vintage may: striped shirt dress

striped shirtdress for vintage may || craftiness is not optional

Well helloooo there! So lovely to see you again. Welcome back for the second week of Vintage May!

vintage may || craftiness is not optional & skirt as top

This week Kristin and I both sewed something for ourselves! and it was FUN.

My first attempt gone awry, I scoured my shelves and found this book, (affiliate link) sent to me awhile ago from a publisher.

PERFECT right? I flipped through the pages and decided to try the shirt dress.

striped shirtdress for vintage may || craftiness is not optional

striped shirtdress for vintage may || craftiness is not optional

Scooted my booty up to Joann for some shirting (on sale for $5 a yard so this dress only cost about $15 thankyaverymuch)

Forgot buttons. WHOOPSIE. But through some miracle, I had millions of these little black metal buttons in my button stash. No clue where or when I got them but they sure saved me that night.

Tracing and cutting the pattern was pretty straightforward, just time consuming since there were a lot of pieces. I sewed it up in a day, but it took both naptime and after bedtime to finish it. I ended up taking it in so much in the arms and length that I pretty much sewed a size 8 with a 10 waist. If I ever made it again I’d sew a straight up 8. Since I’m super duper short I chopped about 6″ off the length. I also ended up shortening the sleeves a few inches.

The in seam pockets are THE BEST. Every woman knows how handy these are, right? da best. I also adore the pleats in the skirt front.

striped shirtdress for vintage may || craftiness is not optional

All in all, I LOVE it. It’s comfy and easy to wear. The fabric is completely opaque, so no slip needed. I think it’ll be a great summer dress! It does need a belt IMHO.

striped shirtdress for vintage may || craftiness is not optional

Β  Let’s talk about my hairs. I looked up tutorials for vintage hairstyles and found victory rolls among the options.

In the end I kind of winged it and it worked out. I didn’t use any one tutorial, but this is one I pinned. I kind of rolled the rest of my hair up and pinned and hair sprayed it til it stayed!

striped shirtdress for vintage may || craftiness is not optional

It was really fun picking out red lipstick…I might try it for church someday soon!

striped shirtdress for vintage may || craftiness is not optional

Β The shoot was really fun, actually. My dad took the pics for me in our downtown area. I got some looks, and a few people approached us wondering what was going on. I even ran into my local quilt shop owner, Linda! (Nimble Thimble!) It was a little awkward modeling on the busy street, but I went to my happy place and sucked it up.

striped shirtdress for vintage may || craftiness is not optional

It’s definitely pushed me to sew for myself more-it’s more involved and time intensive, but oh so fun to casually say “Oh I made this”. (My sister in law almost didn’t believe me!)

striped shirtdress for vintage may || craftiness is not optional

striped shirtdress for vintage may || craftiness is not optional

striped shirtdress for vintage may || craftiness is not optional

striped shirtdress for vintage may || craftiness is not optional

Make sure to see what Kristin sewed up as well! Trust me, it’s fabulous!

vintage may ||  craftiness is not optional & skirt as top

Comments

  1. You look stunning! The dress, the hair, the lipstick! Just perfect!

  2. You definitely should sew more for you- this looks great, and I love the hair styling!

  3. OH, you look amazing!

  4. you look divine!!!! just gorgeous!

  5. Love! So adorable. The dress, lipstick, hair, and accessories or fabulous! You look like a celeb.

  6. This is so awesome! You look amazing and I love the dress. It looks super comfy, too!

  7. Mie @ Sewing Like Mad says

    Oh look at you pretty lady….and there is just something about vintage that calls for sunglasses and red lipstick, ha. I am a big fan of shirt dresses and this version is so lovely.

  8. Really great dress. The hair and makeup totally make the outfit!

  9. You look gorgeous!! I love the dress, love the Victory Rolls, the makeup, the photos, the whole thing. Shirtdresses suit you well! And thanks for being my photographer too, can I fly you up to do that more often?? :*

  10. I love your blog and you look amazing! πŸ™‚

  11. I love the pleats in the skirt. A $15 dress! I wish all my sewing endeavors were that price. =) And that is some awesome hair. =)

  12. Rachael-Lynn says

    Delightful!! SO cute! I love Gertie’s designs! I recently purchased some amazing italian shirting from my local fabric store and I plan to sew up this dress! Thanks for the pics (and the reminder!)

  13. aw, such a great shirt dress and your dad did a beautiful job capturing it/you. that can be the one hard thing about being behind the camera frequently – there is no one to take photos of you. these a beautiful – the hair, the lipstick, the dress. it’s all so nice! i never was much of a Joann fan, but in the past few months i’ve found some really great fabrics there. i’m definitely coming around. πŸ™‚ and yeah, i’m with you on taking photos in public. i find it so awkward/embarrassing.

    • thanks! it is hard being in front of the lens rather than behind. It was fun to get gussied up though!

  14. You look fabulous! I just took that book out from the library (again) to see if there was anything I wanted to sew. I think I found it!
    Awesome. I am so into that vintage look lately.
    Thank you for sharing this!
    ~Michelle

  15. Love the dress Jess. It does look great the with belt. Those little buttons are adorable. Also, well done on your hair!

  16. Marie Danneels says

    You look very feminine in that dress; the hair and the sunglasses are just perfect with the outfit. Love it all !!

  17. Gorgeous Jess! Love the dress, hair and photos!!

  18. Jess this is fabulous! Super vintage for sure. You look beautiful in it, and the fit is so flattering! Getting in front of the camera most deff can be awkward, but you rocked it πŸ™‚ love this series so much!

  19. This dress is so fabulous! And it looks perfect on you. I love the hair and make-up. Such a great vintage inspired post!

  20. I remember my mother wearing a dress similar to that. I love it. You did a good job.

  21. I looooove your shirtdress, it is so good!! And you look so wonderfully vintage with your amazing hair and makeup. I haven’t been brave enough to wear red lipstick out in public but I often wear it for blog photos πŸ™‚

    • thanks Kelly! That’s exactly how I felt about the red lipstick-fine for blog pics but nervous about wearing it around people I know, lol

  22. This is so cute and your hair looks darling that way. This outfit is straight up, 40’s era and I love it!

  23. Gorgeous(!)- the dress too. πŸ™‚

  24. love the dress, the hair, it all!!! perfect!

  25. I’m just now catching up on the series!!! I LOVE the look and photoshoot! You look so cute!

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