1920s Plaid Dress - A Few More Photos

A few more pictures of my 1920s plaid dress. These were actually taken before the dress was 100% complete - it's missing the little white tabs and green buttons on the skirt. But I wanted to give it a test run. I wore this dress for the Roaring Twenties Lawn Party this summer which I wrote briefly about in my last post.

You also get to see a little bit of my yard and gardens. The flowers have mostly gone by, a sure sign that fall is not far away! I do love the fall but I'm always a little sad to see the summer flowers disappear.

My go to shoes for 20s inspired events. Not exactly perfect but they work for most events.

I wrote about the construction of this dress here. I used McCall 5632. It was fairly simple as many 20s dresses tented to be. Shortened the hem about 1 1/2", which is not unusual for me, I'm only 5' 2". The dress was a little high under the arms so I cut the arm holes a little deeper. Other then that I didn't need to make any changes.

And a few shots after playing with the colors in a photo editor.

And speaking of photos! Very soon (next week actually!) I will be formally announcing my vintage fall photo contest!! I will be teaming up with two well-know ladies in the vintage blogging world and will be offering some awesome prizes! This will be very similar to the photo contest I hosted back in the spring. Stay tuned for more details!

Another Great 1920s Lawn Party

Thank you all for your wonderful comments on my last post about the 1920s beach party! It was so much fun! :) Today I have a short post for you with only a couple pictures. These were taken the same day as the beach party.

The Great Boston Vintage Society did it again! The Roaring Twenties Lawn Party at the Crane Estate was a grand success! And guess what? The GBVS finally has their own webpage! This outstanding group of vintage enthusiasts are responsible for many of the awesome vintage inspired events I have attended and blog about during the last two years. Including the 1920s lawn and beach parties, the White Lightening Ball, and more! Check them out at http://bostonvintage.org

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For the lawn party I made another 1920s dress!

I made my dress using McCall 5623 and some cotton plaid from my stash. The fabric was left over from my 1860s dress which you can see here in the first set of photos. (I really need to take some colored photos sometime!) I used the bodice portion of this same pattern to make a blouse which I wore for the first White Lightning Ball. You can see photos of that outfit here.

Construction was fairly straight forward. The bodice, like most 20s dresses, was a rectangle of fabric with darts at the shoulders/bust for a little shaping. The skirt is two panels of fabric set with box pleats. I decided to make my dress without sleeves as I knew it would be hot in the sun. The fabric was rather light weight so I did wear a slip underneath. I used white cotton, dyed off white with coffee, to make the sailor style collar, belt and accents on the skirt. After digging through my buttons and buckles and came up with some green ones that matched pretty well.

And because everyone loves a good behind the scenes shot. Note the handful of grass, a great photographer's trick!

Summary of the Pattern
Fabric: Cotton fabric from the stash
Pattern: McCall 5623
Year: 1920s
Notions: Thread, buttons and a buckle
How historically accurate is it? Very, although the fabric is not quiet the right weight for this style dress.
Any tricky parts to the pattern? Not really, there is very little tailoring which makes it easy to sew.
Did you change anything?  Shortened the hem about 1 1/2". The dress was a little high under the arms so I cut the arm holes a little deeper.
Time to complete: About 3 days
First worn: August 2, 2015 for the GBVS Roaring 20s Lawn Party
Wear Again? Yes.
Total cost: Everything was from the stash. I don't remember what I paid for the pattern but I'm sure is was under $20 (Thank you ebay!)
Notes: Next time I make this I want to use some fabric that drapes a little better. Although the cotton I used was light weight is was still a little stiff for a 20s dress. But all the materials were from the stash, so yeah!

You can see more photos of this dress here.