Category Archives: vintage patterns

McCall’s 3646, circa 1950s

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Front view.

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Back view.

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Side front detail view.

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Back button belt detail.

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Pattern used:

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McCall’s 3646, circa 1950s

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I finally finished McCall’s 3546 last week. This is my first time sewing a 1950s pattern. The bodice and skirt were cut as one piece, and I made everything as-is, with no modifications. The hardest part about this pattern was cutting out the pieces, since the pieces were very long. Definitely an adjustment from my more fabric-saving 1940s patterns that I’m more used to.

Style notes: This is my hair as it is. Not overly modern-looking, but not overly vintage either. The last time I tried to set my hair it was way too short, layered, and uncooperative, but I’ll try setting it again for the next sewing project.

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Pattern Review

Pattern: McCall’s 3646, circa 1950s

Pattern Sizing: Bust 34, size 12

Description: Sleeveless 1950s wiggle dress with a huge collar.

Did it look like the pattern envelope when you were done sewing it? Yes.

Fabric: Navy blue gabardine for the body, white gabardine for the collar.

Were the instructions easy to follow? Yes.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? My favorite part is the huge collar.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made? I changed the order of construction. I made the buttonholes last, not first. I omitted the facings on the shoulder and used bias tape instead. I serged all the seams so they’d be tidy. I also shortened the skirt to knee-length for me because I am short.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? Yes, I will sew this again, but maybe draft a set of sleeves for it next time.

McCall’s 3646: The Dress with the Huge Collar, circa 1950s

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I started working on McCall’s 3646, or for lack of a better title, The Dress with the Huge Collar. I’m making this in navy gabardine with white accents. The pieces are unusually shaped. The front piece is one long top and bottom piece with a part cut out for the side back bottom piece. I plan to make it as per the directions (with only variations for height, since I am short.) It should be interesting to see how the pieces all fit.

Hollywood 1412: circa 1940s

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Pattern used:

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Hollywood 1412: Franken-Suit, circa 1940s

Project Details:

Pattern: Hollywood 1412, circa 1940s. I used 2 other patterns to replicate the look found on the envelope: Burda 8155, a modern pencil skirt pattern, and DuBarry 4390, my TNT (tried and true) 1940s shirt-dress pattern.

Pattern Sizing: Size 16, 34 bust. However this was missing the entire bodice top (and was replaced by a much smaller looking bodice top with a different collar and facing altogether.)

Description: Jacket with skirt and peplum.

Did it look like the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes, except for my modifications.

Fabric: Mystery polyester/cotton (?) that I got the last off the bolt of at the garment district last month. It has wonderful drape and I can’t stand singeing a piece to check for fiber content.

Were the instructions easy to follow? Yes, had I chosen to read them.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I can’t say, since the bodice was from DuBarry 5390 and the skirt was from Burda 8155. I do love the peplum and I think it’s very flattering.

Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made: This pattern was missing the bodice and was incomplete. For the skirt I used Burda 8155, a modern pencil skirt pattern, and for the bodice I used DuBarry 4390, my TNT (tried and true) 1940s shirt-dress pattern.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? I don’t think I need another one of these in my closet, but if I did I sew this one again.

Sewing/Style Inspiration: Stevie Nicks

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I’ve been listening to Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours non-stop lately, and though late 1970s is barely considered vintage, I’ve always been inspired to dress like my rock star idols.

Stevie Nicks is the frontwoman of Fleetwood Mac. She pioneered a unique gypsy-luxe bohemian look: long fluid chiffon skirts, airy capes, shawls, platform boots and lots of black.

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Stevie Nicks performing on stage, late 1970s. Note the beaded black lace shawl with a classic cotton tank top.

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Stevie Nicks in the early 1980s, wearing a white fringed shawl, low-cut dress with a ruffle, and high-heeled boots.

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Fleetwood Mac in the late 1970s. Stevie in the center wearing a black chiffon dress and a top hat.

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Stevie is on the bottom right wearing a lace blouse and an ethnic print handkerchief skirt (or dress?).

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Wearing a white lace shawl and a black dress.

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This photograph isn’t really a good example of her personal style since you can barely see what she’s wearing, but I love the rock and roll vibe of this shot.

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“I was very influenced by Janis Joplin,” Stevie said during a recent interview*, “the one time I saw Janis in person, and all the times I saw her on television with her feathers and her bell-bottomed pants and her beautiful silky blouse tops.” Stevie travelled to San Francisco to the Velvet Underground in at attempt to re-create her look. “It was a tiny little store, but it had the most beautiful things,” Nicks recalls. “Tunic tops that came down to your mid-thigh, and evening gown, old-lady nightgown material bell-bottoms that weren’t really wide, but instead fell straight over a really high boot.It was in that room where I thought ‘Wow! These are the kind of clothes I’m going to wear forever.’”

My new sewing motto from now on is: sew clothes that I’m going to wear forever.

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This leads me to my next sewing project, Butterick 6287 from the late 1970s:

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I don’t have any fabric for this yet, but I’ll probably modify the hem so it has an asymmetrical hem or a handkerchief skirt.

* (interview source: LA Times, 10/23/97, Airy Godmother)

Hollywood 1412: Construction Details

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More progress shots of Hollywood 1412. I added tapered three-quarter sleeves with a button cuff.

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Pin-basting the peplum. I wanted to make sure the side seams lined up and the peplum fit precisely. Hollywood 1412 was missing the top bodice pattern entirely. I was cobbled together the top bodice from DuBarry 5390 and wanted to make sure the peplum fit precisely.

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Closeup of the facing and the fabric. The fabric is loosely woven and is made up of pink, black, and white weft threads that unravel easily, giving it a plum/brown color and an interesting texture.

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This fabric unravels easily, so I used this (vintage?) rayon seam binding for the seams. This was only 1/2 inch, so I trimmed my seams to 1/4 inch and applied the seam binding.

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Sewing area #1, my living room/dining room. Esteemed Sewing Assistant doesn’t like looking at the camera.

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Sewing area #2, my windowsill. This is where my pressing and pinning happens.

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Progress so far. I revised the sleeves so they’d be 3/4 sleeves and would taper inward. I also drafted a button cuff. Still needs buttons and buttonholes, and the facings need to be hand-sewn. It still needs a good final press.

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Shoulder closeup.

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Closeup of the inside part, trimmed with navy rayon seam binding.

Hollywood 1412: Sewing Updates

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Hollywood 1412, in progress.

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OK, maybe it’s not as bad as I thought. After sleeping on it, I’ve decided to plow through with Hollywood 1412 as a blouse and skirt.

I once heard somewhere that sculptors believed that the essence of their creation is already in the marble itself, in the stone that they’re about to carve, and their task is to realize the marble’s true potential and portray it to the world. I feel the same way about sewing projects sometimes. This project is clearly trying to communicate to me that it wants to be a dress and that I should forge ahead.