The V&A free dress pattern

It's been very busy here at The House of Marmalade this summer.  Too much to do, and too little time as usual, but one of the things I have done, and enjoyed immensly, is visit the Victoria and Albert Museum in London to see the Grace Kelly Wardrobe Collection.  Have you been?  Are you in London?  It finishes on 12 September, and I thoroughly recommend a veiwing or two if you can.  Unfortunately, camera's were not allowed, and so I can't give you a complete run down of the display beyond the image of my pre-tour cup of tea and Programme.

However, as the Museum have decorated their shop in a vintage style with patterns from their very famous "free couture" pattern which is downloadable from their website, I thought that this would be a good opportunity to re-post my workings on that very pattern - even though I still don't actually have a finished dress to show you.  (The V&A have plenty though all made up,  ready to go and complete with petticoat, if you don't fancy making one yourself). 

You can download the pattern  HERE.  It is adapted for modern sizes 10-14, was created especially for the V&A Golden Age of Couture Exhibition Website, and is based on the dress pictured here, a 1953 ready to wear dress by Horrockses Fashion. It has a close fitting lined bodice with waist seam and flared skirt with pockets.

Ready to wear couture styles in the 50's were relatively expensive and favoured by members of the Royal Family, 'working women' would save up to buy them for special occassions, like going away on honeymoon (perhaps this explains the ridiculously high price tag in the shop!).

I found that the pattern I printed, didn't fit, and so I re-drew it to my measurements from scratch as an excercise to explore the techniques used when it was originally designed and cut.  So here is the lowdown according to The House of Marmalade:

First step is to print out the pattern onto A4 sheets of paper, align the special corresponding marks, and secure with tape.


I then cut out each pattern peice and pinned them to  Madge the Material Girl who was adjusted to my measurments as closely as possible.

Looks good doesn't it?

Now Madge, give us a twirl!

.... Houston, we have a problem! .... can you see?

Not only is the armhole far too big, but the back sections of the pattern are a) back to front, b) too big by a long way (I mean a very very long way, not just the usual discrepancy between dress form and body) and c) the instructions don't make much sense...

So.. back to the drawing board - I find it easier to start from scratch so that I know what's what.  You will need to create your own block if you do it this way.

First thing to work out after drawing a new block, is where exactly the darts are? The front bodice is made up of only 3 sections with only 2 miniscule bust darts in the top middle section, under the bust. The rest - and there must be more to acheive the perfectly contoured shape, are hidden. I knew that there must be closed darts involved, but in order for darts to be closed, other darts must be made - and then either closed again or hidden in seams. Think of shuffling orange segments when one is missing - another always takes it's place. Where are they?


I won't bore you with the details of the very circuitous cutting and pasting (think Blue Peter) route which led me to the conclusion that what we have here, is infact, a French Dart.

A French dart combines shoulder and waist darts and I could have avoided hours of snipping and sellotaping by following three simple steps

1) Close the shoulder dart of the block forming a wide dart under the bust
2) cut the sleeve, neck and waist portions along the chosen lines of the pattern
3) close the waist dart and trace each piece with the darts closed (except the two bust darts which must be left). The darts then become integrated within the cut, and all you will see in the finished dress, are beautiful smooth pieces of fabric.

Having taken the long route round, I understand the shortcuts much better than I would have done, but to finish off, these experimental pattern peices now have to be traced back onto paper, in order to be traced again as pattern peices.  The top arm is traced as is with the dart folded out (closed).  The bust section is traced with the dart intact, and the bottom middriff section is traced while the dart is folded out (closed).  You wont see the traced closed darts in the final cut.

Next step is then to trace those peices off, add seam allowances, transfer to fabric and sew together!

The only reason I haven't sewn this myself is because as yet, I haven't been able to find some suitable fabric, however, since my recent shopping trip to London, I may well use the lovely black polyester with white flower pattern for this dress.  I think it would suit.

Altering a vintage dress

Long time readers of this blog will remember that back in November 2008 (!!!!), Miss T, my lovely next door neighbour, very kindly gave me a bag of clothes which had belonged to her grandma, Gertie, who had just turned 100!     As you can see, this dress, although it dates I would imagine, from the 70's era, is in very good condition - almost new infact!  

The dress is unlined, with just a facing at the top which makes it a lovely cool summer style dress.

Unfortunately, before I realised that this dress would probably fit me, I was clearing out my stash, making things tidy and chopping up old clothes so that the resulting fabric pieces would fit neatly into a folded pile ..... and so I cut through the shoulders of this dress and then decided to try it on ... doh!

..  Naturally, thanks to the laws of sod, it was a perfect fit and considering that Gertie was at least 90 the last time she wore this dress - more than twice my age - she must have been in pretty good shape!  I decided to try to salvage the dress in order to wear this summer because I love the fabric which is quite a heavy weave cotton - perhaps with a bit of linen mixed in, and the style is perfect for me - I'm not a flouncy frilly type of girl and this straight a-line style suits me.

So, here is the dress with frills off, and ready for a bit of 'modernisation'.

I mended the shoulders with some white linen bias binding, and after taking in the side seams by a centimetre each side to compensate for the lack of sleeve, I also bound the sleeve edges with the same binding.

In my stash I found some vintage stretch lace in a lurid colour of green - very 70's!  

3 yards was just enough to finish the new hemline, and put a little ruffle around the neck..

Et Voila!  One new old dress, finished with vintage trim.

It was much more difficult to take a picture of me in it with my phone!

A little black dress

I have been trying to finish off a number of projects which I started last year, in order to be able to get on with this year's 'stuff' on a fresh footing - I'm not doing very well!


This little black number was the first on my list of pressing things to do - although I originally planned for it to be finished for an evening event I had to attend at the beginning of December!

It is inspired by this pattern from 1963:
Just the kind of style I like. Very Audrey Hepburn don't you think? Elegant, timeless, classic and 'multi purpose'. One of those 'office to party' type of dresses.

As you can see, the pattern is a size '14', but inside the envelope there is no measurement chart so I have absolutely no idea how big or small that is in today's money. However, as it is a very simple design it was easy to 're-make' with a twist or two.

I've turned it into a 'panel' dress, which basically means, that instead of putting darts into either side of the dress, on my new pattern, I drew lines extending from the bottom of the darts to the bottom of the dress. ( I will do a separate post in the future, dedicated to darts as this is quite hard to explain if you haven't done it before.) I then cut the pattern out following these lines, which gave me 6 panels (3 front + 3 back) instead of the original 3 (1 front + 2 back).

I personally like the look of paneled garments but I also think that they are quite 'easy' as effectively what happens when a panel is cut, is that darts are removed which means that it's easier - for a beginner at least - to get a close fit without bulk.

I put the zip at the side of the dress - I simply can't understand why one want to clutter up the back of a dress with a zip when you could have a perfectly smooth finish there, with a concealed zip at the side, finishing under the arm, so that's what I do for most of my projects where the fastening isn't a decorative design detail.

Top stitching finishes off all of the seams and gives a professional look - and oh, how I love to topstitch! There are 2 side splits instead of one back slit to make walking easier!


Because I am impatient, this dress is unlined and unfaced! (I know, don't faint!). The fabric is a sturdy sretch sateen cotton, and so isn't desperate for a lining. I overlocked all of the seams (which were then stitched down by the top stitching - making this a useful detail as well as decorative) and then on the spur of the moment - just as I was about to contemplate the facing, which I had cut, I decided to bind the neck and armholes with a duchess satin binding. This complemented the satin covered buttons at the waist.

The bindings are finished on the inside by hand, one of the details I love to do - it's so satisfying to look at those perfect hand stitches. The belt has bound button holes - a detail which I forgot to photograph (another thing which will have it's own dedicated post soon).

All in all, I'm very pleased with this dress, and all the more so, because when Mr Marmalade took the picture above, he asked why . "It's for the blog" I said. He looked confused, I had to explain "I MADE IT" .. he nearly fell over in shock and I had to confirm several times before he understood!

What's your measure of a good job? The other day someone said to me of a skirt I was wearing "ooh it looks just like what you'd buy in a shop". I reckon that's a pretty good compliment, don't you?

Creative possibilities

.... "I saw a woman at an event last night in a great corset; I found myself staring at all the bits. I blame you for making me stare at strangers in this way. I could get beaten up. " ....

Now every time I stare at the clothes of complete strangers, perhaps a particularly complicated looking seam, a hidden detail, or a beautiful line, the last sentence of that message, "I could get beaten up", rattles in my mind alongside all of the diagrams and calculations I imagine it would take to achieve the shape I'm trying desperately to memorise quickly in the bus que, or on the street, or the local shop or ... anywhere at all - it's as much as I can do to resist getting my camera out to surreptitiously film the object of my 'desire'!

It troubles me somewhat. I just cant stop staring at ladies clothes and all the creative possibilities they communicate to my already overflowing mind! Even if I don't like the actual garment as a whole, it could be something like a clever pocket placement, or an elaborate stitch which might catch my eye.

Mr Marmalade knows when sewing thoughts 'overtake'. He knows the 'look' - a distant, far away gaze. He knows better than to ask what it is that might be occupying my brain so fully that I don't hear or see a thing going on around me and the only sound I am capable of making is a little 'hmm' now and then .. You've all been there I'm sure.

In short, I have become obsessed with lines, darts, tucks, and seams, but it doesn't stop there, oh no!

As a result of reading too many vintage sewing books and couture 'techniques' I have developed an intense love for hand stitching in order to achieve the perfect finish .. you see? It's a bad case.


Now, if I wasn't the type of person who needs to know EXACTLY how things work, in order for them or their purpose to make sense to me, you might call me a cheapskate ... I don't want to spend a fortune on the vintage sewing patterns which regularly have me drooling into my keyboard - have you noticed how expensive they have become since they became 'the thing' to sew?. No. Rather than wrestle with old, unprinted, sometimes incomplete, and hard to fathom sizing issues, I prefer to spend the money on finding out how to sew clothes from scratch, and inspired by those pattern drawings showing the simple and elegant lines of the 50's and 60's.

All about dress darts

I should have taken my mother's advice all those years ago and made my way to art school. Not for painting and drawing because that frustrates me, but to design, because of all my sewing and crafting pursuits, it's the conundrums and solutions that please me the most. The working out of the workings. I find it absolutely fascinating!

So ... I printed out my free V&A pattern for the gorgeous dress in the last post, pasted it all together, and cut it out...


Then pinned it to a finely adjusted Madge

Looks good doesn't it?

Now Madge, give us a twirl!

.... Houston, we have a problem! .... can you see?

Not only is the armhole far too big, but the back sections of the pattern are a) back to front, b) too big by a long way (I mean a very very long way, not just the usual discrepancy between dress form and body) and c) the instructions don't make much sense...

So.. back to the drawing board, and this is the bit I really really like.

First thing to work out after drawing a new block, is where exactly the darts are? The front bodice is made up of only 3 sections with only 2 miniscule bust darts in the top middle section, under the bust. The rest - and there must be more to acheive the perfectly contoured shape, are hidden. I knew that there must be closed darts involved, but in order for darts to be closed, other darts must be made - and then either closed again or hidden in seams. Think of shuffling orange segments when one is missing - another always takes it's place. Where are they?


I won't bore you with the details of the very circuitous cutting and pasting (think Blue Peter) route which led me to the conclusion that what we have here, is infact, a French Dart.

A French dart combines shoulder and waist darts and I could have avoided hours of snipping and sellotaping by following three simple steps 1) Close the shoulder dart of the block forming a wide dart under the bust 2) cut the sleeve, neck and waist portions along the chosen lines of the pattern 3) close the waist dart and trace each piece with the darts closed (except the two bust darts which must be left). The darts then become integrated within the cut, and all you will see in the finished dress, are beautiful smooth pieces of fabric.

Having taken the long route round, I understand the shortcuts much better than I would have done. Which is nice.

Free Couture

I suddenly remembered that I have a pattern for this dress in my "free patterns" folder. I downloaded it ages ago from HERE.

The pattern - adapted for modern sizes 10-14, was created especially for the V&A Golden Age of Couture Exhibition Website, and is based on this 1953 ready to wear dress by Horrockses Fashion. It has a close fitting lined bodice with waist seam and flared skirt with pockets.

Because these ready to wear couture styles were relatively expensive and favoured by members of the Royal Family, 'working women' would save up to buy them for special occassions, like going away on honeymoon.

I think i'm going to have to give it a try.

Another high waisted pencil skirt

Another high waisted panel skirt from my own pattern, this time with a lower waistband and a double split at the back instead of a frill.

Very pleased with this skirt, it's a smidgin larger than the last one I made and extremely comfortable. Made of stretch khaki drill (my new favourite colour/fabric) with red stitch detail on the seams which i've lapped for interest. If I'd thought about it for longer, I would have sewn the seams to the outside and flat felled them, which would give a neat finish both sides. I have another skirt in mind which I will do this with.

This style of skirt is my very favourite style and always has been. Most of the skirts I have ever bought have been of the 'pencil' variety so I'm really pleased that i'm now able to make them myself. This cost less than a tenner all in which is very pleasing as the one I took my inspiration from, costs £120! (And yes, before you wonder, I will be making a matching corset!)

And talking of corsets ... The winner of my "which one shall I make first" poll by a long way, is the V&A stays. Here is another model, this one is at the Fashion Museum at Bath. Hopefully I'll get started this week!

High waisted pencil skirt with vintage buckle

I have finally finished making the skirt from my very own skirt pattern!

Here is the front...

And the back ...

And here's a similar one I bought 2 years ago from Morgan..

It cost me £15 reduced from £75 (!!!) in a sale.

My own skirt cost the princely sum of £10'ish:

Fabric - £2.50/metre (stretch cotton sateen)

Zip - £1.50

Vintage belt buckle - £3.50

Time, Tantrums (invisible zipper!), Thread - £2.50

Cheap at twice the price I'd say

and twice as nice to boot.

(even if I do say so myself)