I made a new dress! The pattern is Vogue 1343, a Tracy Reese design; and I used this beautifully thin and slightly crisp georgette from Minerva in colour Rust…
The fabric is gorgeous, yes? I really really love the deep rich smoked-paprika colour, definitely my colour, and just enough sophisticated black, grey and off-white thrown into the print to keep everything looking sharp.
I bought the pattern ages ago, and have wanted to make it for even longer! obviously, haha… I really like the multitude of details it has; it’s not your average little shift dress at all. To be honest, halfway through I wasn’t liking it very much; there were a few little problems so I’d gone off it a bit, and had pretty much decided I was NEVER going to make the pattern up ever again. But once it was finished and I tried it on and was like… hmmm, ok I get it now! I think it ended up way cuter than I expected!
The first problem was that front neckline drape. It’s beautiful isn’t it?! but SUPER low cut in its original format. I did actually make it up as is to start with, but it was so crazy low almost the full bridge on my bra was on show. Ridiculous!!
And it’s pretty difficult to remove width from the cowl once it’s been cut and you’ve folded and sewn all those pleats etc… so I pulled up the drape by opening up the shoulder seams and removed 1 1/4″ in height from the neckline edge of the front shoulder yokes instead, tapering to nothing at the armhole edge. I kept the height at the armhole the same, because the armholes on this design are not huge already and you don’t want them tightened up more! The back yokes are unchanged.
You still get masses of drape, but a little less scandalously so, and at least I’ve got complete bra coverage now!
This picture also shows how the armhole edges are finished with bias cut strips. The back neckline edge is finished the same way.
The next problem was finishing the hemline. The pattern includes separate facing pieces for the hemline; which are attached, under stitched, and hand-stitched to the dress. I had doubts this was going to work for georgette but trialled one and of course it looked terrible. So I did what I should’ve in the first place; stitched up the side seams with French seams and just finished the hem in one go with a narrow hand-rolled and -fell stitched hem. Much nicer!
Oh yes! French seams! The pattern stipulates them and of course they are the perfect method for this fine and floaty fabric anyway.
I do love how the folds give this lovely soft fall of fabric in the skirt
The last problem… not really a problem but just a little annoying? according to the pattern you stitch the skirt to the bodice, matching side seams etc… well there is no way the side seams can be matched in this design so I think this is a mistake in the pattern…
this is the bodice back and the skirt back pieces… you can see the notches are way off, for a start. It’s almost like there’s a missing seam allowance on the skirt back?!
It’s ok though in the end, because you can actually fit the whole bodice into the skirt without any dramas. Just let go previously held notions of notches and side seams aligning, match up the centre fronts and backs obviously, and bob’s your uncle!
I didn’t have any matching buttons, but wait a minute, what do I have here? but a small handful of leftover ivory-crepe covered buttons leftover from when I made 100 of ’em for Kelly’s wedding dress! I’d covered lots of extras; partly because some of my earlier ones weren’t up to scratch, and also just because I wasn’t sure how many I’d need. I painted some with leftover acrylic “blackboard” paint, and they’re perfect!
My rouleau straps turned out super skinny!! 3mm… rather chuffed with this! It’s all thanks to quality of this super fine fabric, I think 🙂
This is used for the button loops and the belt loops too; the latter will probably not be used because my favourite belt doesn’t really fit through them! Yes, this is a design greatly improved by a belt, I think. Partially because the waist is elasticated, and I looooooooathe elasticated waistbands with the fieriest of fiery passions! This one is hidden nicely under my old, super-wide belt… which also hides those super skinny belt loops. Ehhh…
And… this is my first thing out of my “make nine/twelve” for this year! Here is my updated mud-map….
I may have had my doubts while I was making it, but I’m very happy with the outcome in the end!! I love the rich colours of the fabric, the design is quite unlike anything I’ve used before; in fact that goes for the style of the dress too! Well a change is always a good thing for the system and I plan to wear this both on cool days of summer, and warmer days in winter too. Who knows, I may even make up the pattern again one day! 🙂
Details:
Dress; Vogue 1343, in a fine paisley georgette
Belt; super old, emu leather
Shoes; Zomp, from Zomp boutique
that fabric is so perfect for you and a great choice for that pattern. Lovely. and great sunny day photos 🙂
Carolyn, what is your method for cutting out/wrangling georgette? Crepe is my favorite weave, I’ve made several items using georgette or chiffon, and it’s a real challenge!
Hi Cynthia; yes cutting georgette is a challenge! It’s imperative to lay the fabric out flat and smooth and as “square” as possible. For larger pieces; I lay the fabric out on my floor; I have large floor tiles that make it easy to align the fabric fair and square with no distortions. Once it’s all perfectly square on the floor; lay out the paper pattern pieces and measure the grainlines against the selvedge edges as carefully as possible and once everything is lined up perfectly, put something heavy to keep the paper pattern pieces from shifting; I use books or heavy glossy fashion magazines. Lay them down close up to the pattern pieces edges, like about 2″ away, then it’s easier to cut out the fabric pieces without distorting grain of the fabric underneath.
For smaller pieces; well If I can fit a paper piece onto my cutting mat then I’ll use that, and my rotary cutter to cut them out; so much easier to handle!! I’ll only do these AFTER the bigger pieces have been cut out on the floor..
I hope this helps!
Beautiful dress, love the fabric you’ve chosen and I think your version does more justice to the pattern than the original fabric. Wonderful!
Gorgeous Carolyn, I think it is very you!
It is quite trans-seasonal in that colour, would look good with a turtle neck, tights and boots too!
Love your new dress – everything about it….colour, pattern, print, drape etc. So glad you persevered. You look stunning.
You look so beautiful in this lovely floaty dress! Perfect fabric-pattern-match! Is the polyester breathable though? I love your pictures!
thanks so much SaSa! No, the polyester isn’t very breathable, so I probably wouldn’t wear it in very hot weather, It’s quite a breezy design though, so quite comfortable on a cooler day 🙂
It’s a lovely dress, and the draped details look far more effortless than you make them sound!
This fabric is lovely and the color suits you so well.
I’ve loved this pattern for forever!! But remember reading about how low that front was and I think I was intimidated by the steps to fix. Well now I’m well into my sewing journey and your adjustment shows that it’s simple to lower the drape without affecting the rest of the fit. This may make it into my summer plans – finally 🙂
I love that rust color!!!
I’ve loved this pattern for forever!! But remember reading about how low that front was and I think I was intimidated by the steps to fix. Well now I’m well into my sewing journey and your adjustment shows that it’s simple to lower the drape without affecting the rest of the fit. This may make it into my summer plans – finally 🙂
I love that rust color!!!
CoMpletely side with you on the hate towards exposed elasticated waists. Nope, nope, nope.
Wide leather belts in turn give me all the heart eyes.
Great save on the neckline, I’ll remember that trick 😉
Great save on the neckline, I love these waterfall necklines but mostly they are too low for me. I will try out this trick next time. You look georgeous as always in this. Greetings from Basel Anita