Feeling All Red, White & Blue

About a week ago I decided I wanted to make a dress for the Jubilee weekend. I've been feeling all overcome with patriotic fervour of late. Watching the coverage of the Jubilee celebrations over the weekend I felt so proud of the Queen, she's such a lovely lady, so steadfast. The concert on Monday was amazing and really seemed to capture the collective consciousness of the country. We're not a nation that celebrates itself especially - I've always sort of admired Americans' unwavering patriotic pride - so the fact that #proudtobebritish ended up trending on twitter was so many levels of awesome. Also, Grace Jones with a hula hoop was not to be missed.


Pattern: Butterick 6431, the same 1953 (coronation year) pattern I used for the Fruit Salad Dress.

Fabric & notions: Red and white candy stripe cotton, £4.95/metre; vintage metal zip; white cotton thread; curtain interlining to stiffen the collar.

Alterations: I lengthened the bodice slightly for boobage as I had done with my first version of this pattern. I converted the vestee insert to a V-neck with traditional collar, and omitted the winged cuffs. I also switched out the skirt for one from a 1970s pattern because I didn't want to do the pockets (I had time constraints to worry about!).


Time to complete: The cutting out was a little time-consuming because of lining up the stripes, but once I'd done that the whole dress pretty much came together over an afternoon and evening, then the hemming and sleeve finishings the next day.

Techniques: Working with stripes - I've never worked with stripe fabric before, and lining up the chevrons was a little tricky (any takers for a tutorial on how to line up chevron stripes?).

Make again? Definitely - this is really useful everyday 50s dress pattern which lends itself to so many variations. I have a version planned in my clotheshanger chevron repro fabric.


Naturally, I accessorised in red, white and blue.

1950s navy blue felt hat, Pineapple Ice Bucket; Bakelite & plastic bangles, various; Navy blue vanity case, can't remember (ebay I think); Navy blue shoes, Clarks, via charity shop; Milk glass necklace, gift from mother; Leather belt, charity shop.


I hope you had a great Jubilee weekend - God Save the Queen!