I saw Lizzy's version of this and coveted it instantly. I saw it in person shortly afterwards and this dress jumped to the top of my list. I oh-so-cleverly went for some plaid directional wool that I found at Tessuti in Melbourne...thinking that it would be edgy and cool. Rather regretted that- Lizzy's version in crepe is much better suited to the pattern.
I have always cut a size 10 in Vogue patterns and they are always too big. So I cut a size 8 this time, forgetting that some of the designer lines for Vogue have less ease. I lined the dress with bemberg in purple (which as you can see I had not hemmed in the pictures.)
Construction is rather confusing because you sew the lining to the inside part of the cowl, and then sew the lining in the rest of the way. Lizzy's post on this shows the lining. I had to lay it on the floor and move stuff around quite a bit until I got it right, but I was waiting for my invisible zipper foot and didn't have the zipper in, which made it more confusing as you are supposed to do that first. It was not too difficult to figure out but a bit time consuming. My only real gripe was at the end when I couldn't completely figure out how to shut the shoulder seams. Vogue seems to have a tendency this way - to expect you to finish something perfectly by separating the lining and the fabric, and sewing them separately even though you haven't got room to do it, when I by then only have little straggling ends that won't meet up properly. I tried to do it the Vogue way on one side and on the other side I just folded the mess together and sewed it as one (it leaves the ends hanging out at your shoulders), and actually the Vogue side looks much better even though I thought I was doing it terribly.
Anyway it got to that point and I finally tried it on...and the top half is too small. So I guess I should have made a size 10, or maybe a 10 on top and an 8 on the bottom, after all. I was quite disappointed which is why I just had my lovely friend Dana snap the photos before I bothered with the hemming. Luckily I found the dress a new and enthusiastic owner so all has worked out well. Next time (there will probably be one eventually as I still like the style and it does end up with a great finish if you take more care with the seam allowance on the shoulders ahead of time...as the pattern suggests) I would use a finer, drapier material and I would obviously avoid the diagonal directional print - although with a belt this won't look so jarring, I don't actually own any belts and am not keen to acquire them.
I have always cut a size 10 in Vogue patterns and they are always too big. So I cut a size 8 this time, forgetting that some of the designer lines for Vogue have less ease. I lined the dress with bemberg in purple (which as you can see I had not hemmed in the pictures.)
Construction is rather confusing because you sew the lining to the inside part of the cowl, and then sew the lining in the rest of the way. Lizzy's post on this shows the lining. I had to lay it on the floor and move stuff around quite a bit until I got it right, but I was waiting for my invisible zipper foot and didn't have the zipper in, which made it more confusing as you are supposed to do that first. It was not too difficult to figure out but a bit time consuming. My only real gripe was at the end when I couldn't completely figure out how to shut the shoulder seams. Vogue seems to have a tendency this way - to expect you to finish something perfectly by separating the lining and the fabric, and sewing them separately even though you haven't got room to do it, when I by then only have little straggling ends that won't meet up properly. I tried to do it the Vogue way on one side and on the other side I just folded the mess together and sewed it as one (it leaves the ends hanging out at your shoulders), and actually the Vogue side looks much better even though I thought I was doing it terribly.
Anyway it got to that point and I finally tried it on...and the top half is too small. So I guess I should have made a size 10, or maybe a 10 on top and an 8 on the bottom, after all. I was quite disappointed which is why I just had my lovely friend Dana snap the photos before I bothered with the hemming. Luckily I found the dress a new and enthusiastic owner so all has worked out well. Next time (there will probably be one eventually as I still like the style and it does end up with a great finish if you take more care with the seam allowance on the shoulders ahead of time...as the pattern suggests) I would use a finer, drapier material and I would obviously avoid the diagonal directional print - although with a belt this won't look so jarring, I don't actually own any belts and am not keen to acquire them.
