Simplicity 2184: Vintage dress pattern holy grail!

Well, it’s taken me almost five years to find it, but here it is – my vintage dress pattern holy grail, in the form of Simplicity 2184.

Raglan sleeves. Short and long sleeve options. FRENCH CUFFS. Convertible collar. In a size that I don’t have to re-draft too much. HALLELUIA! All I need to do is add pockets in the side seams (and 3″ to the waist) and it will be PERFECT! It even still includes the embroidery transfers for the monogram. *swoons*

It’s probably just as well that I need to wait for it to arrive all the way from Canada (I bought it on Etsy, from HoneymoonBus), hopefully that will ensure that I’ve calmed down a little bit by the time it arrives. I’ve already mentally sewn it in about 153 different fabric combinations, and thrown out every other item of clothing in my wardrobe. I need to slow down.

I posted the link on Facebook, and several people were somewhat boggled by the term “Slenderette”. Thankfully a friend discovered that Gertie (whose blog I am now reading obsessively) had contacted Simplicity to find out what on earth. Apparently the term was used for patterns that were specifically designed to make you look more slender. Not that this is going to work for me, as I’m going to have to let out the waist by at least three inches to make the dress fit – or invest in some fairly serious underwear.

Yes, underwear is still an ongoing issue. This stupid annoying fibromyalgia thing that I’ve got going on means that wearing a bra is absolutely excruciating, so I haven’t done it for the best part of a year. (And the Fashion Police didn’t arrest me or anything! It’s been a revelation!) Those “secret support” vests – sorry – camisoles with a soft bra hidden inside are a bit better, but they still have a constricting band of elastic around the body, so they’re not ideal. I did make a lovely soft teddy from bamboo fabric, but there were some issues with the fit (which is why I haven’t blogged about it yet), and Paul said it looked “like Victorian underwear – in a bad way”. Clearly some improvement needed there!

I keep looking at Kiss Me Deadly, whose vintage-inspired underwear would be perfect underneath this type of dress. But sadly their pretty things are outside the realms of my budget at the moment (anybody want to buy me a Vargas dress? Go on, you know you want to!), and I’m not 100% certain that my body will tolerate being squished by powernet all day.

So perhaps while I’m waiting for this pattern to arrive and fill me with wonder and glee, I should concentrate on doing some experiments with underwear. I’ve only made a couple of bras since I went on LCF’s Structured Lingerie course, and that was two years ago. Now I really want to do their Lingerie Workshop, but again, budget, and the courses take place in the school holidays, which is when I tend to be doing extra hours at work. Hey ho.

In the meantime, I’ve been reading blogs such as Ohhh Lulu, and reading my 1970s and 1980s lingerie-sewing books, in the hope that these might encourage me to get over my terrible fear of wasting fabric, and actually cut something out. I think now’s the time!

5 thoughts on “Simplicity 2184: Vintage dress pattern holy grail!”

  1. Gorgeous !

    Wish I could say something encouraging about the fear of wasting fabric, but unfortunately it is something that holds me back too (and I am more likely to waste it than you because I am a sewing screw up)… (I also have a fear of tissue patterns…they make me feel so clumsy and klutz like…I find great big sheets of tissue get me muddled…)

    On the other hand, the fabric is being wasted if it just sits there and doesn’t get made into something…can’t you hear it calling to you ? It is yearning to be transformed…!

    1. I’m better than I used to be about both buying nice fabrics and actually using them. But there is always the fear of messing it up. I might buy a few metres of cheap stuff to practice on though, just to make sure…

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