Saturday, February 27, 2010

Vogue 1150 - Turquoise wool double-knit dress w/ front pockets

Hello! I finished this dress earlier in the week but had to wait for some daylight for pictures. This is such a fun and youthful little dress. I love the big patch pockets, raglan cap sleeves, and of course all the topstitching. The wool double-knit I used (a recent online purchase from Denverfabrics.com) was perfect for this design. It has the needed stretch and thick body to support the pockets and pocket flaps. I ended up adding 3 inches to the length. How are girls suppose to sit down in these super short styles and not flash their undies?!

I also really loved the back exposed zipper on this design. However, after a lot of thought, I decided to leave it off and do a small invisible zipper at the neckline instead. I'm a stay-at-home-mom and wear most of my dresses to church or for date nights. That means some of my dresses only get worn 2 or 3 times a year. I wondered how long an exposed zipper would be in style. I also had to take into account the fact that I used a high quality expensive fabric. In the end I was uncomfortable with the thought of only getting to wear this a handful of times before it started looking dated. I would still really like to make a garment with an exposed zipper sometime in the near future.

I took my time making these pockets and pocket flaps so they would be perfectly aligned.

Here's a close-up of the neckline and front topstitching. I was glad for all that topstitching because this wool double-knit did not want to stay ironed down. I find wool challenging to sew with because I am use to using my high-powered steam iron to make fabric bend to my will. But steam makes wool shrink so I spend three times longer pressing it.

The back is suppose to be cut on a fold. I added a 5/8" seam allowance and didn't cut on a fold in order to incorporate a 7" invisible zipper at the neckline. The neckband is interfaced and there was no way to fit my huge melon through the opening without it.

I'm nearly done with my jacket for February, but probably won't be able to get pictures of it until next weekend. Tomorrow is the last day of the Winter Olympics so hopefully I'll be able to get some focus back. Anyone else crazy about the Olympics like I am?

56 comments:

  1. That is a beautiful dress and you look FABULOUS!

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  2. Your dress looks great. Excellent job with the topstitching and pockets!

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  3. It looks beautiful and I love the color!

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  4. Wow - that topstitching is impressive - let me just say I made a back with an exposed zipper and found it uncomfortable to wear. . .

    Great job!!

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  5. Well, you are on a success roll now! The dress looks fabulous with all the detailed top stitching. Love the colour too.

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  6. Super cute dress! I love the contrasting top stitch! Wonderful job as usual! :)

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  7. Your dress is WAY better than the one on the pattern! Seriously, Vogue should use your photo/dress instead. I think the invisible zipper was a very good choice.

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  8. The dress is beautiful-I love it very much! The contrasting color stitching and buttons are a very nice detail.

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  9. Fabulous as always. Very pretty colour.

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  10. Wow! What an awesome dress. Fabric looks difficult to work with. How did you do your seam finishing because the fabric looks like it could tend towards the bulky side? Love the colour. Hopefully today I will get some sewing done too! Hubby is sewing today so I have little one to look after!

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  11. You look great in that dress. The style and color are wonderful for you. I can't wait to make that dress for my daughter.

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  12. Totally amazingly gorgeous!! Wonderful colour - it suits you so well. As always, your construction is perfect and I think you judged the length just right.

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  13. Very lovely dress and to you very much goes. All your works possess charm.

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  14. A perfect dress. Yes, a winter sports fan here too. Waiting for that hockey game....

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  15. Terrific dress! I love all the topstitching, and those big pockets. The color is gorgeous, and that dress is a good transitional piece into spring.

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  16. What a great dress! You look great, too. Turquoise is a good color for you. Your sewing is impresive!!

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  17. This is such a beautiful dress and you look fabulous. Perfect color for you, too.

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  18. Your dress is stunning! I never realized how many parts there were to this dress because the original is made in black! What a great job you did!

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  19. Gorgeous dress, the color is fantastic!

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  20. You sew so perfectly! I wonder how long it will take me to get that good - very nice work! I love it! :)

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  21. Love, Love, Love. Great job! I saw this pattern earlier and I put it on my list "To Get". But After seeing your changes I would agree with blogger Lirasi, Vogue should use your picture.

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  22. This fits you so well! And it looks amazingly RTW. The time and care you put into making this is clear. Nice job!

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  23. Love the dress, the fit is awesome and the color is fantastic. Your decision to not do the exposed zipper was a wise one. Maybe you could make a blouse or a skirt?

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  24. You did a great job on the dress. The color of the wool knit really show the design elements on this pattern. Just lovely.

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  25. I am not sure if I have ever commented on your blog before, but I am a new sewer and I find your blog very inspirational and informative! You are a very good seamstress!!!! I adore that dress! It looks really nice the way you styled it with the boots! I bet you will receive many compliments when you wear that one!

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  26. Awesome job with the dress Amanda! You are an inspiration to me!

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  27. Gorgeous dress. The color and style suits you perfectly. Wonderful job on all the details, as always :)

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  28. What can I say---you've managed to Wow us yet again (smile)! I love this dress--it's so girlie and cute! Great job!

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  29. Beautiful dress and very 60's. You look stunning in that blue.

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  30. Beautiful work! Great topstitching *as usual". As to exposed zippers, I made a dress maybe 4 to 5 years ago with an exposed zip. So I think it not just a passing fad.

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  31. I love this dress. One of your best. You are simply going to have to find reasons to wear this more often. It deserves way more than 2 ot 3 times a year.

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  32. My mum, a tailor, gave me the best tip for pressing wool fabrics. You need a wooden block (mine is about 30cm long and 10 by 5 cm) covered in fabric (to protect YOUR fabric). All you do is use a bit of steam, press your seam and then lay the wood on top with a bit of pressure for 30secs or so. It traps the steam in and works beautifully. Easy too!

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  33. What a gorgeous dress, in every way. You look stunning.
    Job well done!

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  34. Very cute dress!! Great topstitching, too!

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  35. Way cute. As usual, your topstitching is wonderful.

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  36. This looks so cute on you! As Bunny mentioned, this is a very 1960's retro look. Great job as usual.

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  37. I love this retro style dress, suits you so well.

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  38. Love it! It's so much better in a color than in black.

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  39. The dress is beautiful! Your projects always look so polished.

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  40. What else could I say Bravo!!!!!
    J'adore

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  41. Beautiful, Amanda. Every detail.

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  42. Love it. Great job. The length is perfect. I can't tell how thick the fabric is by the pics. Would you be able to wear it in the spring/summer too?

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  43. So cute and so you. I completely overlooked this dress, but think I may have to re-evaluate that now that I've seen it all made up. :)

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  44. I LOVE those sleeves and the stitching. How cool!

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  45. I loved the dress so much 'coz its really classy yet admirable.

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  46. What a gorgeous dress, in every way. You look stunning.
    party video

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  47. Beautiful dress and love the topstitching detailing.

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  48. Lovely dress! any pointers how to get the topstitching in a straight line on the front?

    also why is this lady nishant spamming at every sewing blog??

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  49. Love your dress, it looks super stylish but the fabric makes it look really comfortable too, maybe you can wear it for everyday too?!

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  50. amazing! you are so talented.

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  51. Just beautiful. I LOVE the color, which is very on trend for the season. You inspire me, Miss Amanda!

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  52. What a fun little dress. Love the topstitching, as always!

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  53. Very cute, LOVE the color and the style! So "mod". :)

    Hey, I usually get my HPs direct from them (Ok, I only have 5 or 6?) when they have a sale. They very, very occasionally have one. Usually around their anniversary (October or Nov?) and in the summer, about July. Sign up for their newsletter, they'll let you know when the sale is. There are others too sprinkled throughout the year, like Buy 1 Get 1 free (that's pretty rare though!) I've got several in my cart right now that I just can't decide if I want them bad enough to pay full price for. So I"m waiting for a sale too!

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  54. LOVE the fabric and the color! Looks fantastic!

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