What would you do with this dress?

plousia

plousia

Registered Guest
The seller threw this 1940s or 50s cotton dress free in with another dress I bought, and although it's lovely it's pretty worn and damaged. When it arrived it had a long split at the top of the collar at the back where it folds over, which I sewed. I wore it once and one of the armholes tore, as you can see in one of the photos. The other closeup is further down the underarm where the fabric is quite worn. The other underarm is also worn, though not quite as badly.

I'm not quite sure what to do with it. There might be enough excess fabric in the button strip on the inside (literally the selvedge edge of the fabric on both sides of the skirt) to make patches for the armholes. The dress has a unique feature which is sort of "built in" breast pockets which go all the way to the arm openings.

It's also a bit discoloured in some spots, I've seen mention of Restoration in threads here, would that do it or would it be likely to damage the fabric more?

What would you do with this dress if it was yours? Is it worth trying to save?
 

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I would hand darn the tear and the worn area with cotton thread. This would strengthen it, is a subtle repair, and wouldn't show much at the underarms. I refer to books for how to do various darning repairs, but I expect there's information online too.

Hopefully someone else can advise on the discoloration - I'm in the UK and the products here are different. I would soak it in Biotex which is a gentle non bleaching enzyme cleaner but I don't know what the USA equivalent is.
 
Retro Ruth said:
I would hand darn the tear and the worn area with cotton thread. This would strengthen it, is a subtle repair, and wouldn't show much at the underarms. I refer to books for how to do various darning repairs, but I expect there's information online too.
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Thanks, that's a good suggestion. I'll try that. Honestly I'm not too fussed about what it ends up looking like, as you say it won't show much and it's not a fancy dress.

As for the cleaning, I have some Oxyclean but would be afraid that would damage the fabric.
 
OK, thanks. I also can't seem to find it to buy anywhere here in Canada, except on Amazon.ca for the low low bargain price of $112.60 :-P think I'll pass...
 
Also, although oxyclean type products are not completely gentle, cotton is a strong washable fabric. I think the main risk is that it will fade the print, but if it does so evenly that might not be a disaster.

I have soaked discoloured 50s printed cotton garments in oxyclean.

You could try a short soak, see what happens. I think the most important thing is to rinse really really thoroughly.

Do the repair before you wash/soak as otherwise the agitation that is inevitably part of washing and rinsing, may cause the weak points to rip further. Properly done, darning replaces the ripped threads and will strengthen the weak areas. You can also preemptively darn any areas that look thin or vulnerable to tearing. Before fast throwaway fashion, this sort of clothes repair was commonplace to extend the life of a loved garment. If you want guidance on darning tears, let us know.

Have you read our care and cleaning article? The main rule is so the least damaging thing first, and build up to stronger treatments if needed.
 
plousia said:
OK, thanks. I also can't seem to find it to buy anywhere here in Canada, except on Amazon.ca for the low low bargain price of $112.60 :-P think I'll pass...
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Could you buy it from the US Amazon or have someone in the US buy it and ship it to you. There is also another one that many folks use which I also do occasionally called RetroClean. I don’t think it’s as good but it is similar
 
Vintagiality said:
Could you buy it from the US Amazon or have someone in the US buy it and ship it to you. There is also another one that many folks use which I also do occasionally called RetroClean. I don’t think it’s as good but it is similar
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Getting it from the US would be an option, or I do see Retroclean is available here.
 
Retro Ruth said:
Also, although oxyclean type products are not completely gentle, cotton is a strong washable fabric. I think the main risk is that it will fade the print, but if it does so evenly that might not be a disaster.

I have soaked discoloured 50s printed cotton garments in oxyclean.

You could try a short soak, see what happens. I think the most important thing is to rinse really really thoroughly.

Do the repair before you wash/soak as otherwise the agitation that is inevitably part of washing and rinsing, may cause the weak points to rip further. Properly done, darning replaces the ripped threads and will strengthen the weak areas. You can also preemptively darn any areas that look thin or vulnerable to tearing. Before fast throwaway fashion, this sort of clothes repair was commonplace to extend the life of a loved garment. If you want guidance on darning tears, let us know.

Have you read our care and cleaning article? The main rule is so the least damaging thing first, and build up to stronger treatments if needed.
Click to expand...

OK thank you. I would appreciate darning guidance, thanks! I learned to sew many years ago and do basic repairs but I am hardly a skilled seamstress.

I've had a glance at the care and cleaning article and will look it over in more detail.

Thank you all for your very kind willingness to help.
 
Re darning, the idea is that you are adding the new threads to replace the broken threads, so you reinforce the area, so it won't open up when stress is put on the fabric. You darn with small stitches in the same direction as the warp and/or weft.

Because of the print you will need to choose your thread colour carefully. When you can't get an exact match, generally a darker colour will stand out less than a paler one. I would probably try match the pale pink, or the green. Although, it's such a detailed print, that white might work ok, and blend with the pattern.

If the tear is straight to either the warp or the weft, you only need to darn in one direction (at right angles to the direction of the tear) . If it's diagonal or L shaped, you need to darn in both directions, to replace both warp and weft threads.

I have a wonderful book I highly recommend called Mend It - A complete guide to clothes repair by Maureen Goldsworthy, (#ad) which lists a variety of darning and patching techniques. Here's some pics from that book.

cross cut darn.jpeg


The Tear Darn.jpeg
 
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plousia said:
The only option I can find with a quick search is this Dutch shop which ships worldwide: https://www.dutchexpatshop.com/en/brands/biotex/
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I love Biotex. I think it's the green one I use, I didn't even know they had other products. It's particularly good for food and sweat stains, any protein based stains, and totally gentle, non bleaching, used at low temperature. It won't deal with everything, but it's a great place to start.

As an enzyme cleaner, not for wool or silk though.

It's easy to get here and fairly cheap. Not sure if I'd pay international shipping to get it though.
 
Retro Ruth said:
Re darning, the idea is that you are adding the new threads to replace the broken threads, so you reinforce the area, so it won't open up when stress is put on the fabric. You darn with small stitches in the same direction as the warp and/or weft.

Because of the a print you will need to choose your thread colour carefully. When you can't get an exact match, generally a darker colour will stand out less than a paler one. I would probably try match the pale pink, or the green. Although, it's such a detailed print, that white might work ok, and blend with the pattern.

If the tear is straight to either the warp or the weft, you only need to darn in one direction (at right angles to the direction of the tear) . If it's diagonal or L shaped, you need to darn in both directions, to replace both warp and weft threads.

I have a wonderful book I highly recommend called Mend It - A complete guide to clothes repair by Maureen Goldsworthy, (#ad) which lists a variety of darning and patching techniques. Here's some pics from that book.

View attachment 170439

View attachment 170440
Click to expand...

Wow thank you so much! This is incredible. I will try it once I have a couple of spare hours. Thank you for sharing this useful resource!
 
Retro Ruth said:
I love Biotex. I think it's the green one I use, I didn't even know they had other products. It's particularly good for food and sweat stains, any protein based stains, and totally gentle, non bleaching, used at low temperature. It won't deal with everything, but it's a great place to start.

As an enzyme cleaner, not for wool or silk though.

It's easy to get here and fairly cheap. Not sure if I'd pay international shipping to get it though.
Click to expand...

Yes I'm not inclined to pay international shipping to get it. I think I will try a quick soak with a bit of Oxyclean to see if it does the job. It's not majorly discoloured so not really urgent.
 
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