All the lovely makes for the Mad Men III dress challenge are now on Julia’s website. If you are a fan of Mad Men, or of sewing, or of late fifties/early sixties fashion, please do check them out! Last weekend, I was in a wee time crunch and didn’t post any construction photos of my Betty dress. For those that are interested, here they are, along with the usual bit of ramble. I used a high quality 100% cotton fabric. It’s called Fairy Briar and made by Hoffman Fabrics, to state the obvious. I purchased two meters and utilized the fabric to within an inch of it’s life! One of the interesting things I noticed, and appreciated, about this fabric, is that it does not fray! It has a lovely high thread count, and a soft, silky feel. Having said that, I lined the whole dang thing! Why? Well, I’m not overly fond of slips, so lining a skirt is almost always a given. I used a cotton broadcloth for the skirt, and my custom A-Line Skirt Pattern serves as the pattern. By using an a-line skirt for the lining, I’m eliminating gathers and pleats, effectively eliminating bulk. ‘I need more bulk at my waist.’ said no woman ever. The bodice and sleeves are lined with feather-light bemberg rayon lining. Why? Lining a bodice and sleeves means no facings. Yes, but why? I dunno! I just do. I like this style of construction and I use it a lot of the time. I machine stitch the lined sleeves to the bodice, in essence treating them as one piece, and then my last construction step is to hand sew the bodice to the armhole. Does anyone know of a different, um…yeah better…technique for this step?   The hem! I was swooning over Oonaballoona’s Pink Project Runway Dress….you love it too, don’t ya?…and I had to try using bias cut horsehair trim just like Oona does. Me likey, me likey very much, thank you Oona darling! It gives a little oomph to the hemline, a little bigger whirl on my twirl! All good, it is! And last, but not least, a boob shot. Kidding! But how ’bout we chat about the pleating on the bodice. Not sure if I did this the right way, but it worked out well for me, so here goes; I pleated a rectangle of fabric to a … Continue reading BEHIND THE SEAMS | THE BETTY DRAPER ROSES DRESS