Allie J's Vintage Pledge Project: Coral Delight

Allie blogs at Allie. J., and loves to sew patterns from the 1950s and 60s. She wowed us last year with her handmade wedding dress, which won the Dresses category of last year's Vintage Pledge End of Year Competition:

Hi y’all! I’m Allie and I’m so thrilled to be participating in this year’s Vintage Pledge as a guest poster as well as a pledger!

Pattern Details
Simplicity 4475 is an early 1960s dress with a fitted bodice, darted raglan sleeves, and a full gathered skirt.

What attracted you to this pattern?
I have had it in my favorites on etsy for ages, and I was initially attracted to the cute shoulder ties; I really can’t resist a little bow detail! Inspired by Kate Middleton’s raglan-sleeved eyelet dress, I thought Simplicity 4475 would pair nicely with this gorgeous coral eyelet by Nanette Lepore.

Sewing it Up
I’ve been seeing tons of sheer and semi-sheer eyelet dresses cropping up on all my favorite blogs recently, so I decided to leave this dress unlined and wear it with a coordinating slip underneath. I had to get a bit creative with my finishes--no lining means a clean interior is a must! I also had to get a bit creative with my neckline finish, finishing it with a coordinating bias strip. Despite some challenges, one nice thing about working with eyelet is that there’s no hemming to do; the hem of the sleeves and skirt are simply the scalloped edges of the fabric.

In this second iteration of the pattern (see the first one here!), I made some changes to the front bodice: I rotated the side bust dart into the waistband for one huge dart, and then pleated the front waist to take up the dart instead of sewing it. It didn’t work perfectly--it’s a little looser in the waist than my first version. Overall, though, I think it went well--and there’s no chance of me unpicking and resewing my hand-picked zipper to make it a little smaller!

 

Final Verdict
Having made this pattern twice now, I feel confident in recommending it as a good staple pattern if you like this style of dress. The raglan sleeves add interest to a classic silhouette, and are easy to sew, too: no fiddly sleeve cap easing required! I still haven’t made the version with the little shoulder ties that initially attracted me to the pattern, so expect to see this pattern again from me--you can keep a lookout for another repeat over on my blog, allie J. :)

Thanks for reading!

Thanks Allie! What a beautiful dress. Love that fabric - it's perfect for the skirt shape, and I love the scalloped edge detail. I'm also a huge fan of raglan sleeves too!

K x