The fashion pundits say that if you wore it once, you shouldn't wear it again. But I perhaps I can scoot under that rule -- I made the View B dress (far right) in May and October, 1979. But this time, 28 years later, I made the shorter version View C (center) to wear as a belted tunic top. (A tip of the needle to Erica B's yellow Simplicity top for the inspiration!) It was also a forgiving style to make easily a little larger than that 20 year old body size I once was. I used Nancy Zieman's Busy Woman's Fitting Book and pivot/slid 1-1/2 inches in width near the underarm and 5 inches in length on the front and back pieces.
It truly was a time capsule in my sewing life. Back in the day, I carefully folded and pressed the pattern pieces individually before returning to the envelope, and I cut my notches pointing out. Nowadays I put all the pieces together, fold/pat down with my hands and hope it fits back into the envelope, and clip into the seam allowances for my notching. And originally this was made pre-serger, pre-Fasturn, pre-Steam a Seam 2! All of which I relied upon and used when I made my 2007 version.
What I liked then and what I liked now were the cut-on, half circle sleeves. And the gathered neckline. It's really a classic style that resurfaces above the fashion waters for a reason!
