The 1939 Soutache Dress

Hi there! Well, I’m dusting off this blog and getting back to it. I didn’t intend to stay away for four months, but I have. I’m pretty indifferent about computer work these days. When I sit at my laptop I think about all of the sewing or outside work I could be doing rather sitting here typing or editing photos. I do like to share what I’ve made with you and keep a record of what I’ve sewn, so I just need to set times to work on blogging and do it a little more consistently. I have been sewing and often share snippets on my IG (@tanyamaile), so I haven’t gone MIA, we’ve just had a bit of radio silence in this space. 🙂

For this dress, I used Vogue 9294, a vintage reissue from 1939. I chose view B and altered the sleeve. Aside from grading this up to a bust 50″, I did a slight swayback adjustment, which I could have admittedly done more of.

The fabric is a navy rayon challis from Stonemountain that I purchased about two years ago, along with the vintage green buckle (Wearing History) and vintage green soutache trim. I have been planning to make a navy and green dress for some time and finally got around to it this year. I sewed this dress back in January, and have been wearing it since.

I hand sewed the soutache braid on the neckline, sleeves and the skirt. I originally planned on sewing pockets on the front of this dress, but I was having a hard time getting them to look right. I decided to sew the soutache to mimic pockets instead. Later on, when I did my big sewing room clean up and redecoration in Feb/Mar, I found the pattern piece for the pocket shape, which the pocket would have been gathered and shaped around. I could have used that back in January!

This dress bodice has a bit of a blouson feel, which is more apparent in the back view. I’d probably do a little bit more of swayback adjustment and take it in on the waist next time as my belt helps keep the shape.

One of the things that I really love about this dress is the tie on the neckline. It gives a slight peasant dress feel and would be even more so with some puffier sleeves. It’s something that you don’t notice so much of on the pattern envelope.

This is definitely one of my favorite dresses and I look forward to sewing another version of this pattern again.

Plus, a few pics of me time travelling back to 1939.

Happy Sewing!

• Dress: Vogue 9294, vintage reissue from 1939, in navy rayon challis, made by me
• Hat: Vintage 1930’s/40’s straw hat
• Shoes: Re-Mix Vintage “Scroll”
• Earrings: Vintage bakelite
• Bangles: Splendette
• Lipstick: Besame 1931 Carmine (affiliate link)