The Sou’West Vintage Fest has been a pillar vintage event for enthusiasts within Western Australia for years and always draws a huge crowd. Run by local legend Sarah from Red Leopard Photography, the Sou’West Vintage fest is a ture celebration of retro nostalgia and prides itself on being a fun day out. With the day full of cars, food, fun, live music, dancing, carnival games, dress-up and dog competitions, and loads of markets there’s so much happening in just one day! The festival has been on hiatus since 2019 due to obvious reasons but after a few years break, it was ready to be back bigger and better than ever before. Incase it’s been a while, way back in 2019 I won the title of Miss Sou’West Vintage Fest 2019 on my third crack at the title which means that this year my mug adorns all the posters and promo graphics. My condolences to all those in the Sou’West sick of seeing my face.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that anyone who is the face of an event on a poster must be in want to sew a fabulous outfit for said event. This might just be limited to MonMon’s alone but hey, I know who I am.

Months before the event was even planned on starting I already thought about what I should wear, and I started planning a few ideas out. As the fest had a retro Cowboy Western theme, to pay homage to the first theme Sou’West ever put on, I ended up scrapping a lot of ideas and trying to make something a little different. It was here where I wanted to make denim mini cowgirl dresses with fringe or perhaps a more western style shirt or dress and I knew I wanted fringe. Colour was really important and somewhere in the realm of pink/red or pink/orange was my preference. Now, although I wanted to start my outfit months before the event, I knew that the time of year the festival was on can be a bit of a mixed bag. Sure it’s definitely summer but being down South, it’s generally cooler weather and I have had some scorching Sou’West fests with 40+ degrees, and some super chilly ones where all us pinups huddled together like penguins to keep warm back stage. Moreover, as I like to avoid excessive sun exposure, I knew I wanted something that would cover me up but still be cute. Although risky, I knew that it would be smart to plan my sewing right before the event, even though I was scheduled to be home about 5 days before the event due to my Disney Cruise and Sydney trip which puts some time pressure on the whole thing.

A few months back, I was browsing around Spotlight and I came across these two fabric from the designer, 50s Vintage Dame. They seemed pretty perfect especially with the colours and tones I was playing with. I ended up getting a few meters of each with a vague idea of turning one into a dress and the other into a playsuit or two piece set of some kind. It may not be a shock, but I was very limited in my time and health by the time I got home and had time to sew so my plan had to be stripped back. Realising I only really had time for one project, I decided to make something out of this fabric but I just didn’t know what yet.

Looking at the fabric, I knew I had to honour the boarder print of the pattern which meant that I was making a full gathered skirt. I was also limited to the length I had purchased, around 3 meters meaning I would have to be smart in my pattern placement when it came to that. Looking through all my patterns, I originally looked into getting something structured, fitted and strappy so I could feel cool in the heat (this meant I could also add some fringe to the top and bottom of the skirt) and I could turn the dress into a two piece so I could add different tops and bottoms throughout the day. Alas, that plan faultered as I realised that by not feeling well, I just wanted to sun to stay off my skin and I wanted to be as comfortable as possible. Putting a slight damper on my step, it was then I realised I couldn’t do anything overly extravegant as I had no real time to do it. This is when I decided that my pattern was going to be one I’d used the year previous, Simplicity R10646/S9164.

Making Simplicity R10646/S9164 twice last year, check out my blogs here and here, I don’t think I need to go into too much detail when it comes to reviewing the pattern in great detail. To recap; Simplicity R10646/S9164 consists of a collared neckline with a functional button-down front bodice, short sleeves with collared edges and a gathered skirt with pockets. It’s a relatively simple pattern to make and would be appropriate for beginners to intermediate sewists. As always, I planned to make the size 12 variation of the pattern as this is the one that fits me best.

As this dress was going to be my main outfit for Sou’West Vintage Fest, I wanted to pay close attention to how the pattern pieces were cut out of the fabric to best utilise the fabric design. Of course, the skirt was going to be the biggest piece and take most of the lower part of the fabric pattern; I wanted to desert scene and cactus to be scattered along the skirt and for the stripes in the design to be along the hemline. The skirt ended up being around 28″ long when I cut it out which is a good length for me. Marking out my skirt so I could still shuffle ideas around, I went about planning my bodice pieces. As I had previously made this pattern, I knew that I wanted to make the neck collar and shoulder cuffs a bit of a contrast so I cut these pieces out along the coloured lines throughout the fabrics pattern. This really helped excentuate the bottom of the skirt and I’m so glad with how it turned out in the end. The rest of the bodice was cut out from the fabrics sunset sky motifs and I made sure to keep the pattern as consistent between the skirt and bodice for a cohesive look.

With my pieces all cut out, it was time to sew. The bodice is a straightforward sew but the collar can get a little fiddly. I’m not sure why my brain can’t wrap around this one collar section but one day it will become second nature to me. Making the collar out of the contrasting fabric ended up being a great idea and I love how it all came together in the end. With the stripes within the pattern being irregular, it added further interest and a bit of a cushion to not getting stripes perfectly symmetrical. I’m glad I decided to cut out my bodice front button facing out of the sky motif of the fabric pattern as it really gave some cohesion to the design and I think the edges just looked better. As for the sleeves, they came together super quick and also were cut out as to best match and align with the fabric pattern on the bodice pieces.
This project really got me thinking about pattern placement and the importance of making sure your fabric is best utilised for the pattern in question. Sure I’ve definitely cut out pieces on the wrong angle and suddenly the pattern is upside down but with this project, I really wanted to do it justice as by now I had realised I’d only be able to make one garment. Luckily, having known this pattern, it seemed to go by quickly and within two afternoons, I had completed my dress. With the skirt being a gathered skirt, I had time to add two large pockets which came in so handy on the event day and I also made sure to space out the gathers as best I could given the thickness of the cotton sateen fabric. To add some further interest to the garment, I used my pink thread to add some top stitching and to secure my buttons.

As I havn’t sewn too many garment with buttons, I actually have a bit of a limited button collection (most seem to be a random child-like assortment or one off buttons that I think someone gave me when I was a kid) which made choosing a button for this dress a bit of a challenge. At this point, I had no time to go to the shops and buy new buttons so I had to find something in my stash. I had no pink or coloured buttons that worked with the tones of the dress and anything overly contrasting like a plain white just seemed out of place. As I wasn’t left with many option, I decided on some plain light wooden buttons. There was a moment I thought about painting the buttons but the time crunch was real and I just needed something sewn in. Although I don’t think they were the best choice, they were the best I had at the time and I’ll keep an eye out for buttons in the future.

When I started planning this garment, I was dead set on adding some fringe; I love the movement, it’s a unique material I haven’t worked with, it gives me the chance to learn and I thought it would look so good. Turns out I ran out of time, and honestly just couldn’t see the fringe working in the end. I think if I had been able to change the neckline, maybe I could have added some but i think with the collar it just looked a little strange and also, I had no time to dye some fringe. In saying this, I’m hoping to make something with fringe in the near future but it wasn’t going to be for this dress unfortunately. Despite lack of dangling fringe, I was pretty happy with the overall outcome of the dress and with the finishing touches of a hem and zip added, she was ready to go to Sou’West Vintage Festival 2025!

The Sou’West Vintage Fest ended up being such a wonderful and fun day; the weather was absolutely lovely; although warm, it was never overly scorching or sweaty which made for enjoying food in the shade and swing dancing an absolute delight. There were so many friendly faces around and talk about incredible shopping! It felt like such a jam packed day of fun things to see and do all set amongst the stunning location of local legend Swings and Roundabouts.

After morning bump in and set up was complete, I changed into my Sou’West dress and frolicked about in that for the rest of the day. So I’m not sure what’s happening but the last few dresses I’ve made, all out of patterns I’ve used before, all came out slightly tight and squishy around the bust despite my bust not changing size. Honestly, I have no idea how or why this is happening but it’s making sewing feel slightly foreign to me, like I’m missing something glaringly obvious. I think I might take this as a sign to try out some different patterns or sewing projects. So yeah, my dress was a little tight and squishy across the bust which I’m not sure why this happened.

One other issue I found with my dress was for some reason, I sewed in an invisible zip along the side seam that was both way too short and also, sewn so high, the dress was a physical, emotional and mental struggle to take off. Picture this, January 18th, Swings and Roundabout Office space hiding behind the desks where employees actually spend their weeks doing work, and there’s just me, so completely tangled and stuck in my dress that I had my arms locked into a very unnatural position, my head was half trapped inside my dress, the skirt had completely bunched up causing more tightness around the waist, I think one of my breasts may have also flopped out and I was trying to picture how I’d function the rest of my life being trapped in this dress. It took two or three extra people to help wrench me out of my dress and I think someone was looking for a pair of scissors to release me from my captor. Despite me reading some questionable romance book with heroines being held against their will and sometimes fun bondage scenes, I really wasn’t in the mood to be ensnared in a solo vertical game of twister. I very much almost cried with joy when the dress was eventually removed from my body and I think I was more embarrassed at everyone witnessing me totally keeping my composure and coolness as my life flashed before my eye.

Due to this human pretzelification, I haven’t worn the dress since and I don’t know if I will after what she put me through. Alas, this dress was pretty comfortable to wear, I found the pockets made her really practical in helping me carry what I needed, I was so happy she covered my back and shoulders from the sun and I didn’t have to worry about sunscreening my entire body. I didn’t feel too hot despite it being summer and I found the colours so fun and bright which was a big perk throughout the day. This dress was a lot of fun to wear and make but I think she may be pulled apart and repurposed at a later date. Personally I’m unsure how much wear I’ll get out of it in the future so I think I might take the skirt off and turn it into a stand along skirt. As I still have a few scraps, I wonder if I can make a different style top and I can also use the current bodice as extra fabric; honestly I’m not sure but this dress will need some adjustments if not, to just be gifted to a friend.

All up, The Sou’West Vintage Fest for 2025 was an absolute success. So much time, effort and love went into making this event the best it could be and we are all so excited to see what happens to The Sou’West Vintage Fest next year. A huge congratulations to Sarah from Red Leopard Photography and Swings and Roundabouts for all your amazing efforts. Thank you to all the staff, stall holders, small businesses, music and dancing entertainers and all the stunning people who came out to the event! See you next time!

Note: This is not a sponsored post. All opinions and thoughts expressed are solely my own and not influenced in any way. There are no affiliate links and I do not benefit from any link clicks or purchases made.