The hospitality dress

Another dress down!   I've only been sewing on weekends of late, so my progress was not swift, but I'm very happy with the outcome.   That said ...

Does it not look like I should be bringing you some fresh towels?  Or a refill on your coffee?  A side of bacon, perhaps?   After some deliberation (and my husband's sage input), I left off the pockets to keep from veering too far into maid-or-waitress territory.    But this style has been so heavily co-opted for modern-day uniforms, it's hard to leave it behind completely.   However.  I do like the dress, and intend to wear it, albeit not to hotels, diners, or the office.   The fit is extremely good for a pattern I've never made before, especially in the shoulders and upper back, problem areas for me.  I think the wrinkles in the photo below are just from normal walking: I have a pretty vigorous stride.

Here is the pattern I used.  It's a mail order pattern, so no date on it. I would guess it's from the 1940s, but it has a 3 cent stamp on its envelope, which makes me a little less certain.  Bulk rates in the 1940s were lower than 3 cents, but I guess this didn't go out in bulk, so I have no idea what the postage should have been.   I used a previous pattern to do my alterations when I traced it off: I took out a little under the arms, and added a half-inch to the bodice length.  I think I may have added a bit in the hips -- if I did, I shouldn't have, even though my hip measurement is two inches bigger than what was given.   It went together very easily, though the sleeves had me scratching my head a bit: they seemed too big!  I know that having more of a sleeve head than necessary is common, and that was certainly true here, but I found that the bottom of the sleeve was wider than the sleeve band, too.  I decided not to trim off what seemed like excess, and just gathered it a little so it would fit.  I think it came out okay, and I'm not sure I would go to the trouble of altering it were I to make this again.

I did I full lining, as is my preference, but I didn't want to line with the shirting material that I was using for the collar and cuffs.   So I attached the collar facing to the lining material: it's kind of doubling as interfacing too, as it adds a little needed support to that area.  (I guess technically it's "outerfacing" since it's not inside.)   The lining does not hang free: I sewed the hems of the lining and outside material together.  The cuffs and collar are edged with the velvet rick-rack.   I neglected to get a close-up shot, but hey, it looks like the pockets I posted earlier but ended up not using.

As always, my husband deserves a big thank you for patiently taking many photographs of two very difficult subjects.  A natural-born model I ain't.   And my poor dog was desperate to go to the park a few doors down: on the weekends we head over there a couple of times a day to meet up with other dogs he can play with.   Even though he's just a little guy, he loves to run with the big dogs!

Next up on my sewing schedule: trying to fix my machine.  Ugh.  But I can't leave a wad of fabric jammed in it innards forever ...