Vintage Simplicity 7124

I do like fall. It's my birthday season after all. Although it's still a bit too warm for my taste, the leaves are turning beautiful shades of brown and red. I love that!

So I made a dress with some red in it, to celebrate fall. It's one of my first knit garments, but it's a very stable knit and I didn't encounter a lot of  issues while sewing this. I used a 'straight crooked seam', which was suggested in the fantastic Professional Sewing Techniques for Designers. It worked really well and the seams are stable enough. I used bias tape to hem this dress and also for the sleeve hems.

I just love the flowery print. Usually I don't really like to wear grey, but combined with the red, I don't mind.
The pattern I used is Simplicity 7124, a pattern from the sixties. I didn't change anything, except for a sway back alteration.

I would love to make this pattern again, in a crisp cotton without a print. I love the fact that knits are so comfortable, but I think cotton would perhaps result in a more interesting (and sixties) shape.
And one last picture to show how happy I am with this dress!

Happy Birthday Belgium!

Yesterday was our National Day! Hooray! We got ourselves a new king as well! Time to party: we had a nice and relaxed bbq :-) The weather was also exceptionally good.
Surely this called for a beautiful dress.

I made this dress from this 'new vintage' pattern.

The fabric is a red linen. It wrinkles a bit but not too much luckily. I lined the bodice in that same linen fabric and the skirt in something synthetic. (Can't really remember what exactly.) I hadn't planned on lining the skirt, but the linen was just a little too see through for my taste.

I matched my dress with my black Nero Giardini shoes and a gold elastic hairband. I bet you can't see it, but it is actually a reference to this:

(Yes! That's our flag!)
I made some minor adjustments to the bodice but left the skirt exactly as it was on the pattern. I added some boning in the bodice along the center front seam, the side seams, in between those seams and of course in the back as well. This way it really stays up without having me pulling it up every few minutes. I also deepened the neckline a bit for a more flattering and sexy look.

It's very comfortable to wear and I've been wearing it a lot already.
Happy Birthday Belgium!
And one last happy silly face: