Last month, I found myself in this cute vintage shop called Seven Wonders while waiting for a friend. I wasn't quite finished with Christmas shopping, so I knew I shouldn't buy anything for myself, but then I spotted this dress...
Everything else in the store was 70's - 90's vintage, but this dress looked like it was from the 1930's. I asked the owner about it and she gave me a deal I couldn't refuse. I brought it home with me to start my collection of (now numbering 2) 30's dresses. Unfortunately, the dress has quite a bit of damage and is missing the top covered button, but the details and construction are just wonderful.
I've been following the The Dreamstress blog for a while now, and this year my resolution was to join in on her Historical Sew Fortnightly. It's a great sew-along where you complete a themed historical sewing challenge every two weeks. The first one of the year is "Make Do and Mend", and I thought my new dress might be the perfect candidate for the challenge.
Now, I know it might be a little controversial to mend or sew a dress that is this old, and I normally wouldn't. I have a few 20's dresses in my collection that I would never mess with even if they have rips and stains. But in this case I think I can mend it well enough (and discretely enough) to make it wearable without losing integrity as a lovely piece of costume history. I am going to reinforce some of the seams that have ripped open and see if I can find a little extra seam allowance on the inside to cut off and make into a new covered button.
Tomorrow I'm going to run over to Steinloff and Stoller in Manhattan to see if they can make me a similar button. I'll share the results as soon as I can!
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