And this is now my result of – Reconstruction: Vintage Dress – my free and self-constructed interpretation of the vintage dress B5033 by Butterick.
Source: photo – pattern envelope original
This pattern is unfortunately no longer available and the “used” ones were just too expensive for me at up to 40€ + shipping fees from abroad, especially because the original pattern wouldn’t fit me anyway. I would have had to do an FBA (full bust adjustment) + all the other adjustments that are normal for me and my body.
So I chose one of my own basic bodice pattern with bust and waist darts and high neckline as a base and adapted it to the look of the B5033 + my own look preferences.
HERE (in part 3) you can find my finished pattern pieces and how I created them.
Result – Recreation: Vintage dress
The front view:
My bodice runs a little narrower on the neck (unlike the original), but that’s partly because there’s no back counterpart and partly because it just fits better for the shape of my torso/shoulders.
Find a detail view of my collar HERE !
The side view:
As you can see in the photos, my skirt is also much narrower than the original.
Reason: I really wanted to use this fabric from my stash and I only had a certain amount available.
Of course – as I have often done with other dresses – I could have cut the skirt in cross-grain to get more “width”. But then the flowers of the fabric pattern would have looked sideways, which I didn’t like.
The back view:
And here my pattern no longer matches the original. But for me that doesn’t matter. After all, I sew my clothes myself to get exactly what I have in mind and what I personally like, so I feel free to make any changes I like! 😉
And even though I’m not 100% satisfied with my result – see the wrinkles at the back – I do love this dress and am really looking forward to finally being able to wear it in warmer temperatures.
I see it this way: I’m still practising and my next will fit even better! You have to remember that this year, for the first time in my life, I found a suitable strapless bra (65E). So I’m still a complete novice when it comes to dresses like this in my mid-40s.
The zipper, on the other hand, turned out almost perfect! Look at how great the pattern of the fabric matches.
For a secure wearing experience:
Since I’m not used to dresses like this at all and am always very careful to have everything properly “packed”, I added the following to my dress: Safety or holding ribbons for threading in my bra, so that it can no longer happen that the bra peeks out of the top of the dress, but is stopped beforehand by these straps. These ribbons are only attached to the seam allowance of the lining.
My label:
Oh and another little detail I want to show you – but please forgive my uneven hand-sewing. I have a “label” in one of my own dresses for the first time. They were a gift and to be able to show it (despite actually wrong CI colour) while I am wearing the dress, I attached it to the hem of the lining skirt!
Related Instagram post: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cq46SErN-1E/