Simplicity 4074 Dress

I think I mentioned in my previous post that I was sewing a couple of things for my sister. I hadn't made anything for her in a while, and I'm sad to admit that these two dresses still aren't finished, BUT they are close.

Simplicity 4074 is now out of print. I found out when I looked for it on the Simplicity website. I had made myself a couple of knit tops from this pattern and liked the neckline.

I went stash hunting and found this rayon/lycra knit. I think it came from the Dallas "garment district" on Harry Hines. Don't remember, but probably paid $3 or $4 per yard. This is a very nice quality and soft hand and drape - a bit of a midweight.



Shown here on my dressform which is a bit smaller that Sis. I made as per the pattern using View D (the non-wrap version - see green dress upper left on the pattern envelope). Only change was to shorten the sleeve to 3/4 as we both generally prefer that length. I also shortened the pattern, but right now, I don't remember if it was 2" or 3". She's about 5'3".

After the first "try on," I raised the front center seam about 1" making the depth of the neckline shorter. I took in the sleeves about 3/4 tapering from underarm to hem. I want her to try it on again before I hem both the sleeves and the overall hem.

The second dress is also from a rayon/lycra that's been in the stash for a few years. Actually, this dress has been cut out for more than a year and got buried in the cut stack. I could have sworn I took a photo on my dress form, but can't find it on my computer now, so will have to take another to post.

I used a pattern from 1971, Simplicity 9381:



I made a muslin of this last summer. Before I cut the muslin I did lower the bust point per her measurements taken earlier. The finished muslin indicated that I needed to narrow the shoulders about 1/2" as the shoulder seams were too wide. Otherwise, I made according to the pattern. This is a half-size pattern - 20 1/2. It worked pretty well straight out of the envelope. This pattern calls for a woven, but I used a knit. When she tried on the knit, I did have to take in the side seams about 5/8"--no big deal. I won't be using the collar as shown on the pattern. I will bind the neckline with self fabric.

I will take another picture and edit this post, but that will likely be tomorrow.