Making Memories 3

Back to the beginning of the '70s again with this one - this was a Butterick pattern (#3035).

I made the maxi dress in a lovely blue and white check cotton. The frills on the shoulders and around the armholes were cut as small spirals, which were then straightened out to form the frills, but without any gathering - very clever! I remember I had to bind the edges of each frill with blue bias-binding first, which wasn't easy, but did look very neat.

The dress had a seam under the bust, and princess seams in the skirt to give a fitted & flared shape. It had a long back zip, and square neckline, back and front. It was lovely to wear, and I wish I still had it....not that I could still fit into it - it was probably a size 10/12, which would have been much smaller than the 10/12 you get now.

A word on pattern sizes - even now, I think, they still use pretty much the same measurements as they did back then. I was mostly a size 12 - which fitted a 34-inch bust - but nearer a size 10 on the waist and hips. A size 10 waist was about 25 inches. Today, I can buy size 12 clothes that fit a 38-inch bust - that would have been a pattern size 16. So, if you're using patterns, especially vintage patterns, be sure to check the measurements very carefully before making them up, as you may need to use a bigger size than you think!