Monday, January 19, 2009

Vogue 7762 - Black & orange floral dress w/ side gathers

This is one of 3 dresses I've decided I must complete this winter. This is the second (or is it 3rd?!) winter they've been in my to-do pile. For some reason when I picked this fabric out I mostly saw the turquoise color. Surprise! It's got much more orange in it. I needed a pattern without princess seams since the flowers are so large. This design features front pleats and back darts for a fitted look.

One thing about making long sleeve dresses is the arms are never very roomy on me, resulting in restricted movement and discomfort. (I suppose that's why all my dresses have 3/4 sleeves.) I've been wanting to try turning the long sleeves into bias sleeves, but have been worried about the outcome. With having an extra yard of this fabric, I decided to go for it. If the result was unflattering, I could always cut out regular sleeves and use those instead. Success! The bias sleeves are wonderful and this dress is very comfortable. I can raise my arms over my head without any restriction. I'm using this method for long sleeve dresses from now on.

Here's a close-up of the front tucks since they're a bit hard to see in the front view:

I added a full lining. This was hard to photograph since on the hanger the front bags forward and looks misshapen.

I put bias tape around the armholes to cover the exposed seam:

Here's the inside of the sleeve. I did french seams and hand sewed the invisible hem on the ends. Since this was such a small opening and the sleeve was cut on the bias, it would have been completely stretched out had I attempted to do this with the machine.

I think I liked those larger sleeves of this design with I bought this pattern years ago. Then I realized they were a bit impractical.



I am currently working on BWOF 11/2008-118, a simple dress that looks like a frumpy bag with a stretched out neckline. It needs a lot of work. Why are simple projects always so much trouble?

14 comments:

  1. Amanda you sew really fast ! I love the lines of that dress . Tell me when doing the lining did you simply cut an extra front and back and make it up the same ? I am yet to attempt a lining .

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  2. I love the dress it looks great on you!! I also love the fabric!!

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  3. Fabulous dress, the fabric is amazing.

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  4. This dress looks just perfect on you. I love seeing your detailed interior photos - pretty inspiring to me to be more careful on my own projects. I also like the idea of cutting long sleeves on the bias.

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  5. I agree with Alicia, you are amazing with the specific details of your projects. I think your choice in not making the big sleeves was wise. Your dress is spunky, fun, and classy rolled into one.

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  6. Cool tip on the bias sleeves! I'm going to try that!

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  7. Amanda, this dress looks absolutely perfect. The fabric is so cute and it looks fabulous on you.
    Well done!

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  8. The dress looks great, I like the print. You are a fast sewer, "jealous" lol

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  9. Great combination bold print and design of this dress. The sleeve tip will definitely come in handy. Beautiful sewing as always.

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  10. I'm back! lol I've nominated you for the Kreativ Blogger Award. See the Rules on my blog.
    Happy Sewing!
    C

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  11. What a lovely pattern. Very pretty dress. My simple patterns are always trouble too.....

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  12. hi, just wanted you to know that I have nominated you for an award. Please stop by and pick it up when you get a chance. Thank you for being such a wonderful inspiration.
    Kathy

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  13. The dress is beautiful and you look great in it! I love the gathered detail on the side!

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