On my sewing table: 1970s wrap dress
I have just posted a question on Sew Retro about this dress I´m working on, and I´ll just post the whole thing here as well. Hope someone can help me! 🙂
Hello everyone!
I am currently working on a wrap-around dress from the 70s (don´t you just love the colors and the accessorizing of the original design drawing?). I have finished everything, but I find that the neckline is a tad too revealing for me to wear without a top underneath. I would love to wear this as an evening dress without feeling like I constantly have to pull and adjust the top to make it stay put. Do you know what I mean?
I am hoping that some of you talented ladies can help me with this? I have tried to add a button in the side seam, and a loop on the opposite side, but this adds too much tension on the side seam. I have also tried to place the button on the princess seam, but that doesn’t help at all.
I hope that my pictures and text gives you a proper understanding of my problem, if not please let me know, and I will try to explain it better! 🙂
So, my faith is in you wonderful seamstresses, do you have any suggestions on what to do?
I find as a voluptuous lady, that wrap dresses always either cross too high and just dont fit as they cut my chest in half or they make me looks slightly porn starry as they cross too low (though this is actually the correct place -it just looks too low!) The general solution seems to be either to wear something underneath (I tend to wear a slip rather than a top to avoid the weird waist ridges problem, and also helping with any skirt gape issues), or to adjust the neckline itself. I do this either by completely changing the neckline and creating a v that hugs nearer the neck so drapes round (like this fab joannie top http://www.swingfashionista.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/JoanHollowayMadMen.jpg) or, adding a neckline trim that increases in width as you go down so that it is v small at the top and a couple of inches at the crossing point. This then extends slightly beyond the edge of the main dress at the side seam so that you can have an additional button (or ideally tie as then you can adjust if) without it pulling. I find having two fastening points on the inside a couple of inches apart far more stable
How about adding a lace insert? You can sew in one side and then make one side detachable so that you can get the dress on and off. You could use small clear snaps to make sure the insert is securely attached.
It’s a beautiful dress – well done!
Thank you both for the good advice. I´ll try to do something to make it work, I´ll keep you posted!
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