Happy Labor Day - Patriotic Marian Martin 9212

Happy Labor Day, y'all!  To celebrate, I finished my red, white, and blue vintage patriotic dress this weekend.  This is the dress I set aside to make the Anna Dress, but I spent yesterday getting this one all put together and I impressed The Carpenter into service this morning for photos.

Here's my pattern, Marian Martin 9212:

 I really like the collar and pockets on this one and the size was bust 34, waist 28, which is perfect for me.  There's no date on the pattern, but given that this is a mail order pattern, the postmark shows this was mailed on March 22, 1954:

 And it was sent to Mrs. J.D. Coll here in Richmond, VA, which means I got this pattern several years ago at Bygones when they still carried vintage patterns:

 I had originally planned to use this plaid voile which has been aging quite nicely in my stash:

 But I was concerned that the voile might be too light for the pattern.  Plus, I thought I should break out of my habit of making patterns in the exact design fabric shown on the illustration and think outside the box.  So I found some lightweight cotton sateen in a blue & white colorway I bought from fashionfabricsclub.com many years ago.  

This pattern is unprinted, and I have avoided using unprinted patterns after giving them a try not long after I began sewing. I quickly gave up, and now I realize I just didn't have the sewing experience to deal with them.  Now I do, and I would say I'm a converted big fan.  Here is an example of a pattern piece:

 All the pattern pieces are already cut out (obviously, since there are no lines to show you were to cut), so the whole step of cutting your pattern pieces is eliminated.  As you can see, this is pattern piece number 7:

 You can also see where the notches are already cut out, which is also helpful for marking.  Small holes show your grainline:

 This piece shows it was to be cut out on the bias since the grainline holes are at a 45 degree angle on this pattern piece.  One advantage I discovered with unprinted patterns - the holes for darts, pleats, etc. make it easy to mark your dress on both sides - I suspect the holes made making tailor tacks easier, but they also allow marking by washable marker easier.  

The hem allowances on this pattern were 1/2 inch which I thought would be a challenge for me, but I never forgot.  Like most vintage patterns, though, the instructions were sparse. No interfacing was called for and the button size was not specified. As a beginner, I would have been perplexed by all of this, but now I was able to make the judgment call to use fusible interfacing on the bodice facing where the buttons and buttonholes go.  Also, I chose the buttons I liked and were available rather than what any pattern called for.  Here is the result:

 I think the busyness of this fabric obscured some of the pattern lines.  The front bodice has four pleats and the back has two darts.  The bodice ended up being more blousey than I had originally envisioned:

 Here's a close up of the pocket:

 I really liked the shape of the pocket front, but I felt like the busy navy and white print was going to make it difficult to see, so I used a contrasting red and white polka dot print for the back of the pocket to make the pocket shape stand out.  My original plan was to use red or white piping around the pocket, but that right angle in the middle of the pocket was just too much of a challenge, so I went with the red and white polka dot background for pop.  I was concerned that the red pocket took this dress from "vintage" to "kitchey" but then I decided I didn't care.  I'm wearing it today in honor of our national holiday, although after the photo shoot I took off the pearls and heels and put on some sandals.

Here's a vintagey photo taken by The Carpenter!