Two Dresses From the 1970s (or 1960s?)
Nine years ago, I was given a collection of fabric from the late 1950s-early 1970s, which had belonged to a friend’s mum. You can read about this interesting collection HERE.
Most of the fabric I kept from this collection has been used now, but there were two partly-sewn dresses which I came across the other day, and would like to finish.
One is a black and white cotton sundress, in two halves. The fabric reminds me of clothes my grandmas or aunts wore when I was a child in the 1970s (although their clothes might have been from the 1960s, since people held onto their clothes for longer).
I could easily finish this off. My older teen expressed an interest in it.
The dress has an all-in-one facing which has already been completed. It has pink overlocking on the (uninterfaced) facings, which makes me think this dress is from the 70s, since home overlockers were very rare in the 60s especially in Australia. But there might have been a gap between acquiring the fabric and sewing the dress.
The second dress is more…erm… fragmented. It’s a flared skirt with enough scraps to cut a bodice and possibly sleeves.
The cotton fabric has very pretty colours.
The skirt part has been hand-basted together for a fitting. It’s cut from a commercial pattern – it has the triangle-shaped notches on some of the edges.
I’ll have a look for a suitable pattern for a top part for this dress, or make one.
I think this is going to be a fun little project
See ya next week for an update!
Oh what fun! I have had a few adventures putting together partly made garments and it is like a puzzle. I look forward to seeing what you do with these.
Thanks Sue, I think it’s going to be a fine adventure of the best sort!
I love the colors in the unfinished skirt. I would be tempted to find a solid color fabric that picks up on a color you like (I’d probably look for chocolate brown or teal) and use it to supplement the scraps so you can be less constrained by the amount of fabric when designing the top. I might also finish it as a two piece. I love the challenge and can’t wait to see what you do.
Hmm…I hadn’t thought about putting it with a solid. Nice idea. Many thanks for your thoughts 🙂
The floral patterns look very contemporary though. Good luck!
Thank you Michelle, this is going to be fun!
I like that flared skirt and look forward to seeing it modeled when finished! Do you know what commercial pattern was used?
Yes, I think the flared skirt has potential. There weren’t any patterns in with the fabric – it was all fabric, part-garments or cut pieces.
I like fabric pattern of the second dress, but the black & white dress is my favorite style
The second dress’s fabric is lovely, isn’t it? The black and white fabric looks better in real life – the black is really black.
I made lots of frocks in the 1960s and 1970s and knew all the fabrics in my local shops, and at Liberty’s. I reckon the blue cotton is 1970-72, and the pink one is circa 1968-9. It’s not Laura Ashley, but very like it.
Thanks Janie, that would fit with the fabric collection’s age – nothing was older than 1973.
Finishing OTHER PEOPLE’s USOs, I’m impressed! And… actually, can you say “USO” in English?!? In french, we have OVNI for UFO and OCNI for “Objet Cousu Non Identifié” (Unidentified Sewn Object). It’s obviously not an official term but it’s quite well spread. A bit like the “sew cake or frosting” thing from a decade ago.
And I agree with your teen that the black and white fabric is great!
Possibly sewing someone else’s unfinished objects is more fun than your own? Like doing dishes at someone else’s house.
So interesting to hear about UFOs other countries.
I had to look up ‘sew cake or frosting”. I ought to mend the curtains, but instead will make a new summer frock from Liberty pieces. But if I don’t do it soon, it will turn into a ‘cake’ and a chore rather than ‘frosting’.
Sewing someone else’s unfinished objects is usually a tedious chore. But I enjoyed finishing my father’s cross stitch cushion, 65 years after he died.
“I ought to mend the curtains but will instead make a new summer frock” sums up a lot of people’s sewing lives! Haha!
65 years might be some sort of record for UFOs?