Mad Men Challenge Shirt Dress

Is shirt dress one word or two? Perhaps you call them shirtwaist dresses. Regardless of what you call it, this style dress was popular in the 1950s and 1960s, and was prominently featured in at least the earlier seasons of Mad Men. My inspiration for this challenge could have been any number of the dresses featured, primarily on the wives of the "mad men". This one that Betty is wearing, is one of my favorites:

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I really wanted to find a stripe, to really replicate the look, but couldn't find what I wanted. You had a sneak peek of my heron covered fabric last week... and here's the dress:

As mentioned last week, I used Simplicity 4003. The changes I made include:

• eliminated the side zipper
• did my own button placement
• the placket is backwards (oops), so the buttons/buttonholes are on the "wrong" sides
• shortened the skirt a lot
• added side seam pockets
• gathered the skirt around the entire waistband.

And darn... I should have posed like Betty, complete with glass of wine!

Parting shot with styled with cardigan...

Herons and the Side Zipper

With the Mad Men Season 6 premiere airing last Sunday, that can only mean one thing! The Mad Men Challenge is nearing an end. My shirt dress is 95% finished... just needs buttonholes/buttons and a hem.

Great Blue Heron picture source

There we go... that's the heron portion of this post. The herons on the right? That's my fabric, from Cloud 9 Organics. The one on the left? Well, duh... that's a real heron.

And the side zipper? If you've sewn, or even looked at, any number of vintage patterns, you've probably noticed that they seem to have a love affair with the side zip. Even my shirtdress pattern, but I feel that buttoning up the front, and zipping up the side is a bit of overkill. I do know why my pattern, Simplicity 4003, uses the side zipper... the skirt design demands it.

My solution was to eliminate the side zipper, and make a placket extending into the skirt. I used another shirtdress pattern, Simplicity 3487, that has a placket, for the skirt pieces... mostly because I was feeling too lazy to figure it out on my own. {note... I'm finding that selling vintage patterns gives me a vast source of information that I can use for pattern tinkering... and if you're wondering why I didn't just use that pattern to start with... I didn't feel like grading up when S4003 is in my size}

My rough sketch from the instructions of S3487:

Basically... stitch along those long dart-like lines, slash to the point, encase the cut edges with bias tape. Easy, right?

How mine looks:

For the record... I think that second picture isn't folded correctly because you don't see the bias tape. And the next time you see these birds, I'll be wearing the dress!

Mad Advance 8623 Skirt Finished!

I've decided to make something else for the Mad Men Challenge, so I'm going to show off the Advance 8623 "pencil" skirt that was part of the original plan. Truthfully, it's really an A-line that I made more "pencil-y". Lopping off 9" off the bottom makes it more 2013, as well.

Finally, instead of a back vent, I added a feature that was inspired by a skirt I saw on Eugenia's blog (remember her?). This one. 

A couple of other changes to the original pattern... I added a lining, moved the zipper to the center back and used an invisible zipper.

Pictures taken at work, by my fellow bridesmaid consultant, Ashley...

Yep... there are a few wrinkles.

It's the Pavlova, People!!

Um, and Mad Men week 5? I'm sad to say that I'm just not that into the Mad Men Challenge this year. I finished my black skirt, which I'll reveal once I get some photos taken of it, in action. And I love it! But it's not going to be part of the Mad Men Challenge. I do still plan to make a shirt dress, and have some great fabric for it, with muslin (bodice only) made yesterday. More on that when I have a bit more time.

But what am I Super Duper Excited About?!! The Pavlova! Got mine in the mail yesterday... 

You can see that I'm in the pink house! Strawberries, yum! If you're in the pink, let me know... if I'm not already following you, I'll be sure to add you to my reading list.

Ah, the life of the working girl... that's all I have time for this morning, but be sure that there will be lots to talk about in the coming weeks!

Have a great day, y'all!

Mad Men Week 4

Week 4! How is that possible? Well, I do actually have a bit of sewing to share. So... let's remind you of the pattern I've chosen for my black pencil skirt.

As one of my astute readers, lsaspacey, pointed out, view 2 is not actually a true pencil skirt. I knew that, but was hoping, since it's so darn long, that by lopping off the 9" from the bottom, that it just wasn't too much of an a-line.

Well, I wasn't that lucky, but my plan of starting with the lining has paid off. I put the lining together, using a long basting stitch for the side seams and the back seam. The waist fit well, so it was just a matter of tapering the side seam. I'm not sure it's still "officially" a pencil skirt, but it works for me.

Keep in mind that while I'm making this for the Mad Men Challenge, I'm also making this to wear "in real life". Like to work, where I've got to be able to move and bend, and pick up stuff off the floor, etc. In fact, I may be changing my Mad Men Challenge plan, but I'll let you know about that next week.

There you go. It only took 2 tries to get the side seam I liked. I saved the cut off pieces and traced them onto my traced tissue. I went ahead and hemmed the lining after removing the seam in the back center, which will be sewn later.

Finally, what did the best grandma in the world wear in the early 60s taking her adorable granddaughter on a walk around the block? Why this of course:

Mad Men Monday Week 3

Progress! Sort of. You know the story... 2 steps forward, 1 step back. I had this weekend off, so took full advantage for this project. Of course, I had a previously started project that had to be finished, and I'll tell you about it in a post later this week. And, yes, it did take longer than expected.

Back to the Mad Men challenge. I traced the skirt, and made no changes except to lop off 9". As drafted, it would hit lower than mid-calf after hemming. Not a good look on me in any decade. The skirt will still be black, with a colorful lining. The lining is also an addition, and a construction change will be to move the zipper around to center back and to make that zipper invisible. I don't plan to make a muslin, so this is ready to be cut out.

But what to wear on top. This pattern:

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says full on Joan at the office to me. And the blouse is my size. So I traced the blouse and the vest, which could be useful at my workplace (that's a post all by itself). I have some gorgeous silk, but the reality is that it wouldn't be so practical for my real life. And it just doesn't seem like me. But THIS:

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I love! The short sleeve version. So, now it's been traced... just the bodice, because I want it to be a blouse. The downside is that I will have to grade it up to a bust 36, and it has a unique construction with the yoke and sleeve cut in one with a center back seam. I've got some ideas, so I'll be working on that this week in my "free" time. I WILL be making a muslin of this! Fabric choice for this TBD, but there are options in my stash.

Our blast from the past photo is one from 1960. It's quite possible that my grandmother (on the left) made both her suit and my mom's shirtwaist dress. But look at their hats!! Fabulous! The occasion was my Christening.

Mad Men Monday Week 2

Progress has been made! Well, not tangible progress anyway, as so far scissors have not been taken to pattern or fabric. But it's that kind of intangible progress that involves making a decision.

First, from the 1960s archives of my family photo albums:

I guess the focus of this picture is my adorable baby self, but look at the fabulous suit my mom has on, complete with slim skirt, jacket with bracelet length sleeves, possibly bound buttonholes (the picture is a bit too fuzzy to tell), and real fur collar... that I have in my possession now. Back to the decision making.

Decision 1: garments that I make should be useful to my daily life, and not just "frosting" as they say around the sewing blogosphere.

Decision 2: I'm going to attempt to make 3 (and maybe 4) garments for the Mad Men Challenge. (If Project Runway contestants can make a couture gown in one, surely I can accomplish this in 10-11 weeks!)

Decision 3: Garment #1 is going to be a black pencil skirt, inspired by Joan and the other secretarys at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce Advertising. Boring, yes, but oh, so useful.

The Pattern:

 This was purchased last year from The Blue Gardenia. True, it's probably late 50's, but it works for me, and it's my size. I'm making view 2, though I really do like view 1, too. First change to make the skirt more late 60s (and frankly, more 2013) will be to shorten it.

More pencil skirt options from my own shop:

McCall's 5460

Don't you love the ribbon detail on the green skirt? I might do that on mine to give it a bit more interest.

Simplicity 6636

Closer to the vintage of the newer seasons of Mad Men, this Simplicity from 1966 has it all... shorter skirt, blazer, shell and slacks.

McCall's 9505

Finally, from 1968, this McCall's suit pattern has the short pencil skirt, Nehru jacket AND a cape. Three great pieces!

Mad Men Monday

Welcome to my new series. I figured if I'm going to do the latest Mad Men challenge (click on badge in the sidebar for more info), I might as well attempt to keep myself on track, hence a Monday report on how it's going.

Today's topic... INSPIRATION ... aka WHAT DO I MAKE?!!

I went to my favorite source for Mad Men Style info (Tom and Lorenzo), and pinned photos from last season. If you're a Mad Men fan, you know that they're now firmly in the late 60s. This leaves me with a dilemma, because the early 60s are really better style-wise for me. I just relate more to those more formal and fitted styles, and find the wearability easier than the mini, hippier looks of the late 60s.

[As an aside, I lived through the entire 1960s, minus the first 5 days of 1960 when I was still in the womb. I'm a child of the 60s and wore many of the late 60s styles, at least in a child-version. This doesn't make me like them any better.]

Me, December 1960...I'll try to find a better picture.

My initial feeling is that I'm going to make the shirtdress I was considering making for the challenge last year. I have fabric, and a pattern for this, and it will be a great and timeless summer style for the heat of the southeast US.

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But Joan's (or even Megan's) work look would also be great, and a useful addition to my own work wardrobe. OK, the boring part would be that it would have to be in black. I'll probably still make a Joan or Megan-inspired pencil skirt and blouse with a ruffle, or a great wiggle dress, but maybe just not for the challenge.

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Finally, I need a dress to wear to a summer wedding, so something dressier could also be a possibility. Hmmm, do you see any favorites in these pictures?

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