Vogue 1352 (again!) in blue jersey + a lesson in pre-washing

Here is the knee-length version of Vogue 1352 that I had cut out when I posted the June maxi version. I finished it up about two days after that. It really is a simple dress once you get the hugeness figured out.

The solid color shows the neckline gathers off nicely whereas they were lost somewhat in the print. And while I do love to wear solid colors, I find that I really don't like to sew with them much. Anyone else feel the same? I'm not sure why this is. Maybe my eyes get tired of looking at the same color all the time.

I made the same exact modifications to this dress as the previous one. The only change I made was to fold out a good bit of length to make it shorter.

This fabric is some sort of mystery polyester that I've had in my stash forever and have no idea where it came from. I rarely wash polyester knits because they don't shrink and I'm often too impatient to get on with the cutting out stage. So I didn't wash this fabric and went about stitching it up. It's quite a bit heavier then the ITY knit I'd used before and when completed the dress was really loose on the top and the armholes drooped. Oh brother, here we go again! I pitched it in my laundry basket thinking maybe if I washed it the neckline would tighten up. Imagine my surprise a week later when it came out of the dryer 5" shorter then it had been! The neckline sure didn't gap but the waistline was now really high on me and so was the hemline. I'll wear it as a bathing suit cover up I told myself. And just today when I went to put it on to shoot these pictures I find that it has stretched back to it's original length! In all my years of sewing I've never had this happen.

I guess it's a good thing I didn't wash it first??? Then I would have cut it out in it's shrunken state and it would have grown and grown after I'd finished the garment.

Vogue 1352 - Turquoise floral knit maxi dress

It's been practically two months since my last post and I've made a whole bunch of wadders and this knit dress. (I even made wadder curtains, which I didn't know could even happen.) This pattern is a Vogue designer pattern by Rebecca Taylor. I looked it up on patternreview.com before cutting out the fabric and let's just say it didn't get glowing reviews. Normally I would steer clear of those types of patterns but I thought it would be an easy dress to nurse in and I have really missed wearing dresses lately. All the reviews said this pattern ran really big so I cut the smallest size available. I also added 2 inches to the waist because I am long waisted and it looked too short on the model.

Even with those changes it was absolutely humongous! The dress completely hung off me. The front overlay flapped open with every sway of my body. The armholes were so low my undergarments were exposed if I lifted my arms. Bother. I put it aside to work on another project, thinking I might be able to salvage those big skirt pieces for another garment. My subconscious went to work thinking of a solution and a month later I knew what to do to fix it.

I took off the neck binding, cut another binding 4 inches shorter, regathered the neckline and sewed the smaller binding to it. In the process of attaching the dress to the binding the first time, I trimmed the neckline down by 1/2" while grading the seams. When I sewed the binding on a second time, I took another 5/8" seam allowance, effectively pulling the dress up even more. The result is a comfortable and somewhat loose-fitting but still flattering dress.

The fabric is an ITY knit print that I bought online somewhere and have had in my stash forever. I only had two yards of it and had to turn the skirt pattern pieces in opposite directions to fit them both in. This dress was hemmed to wear with flats.

I may decide to wear a belt with it from time to time. After viewing these pictures I think it needs something to break up the print. Also the overlay get a little lost with the busyness of the fabric. A solid color would show that and the gathers off nicely.

I opted not to topstitch the neck binding per the instructions as I much prefer to sew invisibly by hand.

Dressform pictures:

One other deviation I took was in not lapping the sleeve underarm seam allowances as the instructions say to. This is hard to explain if you haven't attempted this dress or looked at the instructions. Most of the reviews fault Vogue for having terrible drafting but I wonder if the designer dress the pattern was made from had sleeves constructed in that wonky manner. Anyway, I lined up the squares and sewed the sleeves right sides together as is the usual method. Then I hemmed and attached to the dress. I sewed a line of stitches down the side seam about 1/4", catching the underarm seam to prevent it from flipping out and being visible from the outside.

Having small children forces me to give up wearing tighter styles for casual wear, but I still like to look put together. This dress is perfect for that. Plus I can nurse my baby without having to undress - win win. I've already cut this pattern out again for a knee length version, so look out for that in a few days.

Vogue 1285 - Pink embroidered wool knit dress

This month I made a dress using a rose floral wool knit from Mood fabrics. The slight translucency of the fabric reminded me of the envelope example from Vogue 1285, which I have waited 3 years to find the perfect fabric for. I’ve never worked with this thin of a wool knit before and was afraid the fabric would stick to itself too much, especially at the front skirt overlay. Thankfully that wasn’t an issue. Since this fabric contains some wool, it’s a slightly warm dress, and I’ll probably save it for early fall or spring of next year.

I’ve always loved the unique neckline of this design but was never sure what to use for the interfacing along the collar and sleeve bands. Recently I read online of someone using organza as interfacing, so I decided to try that instead of a fusible. This blush silk organza was the perfect match. I sewed it along the edges of each piece that needed interfacing like you would when underlining something. It added the needed stability to those areas but didn’t stiffen the fabric like a fusible interfacing would have. This is a very exciting revelation for me! I never know what to do with see-through fabrics because of the interfacing issue. I’ll definitely be using silk organza as interfacing in the near future.

I thought long and hard about whether to make the darts inverted like the pattern design, but ended up sticking to the designer look. Yes they’re a different look that isn’t to everyone’s taste, but to me they look playful and interesting. I did choose to sew the bust darts on the inside of the dress. Despite being (normally) small busted, I didn’t like the look of those fabric flaps in that area.

I cut this out in my normal Vogue size 12 and had no fit issues. The side zipper was eliminated since the stretch of the fabric enables me to pull it on over my head. I also skipped the sewn in lining because I could NOT find the right color tricot to make it out of. Instead I’m wearing a nude color cami and half slip. The insides are all sewn with french seams since the fabric is so thin and tends to run.

This collar was a bit fiddly to sew. I slip-stitched the under side of the collar along the inside and left off the topstitching. I also put a dab of fray check where the collar notches meet the bodice to prevent any issues in that area. I really like the textural qualities of this fabric, which you can see better in the close-ups.

Two small snaps were inserted where the bodice fronts overlap to keep everything in place.

Sadly this Tracy Reese designer pattern is now OOP, but I’m sure you could find it online on etsy or ebay if you are interested. Not too many people made it up, which surprises me since knit mock wrap dresses seem to be popular amongst the sewing community.

Note: This fabric was purchased with my Mood Fabrics monthly allowance, as part of my participation in the Mood Sewing Network.