The Mystery Dress

“How lovely yellow is! It stands for the sun.”~Vincent Van Gogh

I love to sew, but sometimes I get burned out. The reality of this sewing journey is that I sew everyday. Sometimes it’s for a few hours. Sometimes it’s just however long it takes to get the next step done on a piece. I try to move forward with whatever I’m working on each day, even if it’s just a baby step.

With this sew I felt renewed and excited. It wasn’t that the dress or pattern itself was anything out of the ordinary. It was a simple dress/jumper pattern from 1968. What was exciting was what I had proposed to Mia.

What if I made her a new outfit, but I picked the pattern and the fabric, and she had no input in it at all? It would be a mystery dress! She thought it would be fun, and agreed!

I chose this pattern from 1968. Mia looks great in 60’s and 70’s dresses, and they match her style. The fabric I chose was an old vintage sheet. I’ve had this sheet laying around in my sewing stuff for many years, it’s time had come!

Laying out the pattern on the sheet. Like many of my patterns, though I don’t really mention it anymore, I have to adjust the size. Vintage patterns came in one size, not multiple sizes like they do now. So I am usually altering the size. In this case I needed to size this pattern down to Mia’s measurements. I’ve gotten pretty good at altering sizes, but as soon as I say that I’m going to mess up! HA!

Pinning the darts. I run a straight pin along the sew line, and put one horizontally at the end of the dart to remind me that I’m getting close to the end. It’s just a “pay attention” pin for me.

Sewing the darts.

The front piece attaches to the sides on a curve. When in doubt, pin it lots!

Just a piece set aside while working on the back pieces. The color and weave of this sheet sure has held up well! They don’t make them like they used to!

I just so happened to have the perfect zipper for this dress. “Spark Gold” is what the package says the color is. All I know is that it matched perfectly, and is from the same era as the pattern and the sheet.

Zipper installed!

The dress got delivered to Mia in a parking lot while she was on her way through to somewhere else. She loved the dress and the fabric choice. She had long admired this sheet! She went home and sure enough, it was still too big! That’s what happens when you say you’ve gotten pretty good at something! HA!

The dress waited until Mia made it back home and I was able to take it in.

So with no further ado, I present, the Mystery Dress!

The little pleats at the bottom of the dress give it a cute flare.

She accessorized the dress with some “spark gold” earrings that my mom crocheted for her.

I think the black pieces she wore with the dress give it a mod look. Groovy!

The dress and my Mia are so cute I can hardly stand it!

It’s always fun to sew a gift, but the thrill and anticipation of a mystery dress added to the fun of this sew! I think I’ll do it again in the future. I need to pick my recipients carefully though. Kira got a concerned look on her face when I told her what I was up to with this sew. She told me, “Don’t surprise me Coco, I’m too picky.” HA HA! At least she’s truthful!

I also learned that I’m always learning, isn’t that what life is about!

As for me, onto the next!