Last month I finished sewing my sister's wedding dress, which was very rewarding, but I have been really excited to be finished since I can now focus on the type of sewing that I like to do for fun. Her dress was made with chiffon and lace (and I will definitely post more about it once we get the photos back), and while that was a fun challenge, I am so happy to be back to my quilting cottons. I got this fabric just over a month ago specifically to make using this sewing pattern. This was made with V9076, a modern Vogue pattern that I have been keeping my eye on for the past few years. After all of the complicated french seams with delicate materials for the wedding dress, this felt like such a breeze to make!
The Vogue sewing pattern I used for this is a totally modern pattern - if you have seen any of the other dresses I have made, that might surprise you. I usually go for Vintage Vogue patterns or the vintage line of patterns from Simplicity and McCalls, or I will draft my own pattern from scratch. However, this one has a 1940s look to it that I love, and I think the details on it are really special (and the details make it the sort of pattern that I would definitely not enjoy pattern drafting! That is a bit too much math for my taste). This dress has a beautiful yoke detail with a standing collar, gathered sleeves with buttoned cuffs, center front button closure, and a waist yoke. The gathering at the bust and on the front of the skirt gives it a feminine touch while the gentle A-line skirt and mid-calf length skirt makes it really functional. I find that these styles of skirts are easy to wear in every day life since you don't have to worry about any sort of Marilyn Monroe moments with the skirt flying up and the longer skirt allows me to climb around without worrying that the skirt is riding up. The puffed sleeves also allow for a lot of movement, so climbing around the Reader Rock Garden in Calgary was no problem in this dress!
I always like to add little details for myself in my dresses, and for this one it was the buttons. These buttons were at our local antique store from Canadian military jackets and they just happened to have the exact amount of buttons that I needed. They are beautiful metal buttons with shanks that have the phrase "Honi soit qui mal y pense" on them. From the very brief amount of googling I did on these buttons, they apparently are used by only a few regiments in the Canadian army, including The Governor General's Horse Guards, The Royal Regiment of Canada, The Royal Montreal Regiment, The Royal Canadian Engineers, and the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery. The phrase translates to "shamed be to him who thinks evil of it" and is the motto of the British chivalric Order of the Garter (the highest of British knighthoods). The buttons also feature the Tudor crown and heraldry in the center. I can't figure out exactly which regiment these exact buttons might have been from, so if anyone happens to be an expert on Canadian military uniform buttons, I would be happy to hear about these!
Luckily I saved some space in my packing list for my move to England in September because I think this dress will be coming with!
Thanks for reading!
~Katherine
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