all cut out

This morning I found some time to cut out the dress pattern pieces. You can see the fabric I chose above, it has little arrows (or at least they look sort of like arrows) between the diamonds, all pointing in the same direction. I decided I wanted the arrows to point up, simply because it seemed more positive, so that meant I had to lay out the pattern pieces according to the layout for 'with nap' since the fabric has a one way design.

A lot of very old vintage patterns like this one will have layouts for fabric in widths that aren't generally sold anymore, and this was the case here: 

The only layout 'with nap' was for a 35" width fabric and I had a 45" fabric. This also was the only width on the back of the pattern 'with nap' to tell me how much yardage to buy in the first place. It told me to get 2 yards of 35" fabric, so I got 1 3/4 yards of 45" fabric (it was all that was left on the bolt, so that helped me decide), and after it was all laid out I ended up with just a little left over. I also didn't lay the pieces out exactly like the pattern showed because I could fit them better in a different way on my wider fabric.   

All of this would have been much easier if my fabric wasn't one directional (since it did have yardage and layouts for 44" fabric without the nap), but it didn't take too long to think it all out. I checked all the pieces twice to make sure they were right before I cut, since I have made mistakes with one way prints before, and this is where I am at now...

When sewing with vintage patterns, just remember that the fabric widths available today are different from what they were then, so what makes the best sense isn't necessarily what the pattern tells you... but don't let this intimidate you, you are smart and can figure it out!

Now time to get sewing...