The One Hour 1920's Dress

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Posts about the 1920's one hour dress here:  

(The Pattern) (Cutting Out the Dress & Starting the Sewing) (Sewing & Finishing)

The popular One Hour Dress, a pattern available all over the internet, but easy to draft at home in no time at all! When I starting making two new 20's dresses this past week I based the pattern on the most basic of the one-hour dress models. At the patterns most basic level, I have found you will really only need three measurements.

1. The bust measurement (around the body at the fullest point of the bust) (this will be measurement a. in the graphic below)

2. From the top of the shoulder to the desired drop waist/hip line (b. in the graphic below)

3. From that drop waist/hip line to the desired hem length (c. in the graphic below)

The pattern for the 1920's one hour dress is essentially a rectangle with extra extensions for the sleeves and hip fullness. The starting rectangle is the width of 1/2 of your bust measurement (so if your bust measurement is say 40", the rectangle will be 20" across). The sleeve extensions are created by dividing measurement b. by two to determine the depth of the sleeve. You can extend the top edge as wide as you would like, the wider it is the longer your sleeve.

For sewing the dress together, I like to start by hemming the top edges first and then sewing the seams at the shoulders from the edge of the sleeve towards the neck. Leave enough space for the boat neck style neck opening to fit over your head. Then, right sides together, sew the side seams together. Gather or pleat (where the wiggly red lines are above) the skirt extensions and sew down to waist flat. Hopefully that made some sense! The above pattern results in the most basic of 20's dresses with a high neck. I think it looks really nice in a sheer flowy fabric worn over a simple slip.

For a simple variation, just change the shape of the skirt. When modifying the skirt I think it is easier to separate the bodice and the skirt into two pieces that will be re-attached at the waist, but I suppose if you had wide enough fabric you could make it in one piece. Once you change to a larger skirt shape, like those in various colors above, you no longer gather the skirt to the waist but simply sew along the extension to close the full side seam. By changing the skirt shape, the hem becomes like a handkerchief hem and can be really beautiful in a sheer fabric!  

I like the high boat-neck neckline with long 1920's style beaded necklaces but you can change the neckline to whatever you like and finish it by adding a facing on the inside. You can remove the sleeve extensions entirely and either add arm hole facings or bind with bias tape. With a different measurement, from the top of the bust (instead the top of the shoulder) to the hip you can change from a sleeve to a strap. The best thing about this basic 1920's pattern is you can modify it really easily. So much of the 20's shape is geometric and that translates to the patterns as well. I am still experimenting with this pattern, but this is what has been working for me so far. I'll show you the results of my 1920's dressmaking experiments later this week!

Want more about the 1920's 1 Hour Dress?:
(The Pattern) (Cutting Out the Dress & Starting the Sewing) (Sewing & Finishing)