Original Vintage Refashion!

Yes, I promised a new free pattern, and I am almost ready with it. But first I had to fit in my monthly contribution to the refashion co-op! After last months huge success with the 9 shirts off his back, I wasn't sure whether I was going to be able to live up to the expectations for my next project... :-) But how about this - an original 1943 Refashion project?

I own a few German pattern magazines from the 40's and they feature a one-page refashioning section! They certainly had to use all the resources they could get their hands on. In this example, they suggest using an old long-sleeve blouse on which the collar, buttons, underarms and cuffs are torn up and turn it into this cute short-sleeve version, for which you can cut away all the problematic areas...

The 1938 Dress: Finished! Vote and Win!

If you are here to vote and win, just scroll down to the second half of the post! :-))

So this is the finished dress from my 1938 magazine:

Me-Made-Mittwoch #15

Deutsch: Grau

English: Blue

Heute trage ich das Kleid, das von mir den Namen "Miracle Dress" bekam. Nicht, weil es so wundervoll ist, sondern weil es wie ein Wunder war, dass es überhaupt tragbar herausgekommen ist...

Today I am wearing the dress that I call "miracle dress". Not because it is so miraculously beautiful, but because it seemed like a miracle that it turned out wearable at all...

Der Schnitt ist aus einer Deutschen Modenzeitung von 1941 und war mir eigentlich zwei Grössen zu gross, mindestens. Das war allerdings nicht die einzige Schwierigkeit -ich schneiderte das Kleid vor über einem Jahr, und dieser luftige Chiffon hat mich noch etwas überfordert. Das Kleid hat einen Seitenreissverschluss und die Raffinesse ist, dass es ein Unterhemd und den Unterrock gleich mit eingebaut hat. HIER sehr ihr mehr Fotos davon.

The pattern is from an old magazine from 1941 and was actually at least two sizes too big for me. This was not the only difficulty though - I sewed this dress over a year ago and this chiffon was a bit too challenging for me then. The dress has a side zipper and the really cool thing is that it has a top and underskirt sewn right into it. HERE you can see more pictures of the details.

Eigentlich ist es auch ein Wunder, dass es bei all den Änderungen die ich machte, am Schluss doch so ähnlich wie das Original aussieht. Was hält ihr von dem gelben Kleid? Ich glaube fast, das muss ich auch mal noch schneidern. Es ist sogar in meiner Grösse!

It's actually also a bit of a miracle that it ended up looking so much like the original after all the changes I made to it. What do you think of the yellow dress? I think I might have to give that one a try too - it even comes in my size!