18 May 2009

142. Sustainable: UFO turned Sid & Nancy Dress

I just finished a new dress last week and it has already got a 2+ year history!

In October 2007, I tried the infamous Butterick 4790 "Walk Away Dress" pattern, the reissue of the 1952 classic.  Cute, 3 pattern pieces, no interfacing or zippers or buttonholes.   Looked at the pattern envelope, picked a size 10 based on my body measurements, and away I went.  Imagine my surprise when I tried it on and it fit all wrong!  I had no clue where to start fitting it (though even the most experienced sewists have been puzzled, too, if you've read any of the B4790 reviews on PR), so I tossed it on the floor in the UFO pile.  On and off for a couple of years.

I saw the overskirt part of the dress in a UFO bag a few weeks back.  Feeling guilty, I picked it out and threw it on Clementine to see what I could do.  Considered some very interesting options and ultimately decided that, since the skirt fit right below my bust without any further alteration (yes, that much bigger than my waist) I would use it as the skirt of a new empire waist dress, using a modified top from New Look 6723, which I had sewed last year and gotten to fit like a dream after many pattern alterations. 

Somehow -- fate? -- I happened upon a small stack of remnants of the almost-Walk Away in my scrap drawers the day after I pulled the skirt from the UFO bag.  It was enough to cut the "self" layer of the dress top, but not enough for the bodice lining.  So I grabbed some plain black cotton batiste from the stash and cut the bodice lining.

Finally it is done.


I like that it can be belted/ sashed to look like the waist is empire or natural.  The dress looks "Audrey Hepburn" on Clementine but I feel non-Audrey when I wear it.  I want to add some edge, like crazy gladiator stilettos or an Outsapop zipper belt.  Must be that recent reminiscing with a high school friend about that crazy boy in high school who gifted me an audio cassette of "Never Mind the Bollocks Here Come the Sex Pistols."  I was too scared by the boy to hang out much, but the music made an impression.


(BTW, I see that clicking on the pics doesn't enlarge them -- you can always go to my Flickr photostream for bigger versions.)

How classic and ubiquitous this dress is, though, in the end, and right in time for summer.  Cindy just posted photos of great-looking summer dresses, one of which is a shorter version of this here Sid & Nancy dress.  And Burdastyle just posted a tutorial on sewing your own circle skirt with an interesting d-ring closure.  Happy Summer Sewing to you!

21 comments:

  1. this looks fantastic. great job. guilt free sewing is the best.

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  2. Very cute dress. I like it with a belt. Yeah...I have dresses on the brain but no time to sew...

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  3. The pictures are just dark enough that I can't see the waistline. Are there that many gathers or are you wearing a crinoline or petticoat with this dress?

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  4. It looks great on you! Bravo on salvaging the dress. Hmm... I have a walkaway dress that I never wear because it flaps around too much; you're inspiring me to re-fashion it so I can wear it more.

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  5. Nice save! It looks cute on you, I never would have guessed that you hadn't started out trying to make this version :-). That's a fabulous zipper belt you linked to. Welcome back after the craziness!

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  6. I see the appeal of the B4790, although I can't picture how it closes. But the end result is great. I like the pose montages too!

    How tall are you? I'm nowhere near being able to alter patterns, but my 5'2" frame is just too short for so much, that it's hard to get the nerve to try stuff out. I just wondered if you had to adjust things for that and if it was as difficult as I've got myself thinking.

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  7. Now that is adorable. In the first montage of pix, I like the second picture from the left the best. How are you creating the photo montages? What is a "walk away dress"? and how many yards of fabric did that dress take??? (yes, so many questions!!)

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  8. so cute, and beautifully styled. Great save on that dress.

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  9. I. Want. Those. Shoes...

    ... vavavavoom...

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  10. I'm in love with your thought process

    (obligatory - yeah the dress is totally cute and you did an awesome job transforming a UFO)

    but the way you describe your thought process was transformative for me. You think SIDEWAYS (praise!) WOW. This post just made me re-examine my UFO's and maybe I can do something totally different, that I never thought of before.

    Thanks.

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  11. awesome save from that ill-fitting retro pattern. I love the sytling of the bottom set of photos. I'm going over to flickr to see the details! nice job.

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  12. What a fantastic save! So cute!

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  13. As much as I like the retro look (on people with actual waists, rather than on me), I love the Sid 'n' Nancy version. In fact, I love it enough to want one for myself.

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  14. Yay for the Sid'n'Nancy version. The studded belt looks like it's a part of the dress, like a beaded midriff. I love to juxtaposition things too, I always feel a bit stiff and uncomfortable when things get too "clean-cut" and "classy".

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  15. Hi ladies, thanks for the dress love! A couple of questions about things I should have prob. addressed in the post itself:

    @LSASpacey - no petticoat or crinoline, and no gathering at the waist. I have a good-enough detail shot of the waistline at Flickr:http://www.flickr.com/photos/22676897@N02/3543884792/

    @Sarah - I'm embarrassed to say I can't remember how B4790 closes, but I think the inner dress snaps in back, and the overskirt buttons in front. Also, I am 5' tall. Before I made my personal sloper, I was encouraged by my sewing teacher to always take the petite option on the bodice and hip (1-1.25" in each area) and it was amazing how much better the clothes fit! You might start with those two petite modifications on some simple 4-or 5-piece patterns.

    @Kyle - I think urban legend has it that the "Walk Away" dress was so named because you could sit naked at your sewing machine, zip it up in an hour or two, and walk away in it. Picasa, free software from Google, has been my constant companion with the yearbook these past few weeks. It is so easy to use and gives very professional results. I used it instead of BigHugeLabs/ Flickr for the photo montage this time and it was perfect for the job! B4790 (and any circle skirt for that matter) uses an insane amount of fabric, but I did the contrast-fabric option, so it was 3 yds of black and 1 yd of white, or something like that. (I think the linked page on the Butterick site says how much fabric...)

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  16. Fantastic as always!.... Hey, how did you make the pic collage?

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  17. cute save! I love the way it turned out.

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  18. So wonderfully 50s! I love it.

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