Edelweiss Patterns I recently sewed a 1940s dress for a marvelous WWII themed dance that my husband and I attended! It was made from quite a rare vintage Butterick Pattern (9218) using a lipstick red rayon print.
The bodice has very intricate shirring at the sleeves.
As you can see, the original pattern was floor length. But since this was a swing dance we were attending, I shortened it to below-the-knee to make for easier dancing. I also shortened the bodice a bit so that it wouldn’t look out of proportion for the altered dress length.
The bodice back has a hook and eye opening at the neckline and a slight slit for the back closure, plus a side zipper which was very common for the pre-1950s (and even many post-1950s) dresses. I finished this back opening by hand using tiny invisible stitches.
Here we are at the WWII dance! My husband’s jacket is an original WWII U.S. Army technician’s jacket which I found in mint condition online. It worked perfectly! Most everyone came in period correct attire that evening. I wore pearls, vintage tights with seams down the back, 1940s style dance shoes which look straight out of the era, and I put my hair in victory rolls. So much fun!
And I was so thankful that someone got a video of the dancing that evening! The live swing band was superb, and the event was held in a historic airplane hangar at Fort Vancouver, Washington.
Video credit to Junelle May
The dress came together so easily when I sewed it, and I loved dancing in it, as well! The skirt has quite a few gathers – it was published in pre-ration 1940, so wartime fabric restrictions wouldn’t have applied to this design.
I thought the dress was a bit plain on its own, so I added rosettes to the neckline, a chiffon ruffle down the bodice center front, and a cinch belt.
And I’d like to thank my husband for taking me to another airplane museum today so we could take more photos! The original location was a bit dark the day of the dance so we had to reshoot some of them.
Till next time!
Katrina Holte
Glad to hear about this dress. I love the fabric. I am always looking for pretty rayon prints.
Sarah
Very nice! Where did you get the fabric?
Beautiful as always. All the dresses you sew look so good on you. And I love old plane museums.
I just looked up your instagram, once I know your name.
Coming to your blog always inspires me to try 1940s styles a little bit more. 🙂 You always look darling!
Thank you, Sarah! Glad you like the fabric! 🙂
Emily, I actually got it from Joann’s! Not my favorite store for fashion fabric selection, but they had something that worked this time.
Ella, that it so sweet of you!
Cheri, thank you so much! 🙂 I adore the 1940s, and I wish I had more time to sew dresses from that era – my pattern stash from the 40s is overflowing with design ideas. 😉
Happy sewing,
Katrina
Beautiful dress Katrina– very impressed with all the creations you sew– I love the 1940s style and dress in said fashions –I also sew and admire your talents–was wondering if you would be willing to share the process of how you made the little ruched elastic sleeves which were on your wedding gown–this girl would love to add that style sleeve to some of my dresses
Thank you and as always happy sewing
Stephanie
Hello, Stephanie,
Why thank you! I’m glad to enjoy them. As far as my wedding dress sleeves go, they were sort of a rounded rectangle, the length from the bodice front to the bodice back, and about 1.5 times as wide as I wanted the finished project to be. I started by narrowly finishing and elasticizing both side edges of the sleeve, then hemming the top and bottom and stitching it into the bodice. Hope this helps!
Happy sewing,
Katrina Holte