1950's style Lemon Drop Dress (Vogue 2902)
Summer is my favourite season. My fabric stash is usually made up of fresh prints and vivid colours made for summer, and nothing screams summer like this vintage 1950's style lemon print fabric.
FABRIC HISTORY
I have had this fabric in my stash for a few years, but I have never quite gotten around to making something with it... I think I had been waiting for the "right" pattern to come to me. When I bought the vintage reproduction pattern Vogue 2902 a few months ago, I knew it was the perfect pattern for this fabric. The bright lemon print needed something to "frame" it to make it stand out even more, and the contrasting band on the bodice for V2902 was just what I wanted.
As usual, I didn't have sufficient yardage to reproduce the pattern in its entirety. This is not shocking news when you don't buy fabric with a project in mind and end up deciding to make a dress with a full circle skirt! It was definitely disappointing initially, but I think my decision to replace the original design with a simple gathered skirt worked out beautifully as well.
I love that having a gathered skirt means there's no pressure to wear a petticoat to give the dress the structure for a more authentic 1950's look (as illustrated on the envelope). I have always wanted this dress to be a casual, vintage style summer dress anyway! But still, I didn't want the skirt to be entirely... limp.
PETTICOAT LINING
And so, I decided to add just a itty bitty bit of structure to the skirt with a lining that resembles a petticoat. Here's how I cut the layers for the lining:
I could add more layers to add more volume, but I decided that 3 sections was sufficient. As a general rule, you would want the next layer to be 1.5 times the length of the previous layer.
I chose different colours for the layers of lining because:
1) I wanted a coordinating colour to show if my lining does peek out by accident
2) I was afraid that a completely blue lining might make the skirt look more blue or somehow just show under sunlight
LAST WORDS
Replacing a circle skirt in a pattern with a gathered skirt is such an easy hack, and I had so much fun adding a fun lining to the skirt for my dress. The design of the bodice for this dress is such a classic vintage look, I think I will continue to have fun hacking the pattern. How about a wiggle dress with this same bodice next? Let me know what you think about my version of the V2902 pattern in the comments below! xx
