V1316--Chic & Sophisticated Rebecca Taylor Blocked Dress

Yes! Here it is: after two missed deadlines, several angsty late nights, and perhaps unwarranted fabric bashing, the finished masterpiece!

Front

Back

Sides

The inside. Because if I'm going to put so much work into the lining I'm going to show it off.

I decided to make the lining white so that It wouldn't show through the white fabric I had over it. However, I did not consider that the neck-and-sleeve holes were rimmed in black, in jarring contrast. I don't really mind the white lining peeking through around the sleeves, since the dress is supposed to be blocked out in different colors anyway, but I didn't want it showing around the neck, so I did some all-but-invisible black hand-stitching around the neckline to tack the lining in place. Moral of the story: choose your lining carefully.

You'll have noticed (maybe) in the upper pictures that I put a false hem in. When I went to hem the dress I tried it on with the recommended amount pinned up and it looked really short. It was ruining the chic-sophisticated-demi-professional look, so I cut a piece of my leftover lining on the bias and sewed it on to the bottom (it ended up being 3-4 inches thick because I had to double the proposed amount on the pattern so my new hem would reach the lining).

(Like an idiot I trimmed part of the back vent to the length dictated by the pattern before trying it on and realizing that I wanted to make it longer and had just cut off part of my dress. Then my mom showed me that the trimmed part was on the inside of the dress, would not show, and I could cobble the section back together for construction purposes. I am baring my flaws for all of you so that in a similar situation you 1) don't immediately start freaking out like I did and 2) never underestimate the importance of trying on before cutting.)

French tacks: because they lend more flexibility to your lining but mostly because it was 12:00 at night and they don't take as long as slipstitching around the entire hem.

This was the first time I had used French tacks and I was actually delighted by their efficacy and simplicity! Here's the tutorial I used. This is NOT the tack back-and-forth at the endpoints a couple times and then spiral your thread around repeatedly technique; this way is much cleaner and super easy so check it out!

Yes, even after all the angst, my dress is worth it :D

---------------- Almost entirely unrelated sidenote: This post took a really long time to write because I got sidetracked looking for the perfect 1920s flapper dress pattern, which happened to be a 1929 Vogue Paris Original by Jean Patou (also shown here in all its breathtaking glory) which, I found out after obsessively raking the Internet, probably no longer exists on the face of the planet :'(. Oh and there's also this which probably exists in one 275-dollar iteration of the face of the planet. So if ANYONE has ANY idea where to find actual, purchaseable, gorgeous 1920s patterns like these ones PLEASE comment for the betterment of humanity. --And for the love of beautiful clothing don't people just start copying vintage patterns after a while?