WTH is wrong with Vogue Patterns?

Seriously.

I bought this pattern, Vogue 8646, during their latest $3.99 sale. 

Isn't it a cute dress?  Perfect for summer, in white dotted swiss underlined with white cotton batiste.  (That's the fabrics I'm using, anyway).

Based on the size chart, I'm a 14, so that's what I cut.  Lo-and-behold, it fits like a potato sack!  I ended up taking in 1.25" on both sides, front and back.  That's a 5-inch take-in, folks.  Good thing I made a muslin.

During the pattern adjustment, though, I may have made a mistake of leaving the front pleats on the same location (instead of centering them at the shoulder seams), so the boobage is out of whack.  No turning back now as I'm more than halfway through on it.

Mind you, this is not my first BVM pattern.  Last year I made this Butterick 5277:

Same issue, about 2-sizes to big.  It had to be rescued by a pro-seamstress because I didn't want to bother taking it in myself and didn't want to learn how to, either.

Burda sizes seem to be spot on, although I can't say the same for Simplicity as I've yet to sew any of their patterns.  So, is it me choosing the wrong size or is it a common problem with BVM patterns?

Purple knit dress

Good thing I used the cheap polyester knit for this one. 

As predicted, I did some wrong math on the pattern drafting effort.  The armholes ended up very tight.  The book says to up the armsyce by .75 inches, so I did my usual .5, which in retrospect wasn't necessary (might actually need to lower it instead).  Also, the pattern calls for a straight silhouette, but I cut mine on the curvy side.  So the resulting drape looks a bit funny.

Construction-wise, it's a mixed result.  I didn't have any idea how to attach the roll collar, so it was pure improvisation, full of turning inside out and stretching here and there.  At one point I actually heard "rrrip!"  Thankfully I saw no sign of broken stitches, just a very stretched collar.

I used French seams for the sides.  It's my first time using French seam and I love the finished look, so I think I'll be using it a lot from now on.

Some pictures:

Full length (the stripe effect is from the window blinds):

I lightened up the picture a bit so the draping would show better:

I think I will make this dress again in the future, with a straighter silhouette, corrected armsyce, better construction know-how for the roll collar, and of course, nicer fabric, because apparently polyester melts when pressed.

Spring colorblock dress in the middle of winter

For once, I'm ahead of the game! Well, really I'm very late, since this dress started in - wow-has-it-been-that-long - three months ago.

Without further ado:

A close-up of the mock buckle, inspired by a J. Crew dress, and also to cover up the seam because I didn't cut the band on fold:

Here's me modeling it:

The end of the zipper is usually a struggle. As you can see here, it's all wonky. (Anybody have any tips on how to solve this? I use the regular zipper foot to connect the back seam and the zipper-end, and it usually ends up bunchy.)
Also, the sloper calls for a back shoulder dart, which I did not transfer to the pattern, thinking it wouldn't make a difference. Apparently it does: the back neck band is too big and now it gaps away from the body. Lesson learned.

The dress itself is fully lined in self fabric. I pretty much winged the construction part of it, with the help of my new best friend, the seam ripper. It's not completely finished yet, actually. Hemming needs to be done (still can't figure out how to use blind-stitch foot and am dreading hand-sewing), and hook-and-eye fastener needs to be attached.

Generally it fits a little loose on me now, because I've shrunken a bit because of a little diet and exercise. It's good news, actually. I feel physically better, am sleeping better (didn't really need help on that department), and theoretically should be looking better in clothes because the boobs are now correctly positioned "above" and not "at" the waist. Although, it also means I have to draft a new sloper.

For the next project...

... I'm thinking another little cotton dress. How creative!

I've been eyeing this Burda dress (02-2008-124). The basic, simple design is right up my alley:

During a trip to LA weeks ago, I bought this fabric from Michael Levine that I think is destined for this dress. It's a heavier-weight cotton which makes it suitable for all season with the appropriate accessories.

A few adjustments to make:

• eliminate the under-the-bust seam, as it is not a flattering look on me.
• make it a v-neck both front and back (Burda has a scoop front and a v back)
• maybe make it sleeveless... or keep the capsleeves?
• might go with a slight a-line if there's enough fabric (only have 2+ yards)
  

And here's the sketch:

The time I spent making the basic sloper was definitely a worthy investment! Drafting and cutting the pattern pieces for this dress took only half an hour and I can be sure that it will fit. Burda's way of patterning would take at least twice as long for me, what with the multiple rounds of fitting and altering and all that fun stuff. I bowed to my sloper a few times after realizing how much time I'm saving. (Don't worry, JoanneM; I heed your advice and will still make a muslin.)

I recommend everybody to make their own sloper!

Oh, a side note... This fall is my last semester in graduate school (yay!) so I will be prioritizing school and finishing up the master's thesis (boo!). So, sewing will be intermittent in the next four months (boo again!). Come December, I will have my MsBA in Finance and get back to sewing (double yay - epic win! - even though this degree probably won't mean much nowadays).

May I present...

... the completed purple dress with pleats:

Details at the sleeve:

... and at the hem:

I decided to use scrap cotton for the lining, which turns out rather nice (it actually looks better than the outside):

Here's me wearing it:

The fit could be improved around the bust, but it fits pretty well otherwise. The cotton makes it look home made, although I can get away with wearing it to work during a casual day.

Overall I'm pretty happy with the result. Yay!

To tackle the fitting issues...

... I decided to get this book that is so often mentioned on PatternReview.com: Fit for Real People by Pati Palmer and Maria Alto (aka FFRP). I wonder why I didn't get it sooner! Like all other fitting books, it goes over common issues and how to fix them. This book goes a step further by taking you through a tissue-fitting process. I'd never gone through a fitting, so this was enlightening. It has lots of photographs and figures - very useful for visual-learners like me.

So I bought Butterick 5726 fitting shell from Joann's for $2 to make a sloper, traced and cut the pieces, went through the FFRP fitting exercise, fixed the obvious problems, got lazy about the muslin, made one anyway, discovered different problems, lost patience, found it while taking a break, fixed some of those problems, refined the lines, and four weekends later - et voila - I have my sloper!

Here's the bodice:

And the skirt:

I skipped the sleeves because I'm not planning to use them any time soon. Well, maybe some capsleeves... but, how hard can those be, right?

Hopefully all this exercise wasn't a waste of time.