Before we get to the giveaway, a look at one of my projects from the era. I ran across an image of a vintage Vogue designer pattern and remembered that I had made it, so I rummaged through some old photo albums and came up with two photos of me wearing my versions of this dress. I remember I liked the dress so much I made it again, but I can't recall which was the first, I am thinking the green.
Here I am with my mom, (and now you can see why I am called by her name at family gatherings by elderly relatives). She is quite the snappy dresser - but no sewing. I asked her the other day if I could use this photo on my blog, and told her a bit about what she was wearing, she proceeded to describe her dress with all the details. Yes, we have been clothing obsessed for a while. Also when I look at family photos from this era, all I can see is our suntans - California poolside living in the pre-sunblock era!
My dress is Vogue 1648 Christian Dior Paris Original. I think this version was inspired by the image on the pattern envelope, although both mine are knee length. The fabric is a pale blue and white cotton pinstripe. A style with the cut-in armholes, obviously a favorite from way back and I keep on making it. On the right is the actual label that came with the Vogue Designer patterns, I never sewed them in, just stuck them in my sewing box. I wore this dress a lot, it was so cool and crisp, perfect for a hot summer, and showed off the tan too! The ties in the center front were threaded through buttonholes, a clever detail.
That concludes today's blast from the past, and now onto today's Giveaway, a dress pattern kit: Creative Patterns Company, Empire Style Dresses Model A3, copyright 1975. Not exactly sure what you would call this. It is a pattern set, with instructions and goes along with a number of other pattern sets so that you could mix and match to make a huge variety of styles. I remember that there were about 3 or 4 other of these booklets and I am regretting I didn't buy all of them. What was I thinking?
A quick search on Etsy taught me that this was a set of pattern and craft books covering a full range of clothing including fitted dresses, jackets and coats, tops, pants, caftans (totally 70's) crafts and the ultra-intriguing exotic styles (wow would I like a peek at that one). Here is a listing in case you feel the need to own the entire set.
A look at the back of the booklet. Note the preponderance of green which reminds me of my first car in the late 70's, it was the then popular avacado shade ('69 Mercury cougar, 2-door, secondhand, sporty and super fast, just right for a newish teen driver. . . huh?)
With this pattern you can make any of the A3 dresses. The pattern pieces included have the following size range: 30"bust/32"hip to 38"bust/40"hip so like any multisize pattern there is a lot of leeway for adjustment when you trace. The instructions are good, and I think each booklet probably gave a mini-lesson with nice diagrams on sewing and construction.
If you are interested in entering the drawing for this Creative Patterns booklet/pattern set, leave a comment. I would love to hear your thoughts on 70's style, your first car or how much tanning you did in the pre-sunblock era!
My first post in the Celebrate the 70's series is here. There is still time to leave a comment to be in the drawing for the Simplicity Sewing Book, 70's version. I am a bit swamped these days so my 3rd post will probably be in a few days and the drawings for all 3 giveaways later next week.
Happy Weekend Sewing, Beth
The 70s... I remember them well. Tanning was not my style and I didn't own my first car until 1979 (a Ford Pinto station wagon :P), but boy did I sew. My favorite dress was a maxi made out of poly double knit with tiny dots that were half red/half blue. I cut the front and back of the dress in opposite directions so the front had a red tint while the back looked kind of blue. I loved it anyway and wore it a lot.
ReplyDeleteAs I collect older patterns, I am discovering that the ones I love the most are the early to mid-70's ones. (in contrast to the current love affair with Mad Men 50's/60's style)
ReplyDeleteWhile I wasn't even born when it was produced, my first car was a duck egg blue Morris Minor.
My first car was from the 70's - a mustard yellow sedan Galant with a black vinyl roof. When we sold it because the mechanic told us we'd be wasting our money doing more work on it, I polished the roof with black shoe polish. Gee it looked good!
ReplyDeleteMY sister was the epitome of cool to my young self. he had a satin jacket like Riff Randall, she could tan like a navajo and she had these amazing fleece lined clogs. Oh, how I wanted to be that cool!!!!
ReplyDeleteThe picture with your mom is so cute! How cool that you look so much alike -- my mom and I don't share much of a resemblance (some people can't even believe we're related!). I grew up in southern California near the beach, so I sported a good tan most of the time. We used to slather ourselves with baby oil rather than sunblock -- gives me shivers now. I was pretty young in the '70s so I didn't drive, but I did have a strong sense of what I wanted to wear -- satin Hang Ten jacket, gaucho pants, Candies wooden sandals -- all in kid sizes! However, my mom wanted to dress me in Garanimals while my grandmother made me dresses in a wide range of polyester prints. It was tough!
ReplyDeleteTanning - I remember growing up in Montana and the first sunny day it hit 50 we would be outside in bikinis. Seriously! 50 and sunshine is the rules for driving my car with the top down now. But too cold to be outside in your underwear! g
ReplyDeleteYou look absolutely gorgeous, Beth! Sadly, my youth saw neither tan nor beautiful, slender limbs. I've always been a pale, dumpy thing. I am going to start believing in reincarnation, in the hope that I shall return to life a Californian! (Yes, you truly are your mother's daughter.)
ReplyDeleteAhh, the 70's! I remember my friends who tanned, all slathered in baby oil, out by the pool in Arizona. I only burned and peeled so I didn't indulge. My first car was a white pinto with red and blue pinstipes. Yes it was 1976! I love the 70's styles and sewing patterns, they bring back the footloose and fancy free days of my youth. Empire is my favorite! Kitty
ReplyDeleteThat was a cute Christian Dior dress! My first car was a late 80's Ford manual transmission which luckily my parents bought for me before college. I did have to share it with my sister. I tan easily so I didn't try to tan, just enjoyed fun in the sun, and voila nice summer tan.
ReplyDeleteI used to think the 70's were tragic for sewing patterns then I discovered a few classic dress patterns my godsister was cleaning out of her father's house. She was a teenager during the 70's and she had a nice I for the more classic patterns. I even snagged a wrap dress pattern. So, I'm a convert.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the giveaway.