Sunday, April 21, 2013

Mad Men Dress Challenge

I was so excited this year to be able to take part in Julia Bobbin's Mad Men Dress Challenge.  Last year I wanted to take part but being pregnant killed my sewing mojo!  So this year as soon as I heard the challenge had come out I started planning.  Originally I was going to make a different dress but I left it too late to start and then didn't have the pattern I thought I had so I changed my idea.


I wanted to recreate the green pencil dress that Joan is wearing in this picture.  According to Mr Google this is from Season 5.  I say this because, wait for it, I have never watched Mad Men!  Yes, that's right. I have never seen a single episode.  We don't have foxtel so I never started watching.  I've always wanted to get the DVD's to watch it but have never gotten around to it.  I really need to do something about that soon!


So this dress became a mash up of two patterns.  The bodice and sleeves (which I lengthened) come from vintage Simplicity 4650 and the skirt comes from McCall's 5971.  I had to do a little tweaking to get the skirt and bodice to match but apart from that they came together quite smoothly.  On a side note I totally am going to make the vintage pattern again exactly like the green version on the envelope. Super cute!

julia bobbin mad men challenge joan green sheath wiggle dress julia bobbin mad men challenge joan green sheath wiggle dress

And this is my final dress!  I am pretty happy with how it turned out.  It is going to be perfect when I go back to work.  I feel like it makes my shoulders seem a little wide though.  But apart from that I love the fit and especially the colour.  I used a cotton sateen that I picked up from Spotlight.  In hindsight it probably isn't the best fabric to use because the sheen shows up every crease.  Next time I make a wiggle dress I will use something different.

julia bobbin mad men challenge joan green sheath wiggle dress julia bobbin mad men challenge joan green sheath wiggle dress

I had so much fun taking part in this challenge so a big thank you to Julia Bobbin for holding it again.  I already have ideas for some other Mad Men inspired looks to make.  Hopefully Julia runs this challenge again next year because it's a lot of fun seeing what everyone in the blogosphere makes.  Maybe next year I will do something a bit more Betty.  But for now I am headed into Kid's Clothes Week so the next week will be all about sewing for Imogen!

10 comments:

  1. It's lovely Kat, good work!!! I hope Julia makes it an annual challenge as I've missed out this year ;o)

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  2. Love it. Great frakenpatterning! The colour is fab on you. Loving the new blond look too!

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  3. Love this dress. The cut is sleek and so is the fit.

    P.S. - I haven't seen an episode of Mad Men either. Gasp!

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  4. It's lovely :) love the colour too

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  5. Kat! You sassy minx- this looks absolutely rad! I love your frankenpatterning skills :D

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  6. It looks great. I love the colour. I have watched Mad Men but I didn't actually like it apart from the clothes.

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  7. I really love your dress, the colour is perfect and the pattern mash up is inspired.

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  8. super cool idea! you look great! ^__^

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  9. I love the colour, great dress!!

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