My 1930s Christmas Gown – Done!

1930s velvet gown by American Duchess

Gosh, I wasn’t expecting to be done with so much time to spare. I forget that vintage sewing takes so much less time than historical sewing, even with working out the pattern and making lots of mistakes!

I had some fiddles in finishing the dress, of course. Finishing always takes more time than you think. I messed with the hem more than once and I may mess with it again – first it was too thick and wide, now I feel it might be just a tad too long. I wanted a skirt length that would work for both day and evening, but I’m not sure this length is flattering – the shorter it goes, the less formal, though…

1930s velvet gown paired with citrine and silver colette necklace and earrings by Dames a la Mode on Etsy
I’m wearing a gorgeous citrine colette necklace and matching earrings from Dames a la Mode. I got to choose the stone color and the setting color, and the necklace was handmade for me by Taylor.

I also messed with the belt a bit. It’s a self belt backed with an interfaced piece of the dupioni silk. Despite the velvet playing nicely all through this project, on this very last bit it didn’t want to, and crawled around. I ended up sewing one side of the belt by hand, but once turned and pressed, it worked perfectly.

1930s velvet gown paired with Miss L Fire "Gabrielle" pumps from www.RoyalVintageShoes.com
The shoes that started it all! I made the dress for the sole purpose of matching these incredible emerald green “Gabrielle” pumps made by Miss L Fire, my favorite vintage inspired shoe brand.

A button and loop, some tacking down of facings and seam allowances, and then it was done! Wow, surprisingly easy and extremely comfortable.

1933 bias cut velvet gown by American Duchess

44 Comments

Leave a Reply