It was tough to evaluate the entries in the EvaDress Patterns Fabulous Forties Challenge because they were, well so fab!
Lil from Oz took the finalist spot for her versatile ensemble of the 1945 high-waist trousers and 1945 beach tops!
While she said she did not consider herself as a ‘1940s’, Lil sure pulled it off using a lovely combination of linen, wool and flowers! Extra meaningful, the trousers and braces are in lightweight wool from her mother’s cache of fabrics. She re-sized the trousers (currently a single-size pattern) to fit and added fun contrasting pockets. The inside scoop: plain seams stitched under. Lil took things to another level in making three different tops, one of which is reversible to go with the trousers for a capsule wardrobe-esque twist.
Interestingly, she drew on this image from the 1930’s to achieve her look and we fell hard for it.
Emily Stringham of Emily’s Vintage Visions joined me again in reviewing submissions. She had this to say about Lil’s entry:
'The combination of high-waist pants and the beach tops was a nice surprise! This outfit is so darn cute! Making the top reversible was a nice touch. Alterations seem to be in keeping with the pattern and the final fit looks great.'
A couple runner-up projects to mention are Jenn’s 1949 dress and Eszter’s 1940 dress; both are lace projects! Jenn handled dimension so well by perfectly aligning her eyelash lace over a vintage nainsook base with perfect color matching. Even her vintage mother-of-pearl buttons caught a slight hue of blush to complement the overall colors!
Ezster delivered a fine use of dimension by creating two separate slips each in different colors to wear under the black lace dress she created. She took great care in finishing her seams a number of ways given the portion of the garment to which they were applied. Here, you see her shoulder yoke seams are stitched twice and trimmed whereas others are French seams.
