Pattern Review - 2015 Historical Fashion Contest - Past Patterns 4998



Past Patterns 4998 made circa 2001 with floral rayon georgette

Oh lawdy! I had entered this contest, and was so short on time to complete it!! If you don't know about PatternReview.com, they are a website with thousands upon thousands of members with varying sewing experience. You can find reviews of all sorts of patterns, sewing machines, and even find a tutorial or two. They hold monthly contests, and this was my first entry into one.

This contest was for any costume reflecting any period of fashion from the 1920s and earlier. Most likely I will not win as my little dress is competing against Renaissance era gowns, etc with tons of detail and layers. Here is the Gallery of all those that entered. Either way, it was a good way for me to get my feet wet in the whole experience, and as Brando once said....I coulda been a contenda!!! LOL

Because I was short on time, I stuck with a pattern I had worked with before: Past Patterns 4998 - 1929 Slip On Evening Frock and Bolero Jacket. Past Patterns is a wonderful resource for authentic past decade patterns (1940s-1780s) that have been reproduced for sale at a very fair price!





Since I had worked with this pattern before, I knew I could whip this out pretty quickly in the time frame I was working with....1 whole day!! I used a midnight blue (almost black) poly chiffon lined with a linen blend peach shantung. I had to make a slight alteration to the skirt pieces and my chiffon. The skirt pieces are supposed to be cut on the fold, but I didn't have enough of my chiffon. To compensate, I cut the pieces with a small center seam on both the front and back skirts.

The neckline and armholes are finished with bias tape. Attaching the skirt to the bodice is the only difficult part of this pattern. When pinning the right sides together, the bodice has an 'arch' shape while the skirt has a 'U' shape. I sewed most of this area on the machine, taking it slow to move any full ease out of the way and making sure my bodice underneath wasn't folding up. I then hand sewed the side hip area where all my pieces met.

The result was pretty stunning, although I wish I had had time to do some beading and/or appliques.



Voting ended on August 9th, and with the final stats now posted, I placed 8th out of 18 garments. Honestly, that is much better than I thought I would end up. Congrats to the winners and all those that participated. I get inspiration from seeing what other people create, so something like this is always a win-win for me. Well....on to the next contest for August ~~ The Inspired by Books Contest!