I was looking for inspiration for my next project and saw this sleeveless empire-line dress. I needed something that was simple to sew, have clean lines, and I can wear everyday. This dress has all that and a timeless quality. The dress is by Sambo's Dollyrockers which I've never heard of but after searching on the web about it, the brand was around the 60's and 70's in Britain and gained high visibility when model Pattie Boyd started modeling their dresses. (At the time, Boyd was dating George Harrison of the Beatles.) I found this dress in Pinterest which didn't seem dated in style and pattern.
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Tania Mallet in empire-line dress by Sambo for Dollyrockers.
Photo by John French, Dec, 1963
(Model Tania Mallet was a former Bond girl and appreared in one of the earlier James Bond movies)
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The closest sewing pattern I had to knock-off the above look is a vintage pattern Simplicity 6352 (look #3). Perfection! It is a wedding dress/bridesmaid pattern but the design is very simple. It's junior size with measurements of B-31 1/2, W-24 1/2, & H-33 1/2. I'm a tad bigger than that but not by much (or so I thought).
The bodice is a checkered cotton that is very thin and the skirt is an off-white twill that is a little heavy and thick. At first I was concerned that the top would be too thin for the bottom but so far it seemed to hold up well. (Taking blog pictures seems to be my downfall right now. It is very diffucult to take pics with a self timer so I need to see how I can do this more efficiently and fix the lighting. I also crop my head off because I always have some weird expression on my face and don't feel like taking my pic over and over again for that one vanity shot (that eludes me time and again). Anyways, one more thing that I need to do better.)
There some bunching on the front bodice and extra fabric under the underarms. I made my adjustments using my dressform and the bodice sat perfectly on the dressform but I think my dressform is bigger than me. I will need to take more accurate measurements and adjust that too. But unfortunately, my dressform is at it's lowest settings so I'll need to compensate somehow for a better fit. (Geez, the buttons are crooked. What a mess.)
The center zipper was a pain to attach but I did it. The back fit good enough but as you can see the side seams are slightly on the back of the dress. I made fitting adjustments by taking it in on the center seam instead of the side seam. Now I know why I shouldn't have done that that way.
I followed the length of dart as indicated on the pattern but after I hemmed the bottom of the dress, I think I should have shortened the dart to compensate for my 5 feet height. The picture above shows where the dart actually started (or ended?) where my right finger is on. Should I have ended the dart up higher like where my left finger is pointing at? I don't know. Tried to look for an answer in my sewing books and couldn't really find anything. It doesnt really bother me where it's at because it's not that noticeable in the light colored fabric but it may matter on another fabric.
Pattern Description: Bridesmaid's dress with an empire wasitline, sleeveless sleeves and round neckline.
Pattern Sizing: Junior, Size 11, Bust 31-1/2
Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?: Yes, most def.
Were the instructions easy to follow? Yes, easy to follow except the instruction omitted the insertion of the back zipper. I only knew there was a zipper because one of the notions was a 20" zipper. Since it was a 20" zip, I assumed that would go on the back of the dress.
Likes: It's a simple dress with a timeless design. The placement of the front darts are flattering to my body shape.
Dislikes: I had a very hard time with slip stiching the trim on the bodice. I hate hand sewing because I do it very sloppily.
I also had a hard time turning over the trim and ribbon right side up. I have this tool that was suppose to turn over the material easily enough but it didn't do it at all so I ended up inching the fabric little by little to get it right side up.
I did not think that center zippers would be hard to do after reading my sewing book on how to insert it but DANG, it was harder that doing an invisible zipper!!! Even with the zipper foot in place, I had managed to sew right in the zipper teeth a few times and almost broke the zipper.
Obviously, this is not to say that the pattern is defective but rather my skill sets as a sewer are lacking the basic fundamentals that every sewer should have. In short, my dislike is not against the pattern but on me.
Fabric Used: Checkered cotton and twill material.
Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: The instructions called for button loops on the center back. I left those out because I would need help buttoning myself up each time.
The instructions called for the insertion of a trim and bow below the bodice. I am only 5 feet tall and have a short torso so I decided to insert the band above the skirt instead. I thought it looked better on my petite frame and would elongate my short torso.
Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?: Yes, and yes. Easy for beginners.
Year: 1965
Cost of pattern: $4
Conclusion: I would sew this again (which I'm doing so now as I speak). I made many mistakes and they are fresh on my mind so I thought I should do this again to correct those mistakes.
I will probably omit the trim around the bodice because I will certainly not improve on my hand sewing overnight. I was thinking of sewing on some piping instead or leaving it plain.
I also thought the pattern was smaller than my actual measurements after measuring the pattern. It turns out that the pattern is bigger so I had some bunching on the front bodice. I will need to fix that too.
I made the rookie mistake of adjusting the fit of the dress by taking in from the center back seam of the dress instead of the side seams. Due to this, my side seams are laying on my side back instead of the side of my body. I'm able to live with it because it's not really that noticeble but nevertheless, a big blunder.
Surprisingly, I am satisfied with this dress even with those mistakes (and many more) because I think I've improved on the sewing front. The fit is close to the body which is what I wanted to achieve. The dress is wearable outside of the house which is the true test of a succesful sewn outfit, in my opinion. As a matter of fact I wore it out to dinner with some friends and no one gawked or laughed at me. Yay!
I think it's a close replica to the inspiration picture.
