West Cork dress

This dress has nothing to do with Ireland, I'll explain later.

I got invited to a party back in April - that hardly ever happens to me now! It was a 40th birthday, with a 1940s theme and I was so excited to have a reason to make a 1940s dress.

I did a fair bit of searching, looking at pictures of the 40s, vintage dress pattern, reproduction patterns, thinking about style and in the midst of all that, found this pattern from a tiny indy pattern maker called Sense and Sensibility - the 1940s swing dress. It's a wrap front with a wide waist band, gathered shoulder seams and six-piece skirt.

The pattern was released in 2011, there were tester photos online but not much about the pattern maker so I had to take a punt and buy it for USD$9.95.

I have to be blunt, this is not the most professional looking pattern I've ever seen, the pattern pieces are hand drawn and not the most precise lines I've ever seen:

And as for the pattern instruction, most of the diagrams were, not great, as you can see:

That's the guide for attaching the shoulder seams, which have front gathers and a grown on neckline facing.

I ended up just kind of winging it, some of the top stitching is a little wobbly but luckily in this busy print that is not visible.

For all my complaining, I was delighted to find the fit was pretty great and the way it all sat at the waist very pleasing.

The fabric is a lovely printed rayon from good ole Spotlight. I bought it with another project in mind so only had two metres, but the design is based on a 1942 design from the days of rationing, so it fit on two metres just fine, I even lengthened the skirt.

The dress has a great swishy skirt, wide waistband and ties at the back that, if I were making this again, I would add length to. They are tie-able but only just.

I am pleased with this dress, because while it was the perfect costume for the party, it's not too costumy for me to wear again to go out or even to work in summer.

And why is it called the West Cork dress? That's the name of the podcast I binge listened to while I was making this up. It's a strange tale about a murder of a French woman, Sophie Toscan du Plantier , murdered on a remote and beautiful park of the Cork coastline just before Christmas. No one has ever been convicted, although many believe a local man did it. It's a strange, fascinating tale told, mostly, by people with lilting Irish accents about village life and suspicion. 

Often when I watch or listen to something when I sew, whatever it is becomes inextricably associated in my mind with the garment.