Oh oh, I set my mind on this. It simply had to be this dress, the right (2nd) version!
The sewing pattern No.6 København by How to do fashion.
style
I love the style of the 50’s and especially couldn’t resist this adorable backside neckline of version 2 (in the picture: right side) and therefore it had to be my maid of honor dress for the wedding of my best friend. However, I only had one more day, because I was also responsible for my wedding dress (more about this in another blog entry) which of course had top priority. And so I was finished with my fitted test-version only 2 days before the wedding. This left me with only 24 hours to sew the real version. Oh oh …. but it simply had to be this dress!!!!!
fit
The adjustments for my body to achieve the perfect fit were kind of easy, since princess seams can be adjusted in only a few steps and I already have some experience with it + you can find well explained instructions and many other tips HERE on the website of How to do fashion. This is something I really like, because especially in the case of clothes which are not made of jersey or other elastic fabrics, the fit is so important, since e.g. cotton fabrics do not “adjust” and a not good fitted dress is not comfortable to wear. However, I have to say that this sewing pattern (in my case, the version 2) is very well designed and I therefore would say that it should fit well on women that have “normal” body proportions without major adjustments.
In my case – or better – for my body, however, a few optimisations had to be done, but which are NOT the fault of the sewing pattern. It is simply me! 😀
adjustemts
Here is a small list of the adjustments I made and for me these are only minimal corrections: *happy*
1. Princess seams: just reduced the width under my bust a little to give it a more fitted look (to my surprise, this sewing pattern seems to be constructed with a larger cup size (then B), although this is not mentioned, the top part of the dress already fitted very nicely without a real FBA (Full Bust Adjustment) and this is something I only experienced with sewing pattern that already offer different cup-sizes)
2. Neckline | Collar:
a) Front neckline (more width so the fabric can gently lay over my collarbones)
b) Back neckline (less width, so the fabric does not collapse between my prominent shoulder blades)
c) Collar (as the length of the neckline has changed, I also had to adapt the collar)
3. Waist: reduced the width, because unfortunately, even at the smallest size the waist was too wide for me
4. Back skirt: because I am built quite “straight” without large hips, I need the width of the skirt not at the sides, but at the backside
5. Length of skirt: since I personally really like to be able to move freely in my dresses, I made the skirt a little shorter.
Sewing instructions
The sewing itself was pretty easy, because Nanna (the person behind How to do fashion) has explained every step very well, although the sewing pattern + the guide is only available in Danish & English, the graphics are easy to understand) The sewing instructions can either be read online HERE (I have linked only the English website here), or it can be printed directly , or you do it as I did, I saved it as a pdf-document.
And this is how my version of the No.6 København dress (version 2) looks now (the details first):
The lining, carefully sewn by hand to the upturned seam allowance:
Zipper with collar on the backside of the dress:
Pleats in the front skirt – matching the princess seams of the front top:
Hem: Here I would not only finish the edges with an overlock-stitch next time but also iron the edges to the inside, so you can’t see this seams later on the inside of the dress. This time, because I had to hurry so much, I got a bit confused and missed to also adjust the hem facings to the correct width of the skirt. 😉 But doesn’t it look lovely that I used the lining fabric for this too?
result
MY maid of honor dress: (And I simply love everything about it!)
fabric: both Stoff & Stil
1. Upper dress: cotton twill (dark blue)
2. Lining: woven cotton
Conclusion
Wonderful style, great sewing pattern, amazing fit, good instructions, easy to sew – I would say it is also suitable for (patient) beginners! And anyone who has questions abouts this lovely sewing pattern or the fitting optimisations I made, can write me an email and I try to help the best I can!
Click HERE to get to my contact form!
Thank you dear Nanna for this wonderful sewing pattern! It was great fun to sew & also to wear it. Everybody was thrilled! <3