Mad Men Challenge: A floral Betty dress

As soon as the marvellous Julia Bobbin announced her Mad Men sewing challenge was open, I knew that I had to absolutely, totally enter! The purpose of the challenge is to find a character who inspires you fashion-wise on Mad Men, and create a garment using them as inspiration. You could try and replicate a costume exactly, or just use their style as a loose guide - it is open to interpretation, as long as the vintage-y fabulousness of Mad Men style is paid homage to.

I had no doubt about who's style I wanted to emulate. For me there will only ever be one Mad Men gal who's frock I covet, and that is Betty. Yup, I can't go past Betty Draper Francis in full Jackie Kennedy glamour mode, and she rocks a floral print like nobody else.

So I dove into my stash, found some perfectly Betty bloom printed cotton sateen and got sewing. The fabric was the easy part - it was choosing the pattern that gave me some grief. I was spoilt for choice, being in possession of quite a few vintage patterns, but was limited by only having 1.8m of fabric.

In the end I went with a modern pattern with a definite vintage feel: Simplicity 1873. Betty does love a full skirt, and the cute side tabs with buttons gave it a late 50's sliding into the 60's vibe that I just couldn't go past.

Look at the floral print! Adds a hint of warmth to a cold-hearted gal. Look at the prim and proper silhouette! Her life may be a mess but her dress is just the thing!

Big big big thanks to Julia for running this sew-a-long. I can't wait to see what everybody else come up with!

Project Details
Pattern: Simplicity 1873 (Cynthia Rowley)
Fabric: 1.8m printed cotton stretch sateen from Clegs
Notions: 55cm invisible zipper, lining, interfacing

Ok, so now I have the dress. If only I could have her hair, cheekbones and pearls as well!