Here's the dress that my daughter "designed" for herself. She wanted a flat front, pleats, a waistband (I wanted the piping), and no growth tucks. It's pretty cute, but I really like growth tucks. I also did a 11" arm band, but should have done 10".
This is the most buttons I've ever put on a girls' dress. You're supposed to put them a maximum of 1.5 inches apart, even as close as 1 inch! Elizabeth Stewart Clark says little girls' dresses didn't have wooden buttons (they don't wash well), but that's all I had. I'll have to buy more metal buttons to have on hand. The button holes are horizontal (but it made them a bit wide that they crossed over the edge of the placket (I think that's a no-no, oops.)).
You can see how nicely the inside of the dress finishes out. You do an inner-waistband that covers up all the raw ends.
The fabric, again, was from the Bernina store in Centerville that moved to Ogden. So sad it is gone, but at least I benefited from some GREAT deals!!
Your sewing is looking very good and your models are darling!
ReplyDeleteYour daughter is so darling. That is a cute dress too.
ReplyDeleteI love the fabric! Where did you get it?
ReplyDeleteAnother option is to use a bit of the scrap fabric, and make a set of fabric-covered buttons. You can do that with the button form kits, or if you have some simple four-hole flat buttons, you can use *them* as the form, and cover them with rounds of print cloth. It's very washer friendly! (Wooden buttons don't hold up in the wash cycles, which is why they're generally not seen on washable dresses mid-century... but self-fabric covered ones can be used to "recycle" even mis-matched buttons, provided they're the same diameter. It's pretty cool!)
ReplyDeleteVERY tidy work on the inside of the waistband!
Liz
Covering buttons: cut a circle of fabric that's just more than twice the diameter of the button to be covered. Work very small gathering stitches by hand around the outside edge. Put the button in the middle, and draw the gathers up nice and firmly. Sew through the little gathered up knobby several times to anchor things well. It can then be sewn down to the dress.
ReplyDeleteLiz
Darling dress! I've noticed that despite my previous notions, it seems pioneer girl dresses do not have collars?
ReplyDeleteHi again 3rd time! I've looked in my Elizabeth Stewart Clark girls' dresses book and can't find anything mentioned on collars. I know ladies' dresses can have a fine white collar/cuffs (but my dresses don't). Here's a link to some sweet pictures of some period clothing: http://earthlyangelscdvs.blogspot.com/. I haven't yet looked at Elizabeth Stewart Clark's forum regarding collars on girls' dresses, but that may be the next step!
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