Skip to main content

Pattern Hacking: The Queen's Gambit Check Dress #Sewing #Cosplay

Hi all,

This project has been keeping me busy for a while now. 

It all started earlier this year when, tuning into Netflix, I saw The Queen's Gambit come up as a recommendation. 

Now, I'd heard about the show last year. Friends and family said how brilliant it was. But I didn't get around to watching it until, I think it was mid-February this year. 

Well, as soon as Youngest saw the check dress Beth wears, you know the one that swooshes when she walks, she was like, I need that dress!

Me being me, "no problem, I can make one of those..."

Little did I realize what I was letting myself in for!

The thing is, I've searched high and low for a pattern for the dress. It's proved to be a fruitless search. A pattern for this dress just doesn't exist. I've found some close possibilities but nothing has been spot on. I have spent an age on eBay and more than a few pennies trying to get a usable pattern.

Here are some of the ones I've looked at:

First up Vogue V2903

Vogue V2903

While this one is pushed on the internet as being an exact match for the check dress Beth wears. It isn't. I go through the reasons why not in the video link below. 

Here are a few more I've looked at and thought, um... nope.

Butterick 4085

Butterick 6091

McCalls 6484

Simplicity 2646

Simplicity 2864

Vogue 7848

Vogue 8287



It was at this point I thought, I'm just buying patterns for the sake of it. There's only one solution. I'm going to have to draft a pattern from scratch. 

Now, I've never drafted a dress pattern from scratch before. I've tweaked them, altered them and added the skirt from one to the bodice of another. But, I've never designed one from nothing.

In the end, I chickened out and decided a pattern-hack was the way to go. I would have to combine elements of the patterns above to create the look I was after. 

This was either going to go really well... or end badly.

Watch my video to see how I got on and the fun I had making the first mock-up. 

There are a few "Doh!" moments! 

Enjoy! :D 

Bye for now

Olly

 

Comments

  1. Hello, I really like your channel. I have an old sewing machine. It has it's issues. I was thinking about purchasing a new machine. Do you have any recommendations on new machines?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, thanks for reaching out to me! I've written a blog post on Best Sewing Machines 2021: https://simplystitchy.blogspot.com/2020/12/my-review-of-best-sewing-machines-for.html - all the machines I'm happy to recommend are included. Which machine you go for depends on the kind of sewing you do. Either the Brother CS6000i or the Singer Quantum Stylist 9960 are great all-round machines. Happy machine hunting and thanks for watching!

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How To Keep The Original Hem When Turning Up Jeans

Hi all, You’ve found the perfect pair of jeans but as always, they are 3 miles too long. I’m going to show you how to fix them so they fit your leg length perfectly.  Better still, I’ll show you how this technique will work with any pants or trousers with an original jean-like hem. Like these 511 trousers. You will need : Pair of jeans or trousers that need turning up Sewing machine Zipper foot Thread to match your jeans/trousers Tape measure or ruler Safety pins or plastic clips Iron and ironing board Pressing cloth Step 1 Stand up and try on your jeans. With the shoes you usually wear or the pair you intend to wear with them. This is important as the shoes you wear will make a difference to the size of the turn up you need. Turn up the bottom of each leg so the wrong side of the hem is showing. Then move it up or down until you are happy with how they sit on the tops of your shoes. Fiddle with them, turning them up a bit more o...

The Charity Shop Find & the Headache from Hell!

 Hi all I've always been a fan of charity shops. Even before they became a fashionable way to reuse or  repurpose other people's unwanted clutter.  To me, they have always been a gateway for feeding my addiction to vintage and antique sewing machines.  Like this one.  Isn't she a beauty? According to the markings, She is a New Home machine made in West Germany so I'm guessing she's a post war... maybe 1950s... electric sewing machine.    She has a bolt-on motor and the shortest electric cable I have ever seen on a sewing machine! Look at it! It's tiny! That's never going to reach any of my electrical outlets. I'm thinking that this vintage sewing machine was made to be in a cabinet... or a previous owner cut the cable for some reason.  Maybe their outlets were mounted on a desk and they didn't want long cables cluttering the workspace?  Who knows? One thing I do know, is this sewing machine is going to give me a little bit of a headache!...

A soft spot or OSMC

Hi there,  I was having a bit of a nose around a local second hand shop over the weekend and came across this: It was tucked down the side of some furniture, looking a bit sorry for itself, just sitting there all alone. Well, I couldn't leave it there.  Poor thing looks like its had a bit of a hard life. It's a Mundlos machine, originally designed to go on a treadle table judging by the lack of a tool compartment, little holes in the base just under the hand crank and the small groove just behind the wheel. The little holes and groove would have been for the belt attaching the machine to the pedal.  The tools would probably have been kept in the table. The golden badge is the Mundlos company's trade mark and the portrait is of Heinrich Mundlos, one of the company's founders.  The little switch to the side is a handy little gadget that pops the shuttle out of the bobbin compartment. Originally, this machine would have been decorated with ...