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The DLYG Mid-century Patio Dress

Howdy Friends!

Well, I managed to cross a “goal dress” off my list with this years’ Dress Like Your Grandma dress!  I bring to you my patio dress!

My grandma on the left with my grandpa and me on the right

The stars very much aligned to make this dress.  I discussed this more fully in my “plans” post.  I recently unearthed photos of my grandma in one of her square dancing dresses from the 1960’s.  At around the same time I also found a vintage patio dress pattern.  As I’ve had a dress like this on my dream list for years, it seemed a good time to create one, so I did.

I’m pretty certain that Simplicity 3545 is the pattern that my grandma used to make her dress. The pattern came out around the same time as this photo was taken and it looks the same.  My grandma did not save her patterns, so I wasn’t able to find it in her stash.  However, she didn’t get rid of notions and there was silver rick rack in there, and I have no doubt that that was some of the rick rack used to make her dress.  I never saw her dress in person, as she donated most all of her clothes and the square dancing dresses were in the back of the closet that I never saw close up.

I gathered so much rick rack for this dress, that I don’t know which packages were grandma’s anymore. In fact, there are about 70 yards of trim on this dress.  In addition to rick rack in two sizes and two colors, there is also silver braid and white and silver embroidered trim.  I bought even more trim than that — I just didn’t use it all.  I even had large rick rack, but didn’t add it to my dress.

I studied tons of vintage patio dresses for inspiration and settled on this V design for the trim on the bodice.

I used 100% vintage trims and bought about all that I found on Etsy and eBay.  I had a bit of an idea of how much trim I would need from the back of the pattern envelope, but I didn’t know exactly how much I would need to go around the skirt tiers nor for the bodice.  I just started pinning, surprised to find that my main focal trim — the large white/silver ribbon — went around the skirt twice.  I then used the same pattern for two of the tiers and followed up more rick rack on the hem.  I had a lot – so why not use it?

The pattern has trim around the waist, but I opted to make a belt.  I looked at the buckles in my stash and didn’t find any that would work well, so I went with a plain metal buckle with a flashy belt trimmed with more silver.

I resized the pattern from Bust 32″ to Bust 48″ using slash and spread grading.  The pattern was uncut, which was nice.  I’m generally pretty lazy about grading a pattern up that much and I only make the effort for a pattern that is not re-issued like this one.  It was relatively easy to grade and I’m happy to have a tiered skirt pattern now to use.  I also measured the length of each tier so that I know exactly how much trim I will need for the next patio dress. (Yes, there will be another one!)

I did make set-in short sleeves for this dress, like the version my grandma has on.  I also sewed trim on them and sewed them on to the bodice.  However, when I tried it on I didn’t like the way it looked (1970’s Grand Ole Opry came to mind).  It would have been okay to take photos in and post here, but I would have been unlikely to wear it.  I don’t want to sew dresses that I don’t wear, so I removed the sleeves and added cap sleeves, which I like a lot better.  Instead of drafting my own, I used the sleeve expansion for the Cashmerette Upton dress.  They were actually a little tight with this bodice, so I ended up adding gussets so that I had more room.  I didn’t think I needed it as the original sleeves with the bodice fit fine, but it didn’t fit well when I sewed the cap sleeves on.

The fabric is stretch cotton sateen.  It was originally a pastel baby pink and had been sitting in my stash for years.  I was going to sew the fabric as is, but I decided to dye the fabric a color which would showcase the silver trim.  I used violet Rit dye and achieved this magenta color, which was exactly what I was shooting for.  This fabric was $1/yard when I purchased it from Fabric Mart, which would make this dress about $7 to make if you didn’t account for the trim.  I spent quite a bit more for the trim than that — about $100…

I think I did a pretty good job recreating my grandma’s dress.  I am a bit flashier than my grandma with a different complexion, so there’s much more trim on mine.  It suits my style.  I was planning on wearing the same pin that my grandma has on in her photo.  It’s a pin from her square dancing club in Venezuela (my grandpa when stationed there when he was in the USAF).  I couldn’t find where I packed it away, so I didn’t get to wear it for these photos.

I’m so happy to have made this dream dress!  It took so much longer to make it than I assumed it would as sewing all of that trim on is a feat itself.  But it was well worth it. <3

Happy Sewing!

  • Dress:  vintage Simplicity 3545 in cotton sateen, made by me
  • Shoes:  Re-Mix Vintage Corazon

Comments

  1. This goes in my “Favorite Dresses” category. Everything about it is perfect, from color to design.

  2. Gorgeous! I just bought this same pattern and am feeling intimidated by all the trim needed, but your version is giving me some motivation 🙂 Was the collar easy enough to sew in?

  3. Tanya, you have the most fun. My mother made me a square dancing dress from that very pattern. I danced it threadbare. Your dress is wonderful. I missed the contest again this year. You are such a showgirl. Thank you for sharing so much with us. Now, how about some seeds from those dark red hollyhocks??

    • Thank you, Carol! I love hearing stories about others who remember this pattern and have sewn it. It puts a smiles on my face. If you do want some hollyhock seeds, just email me your mailing address and I will send you some. I actually have seeds from those hollyhocks that I saved last year.

    • Thank you, Jessica! I’m also pretty sure that I don’t have anything in this color, although I may have a magenta sweater somewhere. 🙂

  7. This dress is truly amazing. I can’t imagine how long it took you to sew on all that trim- I never would have had the patience. But it makes it perfect!

    • Thank you, Megan! I really had no idea that it would take that long to sew the trim on, but now I know!

  8. Tanya, this is incredible!! (Seriously, it’s a mic drop for this challenge, LOL.) The color of the trim and the dress are perfect together, and I love how “flashy” your dress is–you carry it off effortlessly. You absolutely captured the inspiration of your Grandma’s dress while making it your own!

  9. I love this colour and the dress came out fabulous. Dress like your Grandma is such a sweet idea. I need to get some older pics of my Grandma from my Mum or my aunts!!

    • Thank you!!! Yes, you need your family photographs! I’m still waiting for some photos of my great grandma when she was younger….

  10. This made me cry. So much love for your grandmother shines through this project, and your passion for sewing, using some of the notions she owned, now wearing them in your garment. Truly threads of love connecting generations. So beautiful! Everything about it. Thank you for sharing.

  12. I’m glad you dyed the fabric. The color is very nice with your skin tone, and the silver rick-rack is perfect! What a fun dress. I’m glad you’ll make another.

    • Thanks, Natasha! Yes, I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me earlier that the reason why I never sewed that fabric was was due to the color. I’m so happy that the dyeing process turned out well, because sometimes it doesn’t for me.

  13. Absolutely STUNNING! You hit the ball out of the park! I love it!! The ric rac is amazing, what a cool thing to have found! Who knew it came in silver!! You look fantastic! Your Grandma would be proud!

    • I love the fact you changed the sleeves. This is one of my favorites — rick rack, V-necks, shiny, pink, ruffles. You really need to manufacture Mrs. Hughes paper dolls!

      • I really wouldn’t have worn this dress much with the other sleeves, so I’m glad I changed them, too. 🙂 Mrs. Hughes Paper Dolls LOL!

    • Thank you! Rick rack came in so many colors — not just silver, but gold and other metallic colors along with mixes of metallic with other colors.

  17. I love the trim . Makes the dress a stunning work of art. I admire your tenacity and vision. So much work went into this beauty. I like what you wrote “I don’t want to sew dresses that I don’t wear”. This rings true for me (and most sewists) too.

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Mrs. Hughes: A retro inspired, vintage garment sewing and plus-size dressmaking blog by Tanya Maile Hughes.