Thursday, May 20, 2010

Vogue 8646, the Almost-Fail Dress

Well, it turned out rather well, despite fitting challenges.

The "very-easy" rating is true to its claim.  With no buttons or zippers, and just a couple of side seams, maybe some darts and pleats here and there, the Vogue 8646 is a breeze to sew.  The A-B-C-D cup sizes is a nice bonus.  These are the main reasons why I bought this pattern, by the way.  Those, and the $3.99 sale price.



Some new techniques that I used on this project are:
  • Underlining.  The self fabric is cotton dotted swiss, which is rather transparent, so I underlined it with cotton batiste to add opaqueness.  I was thinking about lining it at first, but it would take longer, so I let laziness get the best of me, and it paid off!  Not only I learned a new technique, the project also finished faster. 
  • French seam:  Ah... The French sure know how to make things pretty!  The lack of zipper makes it possible to "French the seams".  I've been meaning to use this technique for a while, but zippers have been getting in the way.
  • Bias tape finishing:  The pattern calls for finishing the armscye and neckline with bias tape.  My execution wasn't the greatest... there's puckering and pulling especially at the armscye area, probably because I shaped the tape half-heartedly before sewing it on.  Luckily the texture of the fabric hides the imperfection and makes it less obvious.
  • Hemming a full skirt:  Thank goodness there's no blind-stitching here, I would have poked my eyes!  (Then I would be blind-stitching, literally).   By ease-stitching and gathering the extra fullness at the edge, hemming was quite easy.
Here's worn: 

It's rather decollete... might have to make a detachable modesty panel so can wear it without worrying about accidental exposure.  The not-centered front shoulder pleats are not as bothersome as expected, so I'm pretty happy about it.

And here's twirled:


Ready for summer! 

(PR review here)

10 comments:

  1. Pretty! I'm glad it didn't fail :) I love white cotton for summer, your version is so perfectly classic. Looks great belted too!

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  2. Very lovely. I am full of white-summer-dress envy...

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  3. It's lovely! I love it with the belt, and your fabric choice is spot on.

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  4. I like the twirl! Nicely done! ^^

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  5. Very pretty! I have a very similar rtw-dress, that I love... it's such a flattering and feminine style.
    And I have the same decolletage-problem as you... :-)

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  6. Very lovely dress! It's so stunning on you (smile)!

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  7. I have this pattern in my stash just waiting. Your dress is lovely!!

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  8. I'm working on it now - it looks lovely on you!!

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  9. Lovely dress, I really like the wrap style.

    It's so funny, but I saw your review for this dress on PR last week. Then, another day I saw your recent post about the new sewing/work table from somewhere entirely different! Funny how things go around in circles!

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