Minerva Meet-Up Dress and a fifth of my #vintagepledge

Yikes! It's been over three weeks since the Minerva Meet-Up and I'm only just getting around to blogging about my dress for the occasion! It was a truly fabulous event which I was busy having too much fun at to photograph, but the hyperlink above hosts plenty of photographic evidence.

I'm doubly happy with this dress, because not only is it pretty, it also counts as one of my five fruit a day Vintage Sewing Pattern Pledge garments! I used the very chic Vogue 5671 from my stash, but put my own spin on it by swapping the pencil skirt with the pleated Lilou skirt. I must admit that as soon as I finished this dress I had a massive panic about it looking ridiculously 90s due to the fabric print, and although I still think it does, it fits so well that I just don't care! Also, the fabric is a very lovely cotton sateen from Minerva, which was awesome to work with...so really mustn't complain!

Vintage patterns are known for their unique details and interesting construction techniques, so I'm going to follow up this post with a closer look inside Vogue 5671. I also didn't have time for a muslin, but I did have to make some substantial adjustments, so I'll share them in the same post as well.
Vogue 5671 has a lovely curved front neckline and pleated sleeves, which perhaps would be more visible in a solid fabric! I didn't attempt to pattern match at all, yet accidentally almost managed to at the waistline...couldn't have planned that better!

I faithfully followed the instructions on finishing the sleeves and neckline with hand-picked facings and I also stitched the hem by hand. I'm usually far too lazy for that kind of thing, but I always feel the need to do justice to vintage patterns.

This is the third time I've used the Lilou pleated skirt and I really love it! I'm tempted to use it for all my dresses, but I guess that might become a bit boring!

Vogue 5671's piece de resistance is the back of course! I find this extra, little back detail quite adorable really...but again, a little 90s in this fabric. I'm seriously considering making this dress again in a solid fabric, just so all the interesting details are a little more visible.

So, do you think I've started my #vintagepledge with a bang? I've still got a way to go before I finish, but I'm pretty relieved to have made a start! How are you getting on with yours? There's still plenty of time to join in!