Reinforcing neck facing of dress

vintagepowderroom

vintagepowderroom

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I recently purchased a lovely 40s dress in black. The only issue it has is that the stitching that anchors the back neck facing has pulled slightly at each stitch. There are not actual holes yet, so I'd like to reinforce the facing if possible (or...?) to keep holes from forming. Oh, and I believe the material is crepe.

Also I think that maybe the dress should be folded when not being worn, and not placed on a hanger. What do you think?

I'd greatly appreciate any suggestions. Thank you.

Joan
 
It sounds like a good idea to redo the facing stitching if its pulling if you have the time. As for the hanging versus folding debate... there are two trains of thought on this. When you fold something you are causing harm to the fibres that are folded, weakening them along the fold. If you pad the fold line, that helps preserve the dress. Also, if you fold it, chances are it will need to be steamed or ironed when you use it next, whereas if its haning it will likely not need ironing or steaming (which in injurious to the fibres). If you are going to hang it you should introduce a couple of loops of ribbon from the hip or waist seam to alleviate any extra weight from the shoulders, so the dress is hanging on a padded hanger with loops from the waist seam to the hanger as well. Personally, I am a box-it fan myself, but I don't have the room to hang everything, nor the time to sew in waist tapes.
 
Thank you, Jonathan. I think that I will remove the current stitching. Because the facing has been sewn in place for such a long time it may not even need to be redone. I'll see how it goes after I've removed the stitching.

I'll have to consider how often I will actually wear the dress. Once I've figured that out, thanks to your suggestions, I'll either hang it up with the ribbons at the waist seam, or box it.

Joan
 
Hi Joan, I would leave the existing stitching and sew a new line of stitches a little along from them, far enough away to cover the pulled area and a bit more (probably only a few mm will be needed).

Re: storage, I have lots of '40s crepe dresses, in fact I'm wearing one right now - they're fine to hang as long as you don't use a wire hanger *shudder* and the shape of the dress isn't being misformed in any way. Folding them should be fine too but you'll need to repress them as Jonathan says.

Nicole
 
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