I’ve finished up this dress and it’s currently for sale in my Etsy shop – but I had to share it here too since it was such an unusual pattern.

It’s a mail order pattern from the 1940s, back when fabric rationing was a thing. To still have the wrap look, but without wasting fabric, was the challenge of this pattern designer – and it was met quite ingenuously.

I had to study the pattern hard, and do some seam ripping and basting and such things before I figured it out. You can kind of see from this interior photo how the front crosses over in one direction only, and the skirt crosses over in the other direction, so ONLY the skirt band actually overlaps on the skirt. It was really an unusual pattern!

I lined the inside button/waist band, and love how tidy it makes the interior, despite the additional hand work it adds.

I used a novelty print and contrasting sleeves and collar to make it look like a pinafore dress, also popular in the 1940s.

Often they wore full on pinafore dresses for work or cooking, that could be buttoned over top of a dress they didn’t want to damage, for full coverage. Some of them could either be worn as aprons or just by themselves as a house dress in hot weather.

Both the novelty print and the fun chunky buttons are from The Timely Tailor, as well as that pink flower magnetic pincushion shown in the above WIP photos – it’s incredibly handy!

I do enjoy a quick make with a basic & familiar dress pattern, but once in a while something more challenging is fun – and that’s certainly what this was. Jury’s out on if I will sew it again, but at least if I do, I now know how to do it!