R4552 - Vintage Anne Adams, 1950. Halloween Print

Pattern: Anne Adams, R4552, issues in 1950(?). Purchased from local thrift store for $0.20.
Fabrics: 100% cotton, novelty print. 100% linen, black.
Pattern size: labeled '38'. Chart shows chest 38, waist 32. Pattern is marketed as "stout" figures.

Available on Etsy HERE

Final Garment Measurements: *as measured on dress form shown
Chest: 40"
Waist: 33"
Hip: 43"
The pattern has a comfortable amount of ease built in, indicating this was not intended to be tight. I prefer a closer fit, so I padded my form to suit that.

~The Pattern~
Vintage patterns are always a crap shoot, so it's great when you find that one that works. All the pieces are true to shape with everything fitting together with no problems. We all know the horror of badly manufactured patterns that don't line up or come out with skewed sizing. This pattern had no problems at all.
It was of the older generation of Anne Adams patterns, though, which means the pieces had no printed markings on them at all, just machine punched dots, diamonds, and edge marks. They are easy to follow, though.

Once upon a time, patterns such as these were mail ordered, usually through newspapers that would dedicate a full page or two to ad space for them. The cool thing about this pattern is that it was shipped to someone in the same town where I bought it, so this little antique has never left its home town, LOL.

One of the previous users also covered the instruction sheet with various notes. Can I just say, hit is yet another reason why learning to read cursive is a good idea.

The sleeve is a simple one piece with short, 3/4, and full length options marked. I did short sleeves.

~Construction~
I didn't really do a lot of step-by-step photography for this one because the dress is pretty simple and the pattern explains things very well. I suppose the trickiest step comes with doing the neckline facing. You may find yourself having to go in a bit over the 1/2" seam allowance in order to cover the raw edges where the "diamond" of the neckline turns, but there's no problem with that.

I used purchased gros-grain ribbon for the neck ties instead of making them from the same fabric. The ties are stitched to the garment, but next time I make up this dress I think I will do two large eyelets at the throat so a single piece of ribbon can thread through and tie. =)

~Finished~

(below) Showing the invisible zipper used at the left side. I hand stitch zippers, since I am not a fan of the zipper foot attachments that come with most machines.