A Sixties Shift with Red Stitching

Sewing, 39 Comments

I finished this dress a week or so ago, and it has been patiently waiting for it’s decorative stitching since:

And I’m still waiting for the perfect red shoes, so let’s just pretend shall we?

I had two shades of red embroidery cotton, but one was too dark and one was too orangey, so a special trip downtown was required to get just-the-right-shade.  The hand stitching took a couple of hours to do – as long as it took to sew the whole dress!  I quite like the naivety of the stitching with the linen:

 Here’s a quick reminder of the pattern, Butterick 2669 – as you can see I was 100% innovative in my colour choice:

Quick n’ Easy it might have been to sew, but fitting it was a nightmare:

It would have been a much simpler plan to swing a couple of darts around on my own dress block, but that needs a refit too!  I usually wear sheath dresses more fitted, but making this as part of the Vintage Sewalong I kept with the spirit of the vintage pattern and left it semi-fitted – not quite as flattering, but loose and comfortable for summer, and you can still bend over to pat the cat:

The back is plain but I think the red stitching around the hem band adds just enough interest.  I thought of doing a handpicked zip a la vintage, but the invisible zip won:

I did make the tie belt, but let’s just say the girl in the pattern illustration looks a lot better with a tie belt than I do!  Here’s a nicer image to finish with:

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Designer, Patternmaker, Blogger Of All Things Sewing. Follow as I share projects, patterns, and my favourite tricks of the trade.

39 thoughts on “A Sixties Shift with Red Stitching”

  1. Hello, your dress is perfect, well proportioned, elegant and fine, I love color, and stitching in red makes a stunning detail.

    Hugs

    Eilane – Brazil
    (sorry if it kind of pointless, do not speak your language, and am using a google translator)

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  7. Fantastic!!! How did you manage to get the stitching som even…?? I would never have the patience.

    Greetings from Sweden!

    /Maria

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  18. You could actually sell me on that semi-fitted shape. And I love the hand-topstitching and the hem band. I am musing about hand-topstitching an upcoming shirt for my man but I have a feeling mine would not be as precise as yours! 🙂

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  19. Sherry, this is so beautiful! I love the hand stitching and I will store that idea mentally. I'll definitely use that on a garment next time I see an opportunity.
    I understand why you felt the fitting was a nightmare, but it was so instructive. Your pain – our gain 🙂
    Thanks for the fitting posts and the wonderful final creation.

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  31. Amazing – not just the final dress, colour and features, but the fact you got that from your original muslin!

    This is beautiful and your colours are great. I am sewing my first retri-sh pattern at the moment and luckily don't need to adjust too much.

    I would love to know how you hand stitched so evenly too.

    You look beautiful.

    Cherri

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  33. Your dress is fabulous. Love the hand stitching, it's so perfect and the colour compliments the fabric so nicely. The fit is fantastic, semi-fitted for hot summer days sounds good to me!

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  39. Pingback: Whatever Happened to All Those Things? | pattern scissors cloth

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