This is mail order 4853, in the red/white/blue houndstooth I bought for $1 per yard in LA.
One of my favourite things about vintage patterns is how accurate the illustrations are, and this frock looks very similar to the picture, now. The collar piece, however, was enormous. Handy for hiding a neck brace perhaps, but not how I pictured it would be from the cover of the pattern. This is what it was like straight out of the envelope:
I chopped off about 2 cm all around and I like it much better.It may have been the nature of the fabric which meant the collar didn't stand up very well I suppose, but even when I held it folded up, it still looked too big.
I also had a bit of a struggle with sewing the front panel to the yoke section, there was a lot of extra fabric on the edges next to the gathers. The instructions were sparse, so I just sewed it on matching the notches. It looked okay, so I cut off the excess. Thanks go to Moggy who talked me down on both issues. My new mantra: 'don't overthink the sewing'.
The fabric feels like a thick cotton blend. I did a burn test and there was a big flame but it didn't burn up much fabric, the fabric sort of just hardened. The smell was sort of like a wood fire. I have no idea what that means.
This fabric frays aggressively, and I doubt overlocking will contain it for long. After cutting and handling briefly, the edges looked fringed. So this may only last a wash or two.
But! One.dollar.a.yard.
