Downton Sewing: A 1920s Inspired Dress

When Elisa of Charming Doodle approached me with her idea of a sewing series based on Downton Abbey, my head swarmed with ideas for a dress for Alix.  I had to be part of this series!

The 1920s….  Shift dresses, bob haircuts, cloche hats, flapper look, pleats, gathers, slits, collars, low waists…. total design heaven for a sewist!

A quick sketch to nail down the design, some digging in the stash for the perfect fabric, many evenings in the sewing room cutting, pinning and sewing feverishly and here’s the result!!!

Cap sleeves, low waist, pointed flat collar, knife pleats on one side of the skirt, three buttons, a small simple bow, an exposed metal zipper, a fun floral lining fabric, and a more conservative choice of fabric on the outside…

 Of course, I needed to add a tiny little detail on the side of the skirt… just a little reminder of the beautiful lining that’s hides underneath…

I doubt that plastic zippers existed in the 1920s so an exposed metal zipper made sense to me.  Plus I must admit that I’m a sucker for an exposed zipper…

The design started off with the Caroline Party Dress from Mousehouse Creations.  The pattern’s cap sleeves, collar and lining were perfect for what I had in mind.  I lengthened the bodice by a full 3 inches.  I then added a 4 inch band of medium weight linen in coral as a belt.  To that, I attached a self-drafted rectangular skirt with 4 knife pleats on the front right hand side.

I modified the Caroline Party dress‘ Peter Pan collar in order to obtain a pointed flat collar.

Garment Characteristics

Pattern: bodice – Caroline Party Dress size 5; collar, lower bodice and skirt – self drafted

Fabric: main – navy blue striped tweed; collar and band – coral medium weight linen; lining – Flea Market Fancy, Posie in Grey

Elements: pointed flat collar, cap sleeves, dropped waist, wide belt, simple bow on belt, knife pleats on front right hand side of skirt, lined bodice, small tag on side of skirt, exposed metal zipper, three small white buttons down bodice front.

And just for fun and for the sake of creativity, let’s turn turn back the clock all the way back to the 1920s with a few parting images…

 

Thank you Elisa for coming up with this cool concept for a sewing series and for educating us on the style and fashion of the1920s over the last couple of weeks. I loved it!!!

If you’ve missed any of Elisa’s posts, head over to Charming Doodle to see a recap of the entire series.

*Before designing this garment, I didn’t know that I would end up loving this time period as much as I did! 

But I think that the finished result really represents my design esthetic. 

So I am linking up this little creation as my Signature Style for Project Run and Play.*