"P" is for Pink, Plaid, and Peggy

So, when we last discussed this year's Mad Men Dress Challenge, I left off with the above image and some outfit ideas. Well, after two years of green, vintage-inspired dresses, I've actually got something a little bit different!

This year, I was still inspired by a green dress, but (finally) my finished project has broken the green-Mad Men-mold. With this lovely lady in mind...

 I ended up with something that's almost more like one of her earlier outfits -- and I even have a ponytail to match!

source

Behold, my most favorite Mad Men Dress Challenge entry ever. Also, plaid!

 

Pattern: Emery Dress, by Christine Haynes

Fabric: Pink & White lightweight plaid cotton/poly fabric, vintage from Etsy. White Siri lining fabric from Gertie's shop.

Notions: 1 vintage "bone" colored dress zipper and a belt's worth of 1/4" piping cord

Alterations: I used 1 size smaller on the gathered skirt than what I cut for my bodice,  reduced the bodice at the waist by 1/2" on each side, added my beloved fabric covered cord belt, omitted pockets, and added kimono-ish sleeve bands using Gertie's excellent tutorial.

Now that I've shared my Mad Men Dress for this year, I'm SO excited (well, I have been all along, really) to see what everyone else made! Julia will be posting her round-up of all entries very soon, so make sure to check them out!

Finished Project: Emery Dress

Emery

Oh, hi friends! Thanks for your comments on my Mad Men Challenge inspiration post. The collages were fun to put together and I think the process of making them actually helped me to narrow down my choice for my entry this year. More on that soon.

As I mentioned previously, I'm ready for some spring time weather, sunshine, and fun dresses. Luckily, I'd recently (oops, like 6 months ago?) picked up the Emery dress pattern by Christine Haynes. If somehow you haven't seen her patterns or Craftsy class online, perhaps you've seen the blog tour for her new book. The book looks amazing and seems like it will be a super helpful reference for many levels of sewist. Everything Christine comes out with seems to have great thought put into it, while also being chock full of pretty imagery and cute vintage touches. What's not to love? Well, after seeing about 387 adorable Emery dresses out on the internet, I decided it was about time I made my own.

Well, the hype is legit. I cut a straight size 8 and didn't make any adjustments, other than using the largest size for the gathered skirt, to get some extra gathering poufyness in there. The dress fits pretty great right out of the envelope. And it has pockets. Another thing I like about this one? The bust darts fell in the correct place, the back upper and lower darts are longer than most I've seen and really help shape the bodice, there's no neckine gaping, the cut and style play well with lots of fabrics, including fun printed quilting cottons, and IT'S CUTE!

I picked two coordinating quilting cottons from JoAnns and was excited to be able to browse that section without having to lie to myself that the fabrics would work! At the fabric store, quilting cotton always seems to have the most fun prints but is not necessarily the most versatile fabric, especially when all you want to sew is clothing. The Emery dress worked great with the cottons I chose and I'm eagerly planning my next version (in which I'll actually do a good job when setting in the sleeves and lining the bodice).

That's all for now, y'all. If you have a spare few moments, I highly recommend picking up the Emery pattern and whipping one up to add to your wardrobe. You won't regret it!

Mad Men Dress Challenge III

Hi, friends! It's that time again. It's officially Mad Men Dress Challenge season. In case you're new around there, JuliaBobbin is the host of the challenge and this is the deal (per her site):

Challenge:      

Recreate a Mad Men dress that you love. It doesn't have to be an exact copy, you can just be inspired by the style of the 50's, 60's and early 70's.

Due By:

Email your entry over to Julia by Tuesday, April 1st.

The Big Reveal:

She'll then post up everyone’s photos and blog links on Sunday, April 6th.


 

Now, to be quite honest, I've sort of had to kick myself in the butt to get geared up for the challenge this year. It's just that winter currently seems to have me on more of a modern fashion kick. I've been wearing skinny jeans, button downs, and boots much more than anything vintage or vintage-inspired, lately.  It's really about time that winter shut up and spring got started, though. And, what's better for welcoming the new season than a new vintage dress? (Spring is coming, right? -- as I type this there's snow and ice on the ground)

The two previous years of the challenge each saw a green dress from me. This year I might just be mixing it up. Who knows, there's really so much inspiration to pour over, I don't think I have any idea what I'll end up with. I've been adding to my Mad Men Pinterest board and generally scouring the internet for outfit images to inspire me -- so far a lot of them are green and blue, it seems. Sigh. Also, if you follow me on Instagram, you'll know a 1963 Vogue pattern catalog has just made its way into my possession, so that's helping to add to the heaping pile of inspiration images, too.

Here are some of my top contenders... today. 

Megan Draper - via Tom and Lorenzo

 Paisley Fabrics: 1, 2, 3, 4.

 Peggy Olsen - via Tom and Lorenzo

Floral Fabrics: 1, 2, 3, 4.

 Peggy Olsen - via amctv

Plaid Fabrics: 1, 2, 3, 4.

 

Trudy Campbell - via Tom and Lorenzo

Blue Ponte de Roma Knit

Coco by Tilly