Butterscotch Pudding? Meet Vintage McCalls 9347

April 26, 2012

This dress is what I like to call ‘A Nice Save’. Out of curiosity, how often do you believe a garment – mid-construction – may in all likelihood be heading towards the dark destination that is Disasterville (or Wasteoftimetown). And yet, you soldier on, well and truly focused on that initial concept, right in the beginning, when you put the fabric and pattern together in your head. And damn, it looked reallllly good (in your head). And yeah, we all know that sometimes the final result may
very well not live up to that image, but we forge on anyway and then, mid-creation, we try on our work-in-progress, and (oh shit) it’s not quite what I had in ~~my head~~ mind. But we sew on (and on), maintaining the faith, and try it on again (and again) thinking it just may work (or not), so let me just set in this sleeve (again), adjust the sleeve length and alter the hem and, oh thank god, it actually worked out just how I wanted it to. Yeah, this frock was one of those.

I’ve loved this fabric – Butterscotch Pudding – since Colette did this post and had been quietly contemplating the perfect pattern for it. So I had a stab at View C, Vintage McCalls 9347 (here’s one), sourced from the stash.

I’m rather partial to the simplicity of the shift frock. They are classic, reasonably straightforward to sew, super comfortable and flattering. I underlined the dress with our 100% rayon, my first time using that lining method and one I’ll definitely be returning to.The only adjustments I made with this particular pattern were a minor lowering of the neckline (man, vintage patterns border on strangulation where these are concerned) and, as ever, a substantial lopping of the hemline. I also lapped my zipper and had the gods of good pattern-matching looking over me as I did so.