Friday, January 3, 2020

McCall 3601 'The Mulberry Hill Dress'

This may be my FAVOURITE 1940 McCall make of 2019. This pattern has turned into the perfect 1940s day dress!

Perhaps it's the fabric or maybe it's the autumnal/winter brown but with a splash of colour? Or maybe it's the tailored shirtwaist design?

I used McCall 3601, which has quite an interesting bodice design. There's these little pocket type things on a somewhat princess seam. The pattern also features a four panelled skirt and my favourite--pleated sleeve caps!!

The bodice shape is actually quite slimming. It fits really well but I probably could have done a minor Full Bust Adjustments (FBA) to get rid of that horizontal crease on the bust line. But I'm actually ok with it because you can't really tell it's there with the fabric print unless it's a close-up!

I was super excited to find this fabric as it reminded me so much of a very similar fabric I saw in one of my 1940 McCall's magazines! I was actually holding out to use the fabric with this exact pattern but I still haven't found that pattern and I really wanted to use the fabric!

I even had the most perfect buttons in my stash--I got these many years ago on a shopping trip with Mena from Make This Look to one of her favourite haunts!

My friend and stunning photographer, Darja Bilyk, took these photos at the Edinburgh Botanics Garden. All of nature seemed to match the colours of the dress! It was magical!

They had set up the park for a holidays light show in the evenings--so we conveniently used the Christmas props! Love it!

The fabric I used is a mid-weight dress cotton --which is nice for this time of the year and holds the lines of this more tailored dress well including the shirtwaist!

And I just love the pleated sleeve cap detail. One of my favourite fashion trends from the late 30s/early 40s! I actually like this sleeve detail much better than gathered sleeve caps (and it's much easier to sew too)!

My other lovely friend, Ariana, put my hair up into a nice 1940s set that lasted for days!

I'm wondering if I should make a matching belt for this dress or whether you think it's fine without? I opted for without as I don't know if it would show up--but maybe it would look nice? What do you think?

YAY for classic shirtwaist dresses. There's some blue in this fabric as well--so I think I can play with that and wear this year round, even in springtime!