Vogue 1351: the full report

I love to travel, and I love to stay home too.  This time I'm chez moi for my vacation.  I love love love spring and summer.  It is a joy to be home this week! (btw, why are people afraid of retiring? This is great!   Go to the gym for 8am class, go to the supermarket at 9:30, no one is there, no lines at the checkout, take a nap after lunch, sew in the afternoon, eat dinner outside, bliss!!)

I started this dress, Vogue 1351, on Monday night and finished it up last night.   I think this was a 15 hour dress. I sewed a 14 in the bust grading to a 12 in the waist and hips (I know, usually it's the reverse, but it seemed to work for the muslin, which I had cut as 14 originally and then sewed down to a 12 except in the bust).


Beth of SunnyGal Studio was the first person to put this on the map for me, and I bought it right away during a BMV pattern sale.  Like Beth, I kind of can't believe I actually sewed a pattern during the season in which it was released!

They included this brochure of their summer patterns

Pretty neat, huh?
And it had some close-up pix of 1351:

I tried to replicate the pose, but without a red bobbed wig and crazy shoes, it's not the same:

Now I realize I'n not even looking the right way!  But I think the crazy Vogue poses are fun.  Beats a sketch on the front of an envelope every time.
I really enjoy my leaping shots, though.  I might have to do that for every outfit.  Who wants to leap with me??

Requisite shots:
Back (is it too short? I cut an inch off)




I think I like it best with the red belt...



Ok, I'm fessing up about the cowl.  I tried to raise it using a technique I blogged about in the spring, but somehow I messed it up.  I'm not going to show you what I did this time, since I messed it up and I'm not really sure where I messed it up.  I had tried it on my muslin but in the real deal it wasn't the same.   So the neckline at the shoulders is not like what's on the pattern envelope.  The net effect is that the shoulder seam is forward on the dress, and the overall neckline there is a little strange. BUT it doesn't look as bad as I thought it did two nights ago.  It's a "design feature", right???   And of course it is not as deep as it was as I took out about 1.25 inches each side...If I hadn't done that, the cowl would be too low for my tastes and I would have been staring at my chest all day and readjusting the cowl constantly.

I sewed with 1/4" SA for the back neck and armholes, so there is more coverage overall.
Especially for armpits.
Sewing with 1/4" SA is what Janet Pray does for much of her Craftsy class, so I felt that was legit and it bought me extra coverage at the same time.


Invisible zip is invisible.

Blind hem is blind.

The fabric is from Kashi (Metro Textiles) in NYC. Maria (velosewer) and I each bought a few yards of it when we met up in June. The fabric is totally synthetic, so no wrinkles, which as you may know is a life goal of mine, yay!  As for being synthetic, the fabric doesn't feel too plastic-y nor rough.   I'm not sure how much it was per yard, but knowing Kashi, I'd say $8 a yard or less. The spongy texture is great. It's navy in color. I bought two yards. Kashi has generous cuts, and I have about 3/4 of it leftover, enough to make a skirt. (it's ~60" wide).



Oh!  and it's supposed to be cut on the bias, but I didn't, because of the horizontal lines in the fabric.

The lining is a black silk/cotton blend voile and was a splurge at $18 a yard at Mood. I bought it with Mary during MPB Day, specifically to line a different dress and a skirt. Well, um, it's lining this dress now.  It was not 60" wide, so this took about 2 of the 3 yards I bought.   I know I'm a bad blogger for not ironing the lining after putting it in. I did iron the seams but after sewing the lining to the dress, I wasn't sure about ironing the synthetic fabric.

I'm sure you'll forgive me.

Here you can see how the front cowl edge is sewn to the lining, which *is* very clever.  The cowl is not going to flop out, that's for sure.

Because I cut an inch off the bottom of my dress, and I knew I was going to use my rolled hem foot to finish the edge of the lining, I cut an inch and a half off the lining--I didn't need to cut off that much.  Oh well.  It would be nice if the lining was a bit longer.

I used the slipstitching technique that Diana Rupp writes about in her book SEW Sew Everything Workshop, it's also in her Craftsy class Sewing Studio, for sewing the lining to the invisible zip.

The lining feels FANTASTIC.  Silk/cotton blend is a dream.  I have been afraid of silk, thinking it's not machine washable, but this washed up fine.  I even put it in the dryer, still fine (btw I never dry dresses in the dryer so this will be washed in the washing machine and then line dried).

So, like my jeans and another woven dress this spring, I embroidered my name and the date and a little heart into the lining before sewing the lining to the dress.  I drew it on with chalk first, then stitched right over it.
\
Trumbelina did something similar recently, except she really knows how to embroider, and I'm just winging it.  I love her little bird.


I wore this dress out today for lunch with my parents and my 97 year old great aunt Iris.

Overall I like it! I really like the fit. And I'm warming to the cowl.


Then I went to the Princeton Farmer's Market...Today I got two bunches of cosmos. Basically I want every flower he sells but I'm trying to restrain myself to two bunches.

Congrats if you made it this far!

Questions:

1. Red belt or no belt?
2. Is it too short?
3. Is the neckline too weird?
4. Will you leap with me?

Discuss!
and Be well!