Finished long ago planned tennis dress using Du Barry pattern No. 5856, year 1944. Well actually…I finished it a month ago >_< I know I know, shame on me!

Anyway, behold!

It was a challenge for sure, since pattern is smaller than my measurements, had to make a muslin first, which I like doing, because you can feel safe that you won’t be ruining any good fabric. I finished dress quite fast, buuut since I don’t own a overlock (serger) yet, had to do tons of hand sewing to finish up the seams. Oh, but now I am much faster with my hands, yay!

I kind of wanted to make this dress as much authentic as I could, using only original instructions, but of course couple of times had to google things since instructions weren’t so informative. Like what is basting and why do I need it for front soft pleats, or how to sew a zipper in.

I really like when a dress has pocket, and this one has too, but they are extremely small, lol. Only half of my hand can fit inside a pocket, haha. I guess people should be moving and playing, not lounging, right?

Dress is not perfect, but I enjoyed making it so much! I am sure that second time would be much more smoother and maybe less hand sewing would be involved. And I’m thinking that I might make one in white cotton or linen, just like the one on a cover, would be cool, right?