Hello everyone! This week I'll be discussing a dress I made using vintage Simplicity pattern 8202. I actually made this dress during the summer of 2016, but I felt it was worthy of being featured on the blog, despite its issues. In this post, I'll describe the sewing process and review the pattern.
The final outcome is a tent/trapeze style dress that is loose and flowing. It may be worn by itself or with one of four detachable collars.
PATTERN
The pattern used to create the dress is Simplicity 8202, released in 1969. The pattern includes one sleeveless and collarless A-line dress with darts on both the front and back. The front has a bust dart and a French dart, and the back has a fisheye dart and a shoulder dart. So, the dress is relatively fitted.
There are five different detachable collar options included in the pattern. I made four of the options, as pictured above. The only view I chose not to make was View 3, a bias stand up collar with a bow trim. I didn't make it simply because it wasn't my style.
First and foremost, I would like to make it clear that the quality of sewing on this dress is far from my best work. I made this dress while I was still learning and improving, so some of the pieces are a bit messy. Anyways, on to the details!
The collars are attached by five separate snaps sewn onto the collar itself. The "receiving" snaps are on the dress, whereas the "insertion" snaps are on each of the collars. You will go through quite a few insertion snaps making all of the collars!
The pattern used to create the dress is Simplicity 8202, released in 1969. The pattern includes one sleeveless and collarless A-line dress with darts on both the front and back. The front has a bust dart and a French dart, and the back has a fisheye dart and a shoulder dart. So, the dress is relatively fitted.
There are five different detachable collar options included in the pattern. I made four of the options, as pictured above. The only view I chose not to make was View 3, a bias stand up collar with a bow trim. I didn't make it simply because it wasn't my style.
First and foremost, I would like to make it clear that the quality of sewing on this dress is far from my best work. I made this dress while I was still learning and improving, so some of the pieces are a bit messy. Anyways, on to the details!
The collars are attached by five separate snaps sewn onto the collar itself. The "receiving" snaps are on the dress, whereas the "insertion" snaps are on each of the collars. You will go through quite a few insertion snaps making all of the collars!
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| There are two snaps on the sides that aren't visible, making five in total. Also, please ignore how badly I've sewn the snaps! I promise I do a much better job now. |
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| Here's what the snaps on the collar look like. I really wish the neckline portion didn't look so floppy and wrinkly. I would definitely correct this if I made the collars again! |
MODIFICATIONS
I changed the shape of this dress quite a bit from the pattern. At the time, I was more inexperience with pattern drafting and altering, and after measuring the pattern pieces, I was worried the dress pattern might be too tight around my chest and armholes. (I think I made a mockup of some kind, but I honestly can't remember). I considered altering the pattern properly, but I wasn't sure how to alter the French dart. However, the one part of the dress that I knew would fit was the neck hole, so I altered the dress without changing the shape or size of the neck hole. This way the collars would all still work without alteration -I was really excited about making the scalloped collar at the time and didn't want to completely redraft it to match a new neck opening.
In order to make the dress fit, I essentially drafted it into a large tent dress, and I removed all the darts from the dress. I also lowered the armhole a little bit for comfort. I know tent dresses are a somewhat controversial dress type, as many feel they are universally unflattering dresses that make the wearer look pregnant. But I've always liked the shape, so I was content to construct the dress in this way. Looking back, however, I really should have tried to alter the dress and maintain the darts. I think the fitted A-line shape would have made a more elegant (?) dress overall. In the future, I'm going to try and be more careful with my alteration choices.
Another minor alteration I made was to forgo the armhole and neck facings. Instead I used bias tape. However, my hand stitching skills at the time were atrocious. Don't look to close. I tried to do a bias binding around the armholes, and I should have just used the bias tape as a facing instead of a binding.
OUTFIT DETAILS
This dress doesn't require much styling, at least in my opinion. The sandals are from Poshmark, and the white daisy sunglasses are from Oui Fresh. The red daisy sunglasses are from Aliexpress. I also decided to style my hair in space buns for this look; I thought they'd be fun.
I changed the shape of this dress quite a bit from the pattern. At the time, I was more inexperience with pattern drafting and altering, and after measuring the pattern pieces, I was worried the dress pattern might be too tight around my chest and armholes. (I think I made a mockup of some kind, but I honestly can't remember). I considered altering the pattern properly, but I wasn't sure how to alter the French dart. However, the one part of the dress that I knew would fit was the neck hole, so I altered the dress without changing the shape or size of the neck hole. This way the collars would all still work without alteration -I was really excited about making the scalloped collar at the time and didn't want to completely redraft it to match a new neck opening.
In order to make the dress fit, I essentially drafted it into a large tent dress, and I removed all the darts from the dress. I also lowered the armhole a little bit for comfort. I know tent dresses are a somewhat controversial dress type, as many feel they are universally unflattering dresses that make the wearer look pregnant. But I've always liked the shape, so I was content to construct the dress in this way. Looking back, however, I really should have tried to alter the dress and maintain the darts. I think the fitted A-line shape would have made a more elegant (?) dress overall. In the future, I'm going to try and be more careful with my alteration choices.
Another minor alteration I made was to forgo the armhole and neck facings. Instead I used bias tape. However, my hand stitching skills at the time were atrocious. Don't look to close. I tried to do a bias binding around the armholes, and I should have just used the bias tape as a facing instead of a binding.
OUTFIT DETAILS
This dress doesn't require much styling, at least in my opinion. The sandals are from Poshmark, and the white daisy sunglasses are from Oui Fresh. The red daisy sunglasses are from Aliexpress. I also decided to style my hair in space buns for this look; I thought they'd be fun.
MATERIALS
I bought the apple print corduroy at Hancock Fabrics when they were going out of business. I miss Hancock so much! I don't remember where I bought the white fabric, but it's a basic cotton that can be purchased anywhere. And finally, I believe the apple buttons are from JoAnn's.
I bought the apple print corduroy at Hancock Fabrics when they were going out of business. I miss Hancock so much! I don't remember where I bought the white fabric, but it's a basic cotton that can be purchased anywhere. And finally, I believe the apple buttons are from JoAnn's.
CONCLUSION
Overall, I'm happy with how this project turned out, despite its problems! I have worn this dress a few times over the years, but I'm not really sure why I haven't worn it more. I hope to get more use out of it this summer. The 60's are my favorite period in fashion history, so I also hope to make more fun 60's and mod looks.
Thank you so much for reading this far! If you have any questions or concerns let me know down below!
To see more of my fruity looks, click here.
To see more of my Simplicity looks, click here.
Overall, I'm happy with how this project turned out, despite its problems! I have worn this dress a few times over the years, but I'm not really sure why I haven't worn it more. I hope to get more use out of it this summer. The 60's are my favorite period in fashion history, so I also hope to make more fun 60's and mod looks.
Thank you so much for reading this far! If you have any questions or concerns let me know down below!
To see more of my fruity looks, click here.
To see more of my Simplicity looks, click here.
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