My 1934 Wearing History Gown

Here's the gown I made for Valentine's Day:

 

The dress is from the fabulous 1934 Wearing History Pattern called 'Manhattan Melodrama'.  It's a fantastic pattern--I did buy the last one!  However Lauren said she might bring it back if some of you want to give it a go!  Let us know in the comments!

I adore all the details on this dress!  I graded the pattern through the week and didn't cut out my fashion fabric until late Saturday night and sewed all day Sunday.  Then I raced home after work and finished it up.  I was literally hemming about 20 minutes before we walked out the door for our dinner!  I did omit the belt from the pattern but I think it looks fine without.  I'll still make it for the blouse and for future wear!

This was my first time ever grading a pattern (see this post) AND my first time ever making a gown! 

The fabric is a great crepe back satin (both the red and pink) and I really enjoyed working with it.  I would love to make something from the crepe side one of these days!

Here's more details of the back.  There is a neck zipper hidden under the middle panel:

Here's a clearer shot of the back.  I really adore how it is constructed.  I did make things a bit more difficult by making this dress into separates.  I really wanted to wear the blouse on it's own and to use it as part of the Sewing Through the Decades challenge.  So I added a zipper on the side of the blouse and made the skirt separate (with it's own zipper).

However, one of the things I hadn't anticipated in making the top separate from the dress was the ability to get the waist portion over my head.  When making as a full dress, there is a side opening that extends the length of the blouse and part of the skirt.  I had already inserted a small zipper (that didn't quite extend the whole length of the blouse side) as well as a zipper in the neck back (under the panel).  However, I went to put it on and I couldn't get the waist bit over my head! EEK.  I started to unpick the zipper and was going to put in a continuous lap with snaps down the whole side.  Luckily, David suggested I should put a zipper (upside down--i.e. with the head of the zipper at the waist bottom) on the other side of the blouse.  As luck would have it, I had another of the exact same zipper (from a great charity shop find).  So, that is why this outfit has 4 zippers! (3 in the blouse and one in the skirt).  That solved the problem perfectly with only a small amount of work!

We went to the Voodoo Rooms for our Valentine's Day dinner.  They have a fantastic space.

Here's a photo of the front of the building:

And inside the main bar area.  I really love the windows:

And the ceiling lamps:

We had an absolutely lovely dinner!  David made the matching bow tie and kerchief by hand!  Check out this post for more details:

We are so made for each other! I love this photo:

And David gave me a beautiful brooch from the 1930's as a sweet present....how lovely is that?  I am wearing it on the neck of the dress in the photos!  David is going to do a guest post 'Behind the Scenes' sometime this week!  That should be lots of fun!

As an added bonus, the faux fur jacket I made two weeks ago went together perfectly with the dress!

 YAY! I am super happy with the dress!  Have you ever made a fancy dress?