Second Dress -- Photos

The weather was blustery out, but was able to shoot some nice photos inside. This second dress was fairly simple to put together. Being my second mail order pattern to work with, it was a bit challenging, because mail order patterns did not come with enough instructions. The sleeves gave me the most fuss, but I think they turned out all right. There is still room for improvement, though! The only thing I would definitely change is the collar. It fits very snugly around my neck, which isn't desirable, but overall, I would make this dress again.

 

Dress     -- handmade by me; mid 1940s college style; mail order, ebay

Belt        -- handmade by me; vintage pass through buckle, auction find

Shoes     -- vintage woven canvas, thrifted (shown in another photo)

Earrings -- gift from sister

 

Second Dress -- Sleeve Problems

Hm, well, the dress is almost done, much to my surprise. I think the longest time I've spent was hand-stitching the lace inserts. I took some photos today of the dress progress, but am not able to download them right away. You shall have them tomorrow.

But for now, I have a slight problem. My sleeves are not going in smoothly. There is a pucker on each side where the sleeve flows down the arm. (Instead of cap or 3/4 sleeves, I am doing just simple short sleeves. 3/4 is a little too long for the summertime weather where I will be traveling soon.)

Does anyone know how to ease the sleeves in such an intricate design as this pattern calls for? Please see the sleeve photo.