August | 2022 | Dressing With Class

Hey folks!

It’s time for another pattern review! This one isn’t very in-depth, but I’ll try to give you as much info as possible.

The vintage/retro gal’s dream dress has got to be Gertie’s S8873. Check it out:

The tie straps, the full skirt, the simple lines – this is one that can be made over and over again in many different fabrics and you won’t get tired of it! (Which, FYI, I plan on doing. Stay tuned…)

I checked the dress measurements (the actual measurements, not the bogus ones with too much ease on the back of the envelope), and I was falling a bit in between sizes. My waist was an 8, while my bust was somewhere between 6 and 8. The hips didn’t matter since I was going for the full-skirted option.

I ended up grading between the 8 and a 7ish (I just eyeballed where that would be) and then kept everything else as-is.

It ended up working fairly well with a few minor issues:

The waist was about 3/4″ too long. Augh, I hate when that happens! I’m a bit short-waisted and I always forget to check that before I sew.

I also felt as though the top was a little too tall up by my collarbone. There’s nothing wrong with it fit-wise, but it’s just a preference thing.

The real star of this dress pattern? The waist darts!! OMG, I didn’t know I could fall in love with a waist dart. They are curved instead of straight lines, so they perfectly hug the curves of the bust. I don’t need much support in that area, but these darts provide it so that I don’t have to wear a bra. (Not sure how well that would work for the larger-busted gals, though).

I had some extra fabric left over, so I went ahead and made a matching belt! I LOVE elastic belts since they move with you (instead of pinching you weirdly when you sit down or bend over), so this was definitely what I wanted.

I already had some 1″ wide elastic and this belt fastener in my stash, so I simply covered it with the fabric. I first sewed a tube longer than I needed, then fed the elastic through. It took some manipulating to get it to stretch enough with the elastic but not bunch too much. I think I found the perfect balance! It’s a really cute finishing touch.