Great Gatsby Sewing: Completed Dress

Hello Dames and Gents! I finally got a wiggle on and finished up my Great Gatsby dress. Remember the fabric and pattern? Well here she is!

Horsefeathers! This Pattern Had Me All Balled Up! 

I was forewarned before purchase that the pattern instructions would be minimal, but I had no idea what was coming my way... Past Patterns gives copies of the original instructions, and in the case of this 1921 pattern, about half of it was gone. 

This would give any doll the heebie jeebies! 

I was missing 3 of the 11 pattern pieces, descriptions of what each pattern piece was, and quite a bit of the instructions for assembling the dress.

Now You're on the Trolley!

I started by putting the pattern pieces together like a jigsaw puzzle, trying to figure out where the missing pattern pieces were and what went where. I spent one hectic hour thinking the neckline was actually a bust dart! I had a good giggle over that when I realized it.

The best I could figure, I was missing:

1. The belt.
2. The neck tie.
3. The third piece of the promised three-piece skirt. The two pattern pieces I had wouldn't allow it to close at left-side front.

I ended up drafting 1 & 2 (which was fairly easy since they're just rectangles!) and then adding on to the skirt front for #3 so I wouldn't have an additional seam.  Then I did two muslins to make sure the fit was right. 

I was also lacking a button placement guide, so I marked where the buttons should be while I had the dress on me. Then I made a silly mistake - I went back and evened out the distance, forgetting that my bubs will require a bit more spacing! So two of the buttons are slightly squeezed together. Those are the types of things you miss when you just follow a pattern, so I was excited to learn something new there!

Attagirl!

It was nice to stray away from strict following of instructions for a bit and get my wheels turning. It was also good reminder for me to avoid sewing garments with quilter's cotton, no matter how appealing a print is. I think it loses a bit of its luster because of it. I still think it's pos-i-lute-ly hotly totsy! 

PS- I hope you enjoyed the bit of 1920s slang I threw in!