Stonehill Mountain Dress ~wiws~

I managed to get some sewing time this weekend and cranked out two dresses!  The first was today's dress (that I wore to church), and the second is my Christmas dress, and I'll show that on Wednesday for the Nativity Feast.  

So let's talk 1930s.  I'm very interested in 1930s dress details lately, and scheming ways to incorporate some of them into my dressmaking.  I love the higher waist and slimmer lines of the 1930s, plus the subtle details.  I'm not as big a fan of the big floppy bows and neckline treatments, but there are plenty of 1930s styles that are interesting without being fussy. 

 My Frankenpattern dress is very similar to many 1930s house dresses I've seen, and I wanted to add in a little something extra for this iteration.  I didn't really plan it in advance--I literally thought of it as I was starting to finish the pockets in preparation for sewing on the skirt, and the next thing I knew, I was cutting fabric for tabs on the pockets and collar.  I can't find an exact sample of this type of detail, but I've seen plenty of 1930s dresses that have something similar, so I think it works.

The fabric is a quilting cotton I bought during the online Thanksgiving sales at Joann.com and it has a nice drape to it (sorry for the slightly rumply photos--I had been in the car for two hours plus 2 hours of liturgy this morning and the wind was blowing)  The color was hard to photograph--it is kind of a steely blue-green color, but the little pops of red in the center of the daisies keeps it lively. 

 

I'm pretty pleased with this iteration--I like the extra details and how easy it was to modify my design.  (I also did all the bias binding in red, which is a nice little pop of color around the hem, neckline and sleeves)  I did a proper job on the belt this time and interfaced it with waistband interfacing, which means it is nice and stiff, but also means it doesn't stretch with me during the day. 

 

 The buttons and buckle came from a vintage (probably 1930s) card and I thought they echoed the daisy design perfectly.  I've been waiting for the perfect project for this set for a while.  I still have three buttons left, so I can use them on another dress at some point too!

  

A side note: I have to replace my LLBean Wellies again.  I must say, I'm a bit put out.  The first pair developed cracks around the ankles after less than a year of wear, and this pair has done the same after less than 18 months.  I've heard of people wearing their Bean Wellies for 20 years without problems, so I'm really perplexed as to how this has happened twice in a row.

 

The company has been really great about replacing them, but they no longer carry this solid green style, so I had to get a pair that is kind of a brick red with a pattern on them.  I guess it is better than electric blue, which was the other option in my size.  At least the red ones will go with most of my wardrobe.  Unfortunately, rain boots are not really optional here, given the sort of rain we get (hello swamp-monsoon).

I'd do the FLAP thing, except it looks like they aren't hosting a linky regularly any longer.