I finished this dress just before the blizzard last weekend. We got a mammoth 25-30 inches!
Luckily, though, we have really cool neighbors and we all decided that since we weren't going anywhere else, we might as well trek to each other's houses for dinner. Hooray for friendship!
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| No available photo partners = mirror in the dining room |
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I used the motif as the marker for the hemline.
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And no, I did not trek through all that snow wearing this dress, but I look forward to wearing it soon!
The pattern is Vogue 8181, View A, with shortened sleeves. There was concern that the long sleeves would be uncomfortable while playing, so I opted for elbow-length instead.
The material was purchased in Costa Rica, and
I love it. It's a warm-toned motif on thick black ponte with great recovery, no fraying, and no slippage. And will you look at the print alignment? It worked out so well!
:::Toots own horn:::
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| I'm pointing to the empire waist seam. |
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| Can you spot the back waist seam??? |
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| Topstitch using narrow zip-zag |
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| Unpretty but supportive |
This pattern has underarm gussets, a feature that I don't come across often, but find very comfortable. I topstitched them for strength, and inserted them one seam at a time rather than following the pattern's direction to pin all four seams at once. (Made that mistake when I sewed this dress the first time a few years ago.
Ya know, before I started to trust my own sewing brain.)
Without question I'll be making this pattern again. I love everything about it, even if I did have to lengthen at the true waist and the empire waist to get a good fit!
Proud Insides
I used some grossgrain ribbon I had on hand as a way to stabilize the raised waist seam. Hooray for using what's lying around instead of buying things!
I also serged all the seams, and hand-tacked the neckline facing to the bodice all the way around rather than letting it flop about.
Working with this fabric was such a lovely experience. I have only a little bit left over and have no clue what to do with it but can't bring myself to get rid of it. I was thinking a bandeau or sports bra...stay tuned.
I hope all of you are staying warm out there! Our temps are higher than normal this week, hanging out between 20-40 degrees. Good thing this dress will layer well with tights, a jacket, and warm boots!
Lastly, here's a close-up of the shoes. :)
