Vogue V8629

I finished this dress a couple of months ago and have worn it a few times and love it. It's from Vogue patterns V8629, which is now out-of-print. I really love this pattern because it's so easy to sew and very comfy and easy wearing. I sewed the no-sleeve version and omitted the pockets which meant that there were only three, count 'em, three, pieces to cut! The side seams curve inward for waist shaping and you can easily adjust them to get the fit you want. The pleats at the upper yoke provide a good fit at the bust line. I originally wanted to make the sleeved version because this is a winter dress, but I didn't have enough of this fabric which was left over from a skirt I made earlier. This is just as well, since I love wearing it with a lightweight black layer underneath. Unfortunately, the black makes it hard to see pleats in the photo and my black top looks blended in.

Some time ago, I made this pattern with a stretch woven but it just didn't work because the fabric didn't stretch enough and the dress was too loose because I needed the ease to fit it over my head. If you make this, choose a mid-weight knit that's more on the heavy side with a good moderate stretch. My fabric has two-way stretch, but one-way stretch would have been fine. In this case, the two-way stretch enabled be to cut the dress cross-wise because the border design is on the selvedges.