabric style, and I have (like many of you, I suspect) so many buttons but struggle to find a matching set in a plain colour. At least this pattern only requires 4 buttons.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made
I added horizontal bust darts, as I knew these were required from my last version. These should have been a bit lower but function fine. I also meant to lengthen the bodice a little, but forgot.

Last time I was pretty confused by the placket instructions - this time around I took care to label everything really well and it was much easier. However the instructions could do with a bit more explanation about how the placket is supposed to sit at the top of the skirt as I've actually got it right both times, but not been sure because the instructions are vague.

This time around I used good quality woven interfacing I bought from The Stitchery. I cannot rave about this stuff enough, it's beautiful to use and works beautifully.

See that pattern matching across the front closure...total fluke! Didn't occur to me to try and match this area

Would you sew it again and do anything different next time?
Pretty sure I'll be sewing this again. I still want to make the McCalls 6696 but now I'm wondering if I have room for 2 great shirtdress patterns in my life. Could it be as good as this one?

 Without a belt - I think it works just as well

Cost
Pattern     Free in swap
Fabric      £16.50
Buttons    From stash, can't remember their origin but probably cost a few pence as part of a charity shop lot

Conclusion
I love the dress so much, and it is my 6th item for Vintage Pledge too. Still baffled by print matching though!

Now on to the next vintage pattern...

K x

p.s Bonus outtake for you, the result of my Current Husband's attempt to take 'naturalistic photos'...