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Black, sleeveless 1920s 'handkerchief' dress from Aberystwyth, with design of pink grapes on upper left chest and on skirt.

Hem of the wide skirt is cut into eight peaks, with one set of grapes on each. The grapes and tendrils are hand-painted on using thick gold paint. The fabric is made from tabby woven synthetic yarns. Bodice is made from two main pieces, front and back. Arm holes and neck are finished with bias-cut edging tape using self fabric. Additional strip of fabric has been inserted into each side seam. The seams allowances of the side seams are finished with a row of straight machine stitches. The skirt is made up of two pieces (each made up of a front and a rear section). Below the waist is a strip of fabric, the lower edge of which is cut to a zig zag. It is between 9 and 20cm deep and is made up of two pieces with French seams at either side. It is stitched to the bodice also using a French seam. A second, wider strip of fabric is stitched below. The machine stitched seam joining the two has a very narrow seam allowance and the edge is finished with machine-made zig-zag stitches. Lower edge of skirt finished with overlocking stitches using black synthetic thread. The side seams of the two pieces (which make up the lower strip) are hand-stitched, while most other stitches on the dress are machine stitched. Further hand-stitches are running stitches that partly follow the seam between upper and lower zig-zag strip of skirt (on the rear of the skirt).