This is such a Nancy Drew look! Okay so I'm super excited about this one! And for a number of reasons one of them being after several weeks of struggling with my yardage I had quite a bit to work with this time holla! Secondly I'm starting to make video's to go with my posts!
So let's begin! What was I working with this week? I had 2 1/3 yards at a 45" width of purple lavender Fabric. I was pretty confident it was 100% cotton and after pressing it I now know it's 100% cotton!
I'll be honest as excited as I was to have to real yardage in my hands, I had a hard time picking out what to do with it. Lavender can be a really hard color because it can look matronly, or over designed easily. I knew I wanted something simple and elegant, for whatever reason Grace Kelly came to mind, so I started going through my retro bin in search of a pattern, or inspiration.
What I settled on was Simplicity Pattern 5189 a vintage Original. As with many of these vintage patterns it only came in one size, size 18 which was actually kinda cool because I haven't had much size variety on these challenges as of yet.
I'm sure size 18 seems huge but pattern sizes and dress sizes are much different. In Dress sizes it'd be more like a size 10 or 12. Still to big for me but I was committed to putting this dress together.

The pattern was really simple the bodice had no back seam, two back darts four front darts. The skirt does have a back seam and darts while the front skirt had its darts replaced by gathers. A side zipper and then the garment is faced not lined. This dress was a pleasure to make, and the cotton fabric made it east to press which is often half the battle in this kind of work.
The hem however was a little bit of a struggle. The pattern calls for a 2in he, plus the 1/4 in fold over. I am always torn wen it comes to large hems. I'm torn because while a large hem looks so much more elegant on a finished garment, It's so much work getting it to fit just right inside the skirt. Well needless to say I managed to get it to fit inside the skirt and I'm glad I did becasue it really does add to the posh overall look of the dress.
The pattern had a bolero included which I really wanted to make out of matching fabric but I only had enough for just the dress so I had a look around and came across a fleece back satin with pretty purple flowers all over it. I had a little under a yard but there was just enough to put together a bolero.

This fabric was given to me by a good friend, and former store Manager Kim. Way back when I lived in Yuba City and was still working at Micheals Arts and Crafts. Kim was cleaning out her sewing studio and she gave me A LOT of fabric, which I have used or donated over the years. This one I'd been saving for the right moment and as it always does the right moment found me.
In the beginning things were alright. But somewhere along the lines I made a mistake putting this bad boy together and it took me forever to get it to lay right. In fact it took me longer to make the bolero then it did to make the dress :/ but I guess i was worth it in the end because it really does pull the look together. I like it anyways and I wis is was in my size so I could keep it. Like I said this outfit made me feel super Nancy Drew, all I'm missing is my magnifying glass walking up a Crooked Banister looking for and Old Clock on a Pirate Ship. (Those are all Nancy Drew references)
Thank you for joining me this week as always feel free to look me up on Social Media. Instagram @MadsenCreations Facebook Madsen Creations by Rachel Madsen and Twitter @Rachieface89 This look and others like it can be purchased in my shop and also I've included a little video here as well as the photo gallery