Stretch & Sew 1582

While my posts here may have been spotty at best over the last couple of months, I've certainly not been lax in my sewing. In fact we are just starting to reclaim the living room from what was beginning to look like a sweatshop from all of the giftmaking. With the holidays over and most of the gifts given I can start to show you some of what I made.  

One of the first was this Stretch & Sew pattern from the late 1970's.

I've been doing some alterations for my grandmother in the last couple of years but I really wanted to make her something from scratch.  This pattern was already in my stash because she had already made it for herself once before.  The pic below is from a family photo in the 80's. The original dress was in a mid-weight rust-colored polyester.

Months before I had spotted this fabric when it came in at work and immediately snapped up some yardage since it is in Grandma's color preferences and it also had a nice bit of texture to it.  It's 100% polyester, which she prefers, and is more of a mid-to-heavy weight which should make for a nice fall/ winter dress.

Of course, when I say 'dress' that's a bit misleading.  My grandmother only wears separates these days so I needed to include splitting the dress into top and skirt in with my alterations.  Grandma's pattern had all of her well-written notes and carefully altered pattern pieces from when she made it before. Combining that with all of the many many measurements I took from her this summer I was easily able to make quick changes to the pattern.

sleeve alterations

The sleeve was altered to 3/4 sleeve length as well as to take out some of the fullness at the cuff to accommodate the thicker fabric.  The bodice was altered slightly for size, bringing it in at the waist a bit, and I used her usual blouses' lengths to determine the hem length on this pattern.  I also decided to add a little interest to the hem by adding a small scallop at center front.

Just as Grandma had before, I eliminated any front closure as it really is unnecessary, but I wanted to keep a little detail at the front so I made just the yoke a button closure with a pretty little pearl button from a set that she left for me the last time she was in town.

It went together surprisingly fast, and I am reasonably happy with how it turned out.  If I make this pattern again I'll definitely use a lighter weight fabric.  I've been wanting to make a blouse for myself out of this as well, so maybe look forward to seeing that at some point this year. 

Hope your 2013 has started off nicely so far. Have a great Monday!