Making the 1946 Sundress

I have been dying to make this dress ever since I acquired the pattern well over 25 year ago. I think it’s absolutely adorable. It took me that long because the original pattern was a very tiny junior miss pattern and I needed to digitize it so that I could grade it to a size that would work for me (and others hopefully). Once I was finished, I still needed to adjust the pattern length and drop the bust slightly to make it work for me.

The pattern went together very smoothly. One trick I used was that after I cut out the straps, I then cut the seam allowance off the pattern and traced around the scalloped edge to mark the stitching line. That’s one of the great things when working with heavier paper patterns instead of the fragile tissue paper. This worked great and the straps came out perfectly.

The dress has simple princess seams and I used a lightweight cotton print for the dress and a cotton pique for the straps. I interfaced the front facings with a very light weight interfacing to support the buttonholes and buttons and finished it off with a bias strip. I love the way it just seems to float around me. It’s just perfect for a hot summer day.