Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Sewing: Vogue V8574

Summer is over but I think I can still get some wear out of this dress because there are always warm days in October here in the SF bay area. This is Vogue V8574. I used a medium weight printed twill-like cotton that has a bit of stretch. I really like the print that is sort of tropical with the palm trees, but not too tropical in the color.

I love the fit of this dress, but adjusting the fit was a bit more work than usual. With many patterns, I can sew it up and adjust some side seams or princess seams or some darts afterwards to get the perfect fit. With this pattern, the bodice has to be sewn together with the lining and attached to the neck band before it can be tried on, so I ended up having rip apart more of the underarm area to adjust the width. The skirt flares out so the fitting there isn't critical. What is critical is the opening of the in-cut "armhole". It has to fit without any unseemly gaping at the upper side bust area. I ended up adding a tiny slanted dart in front just above the side seam to get a close fit.

I cut away about 3/8" at the neckline so my neckband is narrower and the neck opening is wider. The skirt is not lined. For the bodice lining, I used some lightweight crinkled cotton gauze fabric. Crinkled gauze is slightly stretchy, as long as you don't iron out the crinkles before using it. It's also very lightweight and I love cotton linings.