My new favourite dress: adding a Peter Pan collar to Simplicity 3833

Lately I’ve been revisiting my stash of vintage and reproduction vintage sewing patterns, and the associated stash of fabric to go with it. First up is Simplicity 3833.

This is a reproduction of an original 1960s Simplicity pattern and there’s an interesting comparison of the original pattern with the newer version here.

In the past month, I’ve made this pattern twice.  The first is the simple short sleeved dress in some owl print Japanese indigo fabric I had bought about 3 years ago for it.

The second version has been more of a challenge.  I’m a sucker for a Peter Pan collar. I have been known to wear multiple layers of peter pan collar in an outfit. I believe that there are very few dresses that I would wear that could not be improved with a peter pan collar.  So, I wanted to add a peter pan collar.

Now, the problem with adding a collar to a pattern is that necklines are unique to both the individual pattern and the size you make it in. Those universal peter pan collar tutorials will work as an accessory, but don’t really integrate into the dress as they’re not quite the same size.  So, I made my own pattern using the front and back interfacing pattern pieces as a template for the neckline.

I think the end result turned out quite well.

A few extra details: The collar and patterned buttons are made from a fat quarter of fabric from Ray Stitch. I made all that bias binding myself to make sure I got an exact match to the red in the patterned fabric – the edging of the collar is 1/2 inch tape, made with a bias tape maker. The neckline (a late edition when I decided I needed a bit more of the plain red) is 1 inch, made without the bias tape maker. This tutorial on the Colette website for continuous bias tape is great.

This is now my new favourite dress

Rekindling my Echino fabric love and another sewing pattern

At the start of last month, I took a work trip to Amsterdam and the Hague. During the cold snap that gripped much of Northern Europe over that first week of February.  The things I noted during that trip were

• The Netherlands railways are so reliable that, when it gets so cold that the points freeze, everyone is so outraged that they can talk of little else.
• The railway staff are, in fact, so horrified on behalf of their customers that they give you free coffee because your train is 10 minutes late.
• If you select Filet Americain from the sandwich platter, you actually end up with raw mince in a roll. The very rare roast beef is a much better option.
• Stamppot is exactly the meal you need when it’s about -10  outside
• Being able to commute by ice skating down a canal looks pretty cool.
• The great little fabric shop by Amsterdam Centraal shuts disappointingly early in the afternoon (dammit)
• My beloved Kokka fabric kindle cover went missing somewhere before I got to the hotel on the first night. I think it may well have been at City Airport (damn you, City Airport)

The first kindle cover - it served me well

The loss of my kindle cover ended up being an excuse for indulging  one of my small fixations – the Echino fabrics by Etsuko Furuya for Kokka.  They are used by Clothkits for some of their skirt kits (so there’s a money saving tip straight away), they are lovely heavyweight cottons and cotton linen mixes and they are interesting without being overly twee.  And they are available from my local favourite Raystitch and  new mail order favourite Eternal Maker.  The camera print for the original cover was an Echino.  So, for this one, another small piece of Echino fabric, this time the car print, and this time with a contrast lining.

Kindle cover mark 2 Escort mark 1

Consulting on FB, Daz identified it as an Escort Mark 1, as modelled by Doyle in The Professionals (thus confirming how little the classic car ID service while watching it took effect). Rosie confirmed it as being the same as the first family car we had – Ertie – aka the white car.  It’s a white car, it looks a bit late 70s/early 80s. I like the print. I’ll probably forget that it’s an Escort in a while.

Anyway, this time, I kept the pattern template and wrote up some pattern instructions.  They are here.  It’s a quick project – one for an hour or so on a rainy afternoon. It’s a great excuse to buy a little piece of very nice fabric.  I may make another.