This is my second 70’s Vintage pattern make. A simple wrap dress with lapels, collar and belt. The dress has lovely butterfly kimono sleeves.
The pattern was uncut which was a plus! It was two sizes small for me, as the vintage patterns only contain a single size.
I had previously listened to Melissa Watson and tissue fitting on the love to sew podcast and thought I would give this method a go!
This dress only has a front and back pattern piece and the sleeves are kimono style, which made fitting easy. I pinned the side seams and shoulders together and tried the paper pattern on. It actually gave me a good indication of how much extra width I would need to add. This is difficult to do on your own, you really would need a fitting buddy to use this method on a fitted dress etc. But for simple garments its not a bad idea.
This pattern was also in great condition and not at all brittle, as some of the vintage ones are.
The pattern really only required to have 4cm added to the width. I added 1cm to each side seam and also added length through the bodice section. Bodice only measured 39cm from back neck to waist, which seemed a bit short. I increased this measurement to 41cm
My only other change was to add waist ties and not use the fabric belt. I added these to the waist at inner side seams and front edges. I can now anchor the wrap dress securely
If your interested in trying a vintage pattern, I think its best to go for simple styles from the 70’s onwards. Anything earlier will most likely require a fair amount of altering and definitely a test garment (or 2).
following a pattern 