Sunday 31 August 2014

The 3 Armhole dress - table cloth to beach cover up

The 3 Armhole dress - table cloth to beach cover up
I have been fascinated by these dress pattern, looks so so cute, and only one pattern piece - so little sewing, and in the 60s quite a few pattern companies did different variations of this dress.   I drafted a pattern that I thought would work, while based on a Butterick illustration here, I  put the shaping darts high (at armhole) and made a one piece pattern,  The nice thing about this pattern is you can make something from a length of of fabric you are precious about and still make something again from it later as the dress has only armhole cuts (I get preoccupied with a stash of fabric becoming too big and redundant!). 

The dress is straightforward to sew,  the darts are sewn, then the shoulder seams.   I hemmed the sides and hem, and then used bias binding to finish the armholes and neck. 

I had picked up tablecloth in a charity shop, and while the embroidery on it was lovely, the faded background was uneven, so I dyed it after making the dress.  The embroidery took the dye as well (I thought it might but would have been equally happy if it didn't).  Great dress for the beach as a cover up, and if you wear a slip underneath it would work fine as a dress, or made shorter it makes a cute tunic.  


Comments online re 3 armhole dress suggest a similar design was in use in hospitals for patients? sounds better than the back-tie tunic that used be given out. 



The 3 Armhole dress - table cloth to beach cover up

6 comments:

  1. Hi there, the link no longer works and I would really like to make this if you still have the pattern available. Thank you

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    1. Hi - my blog has moved to www.upsew.ie and I am currently reorganising my patterns - if you use the contact form there I will send you the pattern to your email. thanks, eimear

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  2. Hi, I'd love to make this too. I'll pop over to your blog page and would be so pleased if you could email the pattern to me too.
    thanks
    Denise Pappas

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    1. Hi Denise - I am sure you have seen the link to the craftsy website on my blog page .... pattern can be got from there....regards, eimear

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  3. I would like this also. I am unable to get to your blog link. Says site unavailable.

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    Replies
    1. Hi, the blog is www.upsew.ie - page with the pattern links are
      https://theupsew.wordpress.com/pattern-links/

      hope this helps

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