Did you see Julia Bobbin’s Man Men Challenge?  I’m still catching up on my blog reading.  She’s calling on the sewing fans of Mad Men to get together and finally make the dress you’ve had your eye on since it first rolled on screen.  Check out her post if you want to join, the deadline for sewing is March 30.

I’ve been re-watching past seasons of Mad Men lately, keeping my eyes peeled for interesting or overlooked garments to discuss and maybe recreate.  Except I knew all along which dress I wanted to re-create.  I posted about Megan’s pink dress over a year ago, and I’m still in love:

Mad Men Season 4 Episode 10

I mean- what’s not to love? I think this dress made me notice Megan for the first time, even though she’s all through season 4 when you watch out for her.  Always there, just in the background and then bam she hits you with this dress. (Notice- no lumpy era-correct bra…)

Sure- it’s very pink.  She and I have similar coloring and I’m in the right age range so I figure I can safely follow her lead through the land of cotton candy.  Probably.  If not, we’ll all have a good laugh and then never speak of it again.  The clean lines, anchored by a darker pink and brightened with the white seem to cut the sweetness of the main color.  How do I make those color bands happen?

No, really, how?  I suppose it must be an inset of some sort, but it’s remarkably clean and neat and not bulky.  Would you use wide bias bands around the neck, or carefully cut and shaped straight of grain bands (like facings)?  I might try both to see what works best.  For a while, I suspected her dress was made from some kind of crazy 1960′s border print, thoughtfully cut.  But then there’s the neckline…

The other question is the type of fabric, and whether I can find or dye the correct colors.  I would guess this is some kind of crepe, maybe wool or polyester, but I doubt I’ll easily find either.  Would a nice quality cotton sateen or stretch sateen work well for this dress?  What else should I look out for?

I’ll probably use Vogue 9668 with an altered neckline and shorter skirt.  I know the pattern well and haven’t sewn her for several years, I should dig her out to play one more time.

So- I like this dress for me, what do you think?  Is the pink too strong?

Are you joining the Mad (wo)Men Sewing Challenge?

(I spent some quality time working on the Bow Tie Tee patterns today.  If you’ve sewn my Blank Canvas Tee in 50 or 55 size, would you mind emailing me to let me know how it went?  I haven’t heard a peep about the fit or anything to do with them, even though many many copies have been downloaded…I’ll send you a Bow Tie Tee pattern for your help!)