Vogue 8571 Red Dress Done!

So...let's recap.

I picked up the pattern at MPB Day 2013 last year

and thought it would be fun to wear it to MPB Day this year.
I finished it 5 days after MPB Day 2014 occurred, oops!

I purchased this fabric in San Diego at a swap meet last November with Elizabeth.  It has crosswise and lengthwise stretch.  It is a stretchy and synthetic, the kind of fabric I love because it means little-to-no wrinkles!!

Yes, the color is the same as the pattern envelope, in a case of "let's make exactly the same dress as shown on the pattern cover"


I really love the gathers in the back and the front.


The mug shot

My usual work photog and my backup work photog were both out of the office on Friday, so I had to ask another coworker.  She picked this conifer as "it's a scary looking tree."

My boss said, "it looks more complicated than what you usually make."

If there was something I could angst over, I did. I started out with a 14 bodice but after my initial runthrough I recut it as an 8 in the shoulders and neckline to effectively bring it up an inch.  Previous posts showed how the bodice was overall too long.  but I think I should have scooped the armholes a bit. I cut the side seams as 12 initially, but honestly who knows what size they are now.  I really struggled with the fit and resewed the side seams many times.  The skirt had too much volume in the front but looked ok from the back.  I took a triangle shaped wedge out of the front side seams which reduced the skirt volume but now the back shows from the front.

I also took a 1.5" swayback adjustment out of the skirt, which was probably too much, I futzed with the gathering too much,  I undid and redid the side seams multiple times, even taking out serger stitches.   I had trouble with serger tension when I sewed the side seams.  The first time they looked great, but the second time I forgot the DF and it was a wavy mess, blah blah blah.

I did bind the armholes using Amanda's method  of using bias tape to finish and that worked out pretty well.  It's just that I should have scooped the armholes more after reducing the shoulder-to-pit length by an inch.



Jumping

On Izzy the day after I wore it

Inside out

My "signature"

Close-up of the gathers

Serged raw edge, then blind hemmed...you can see the texture of the fabric really well here.

My god-cat and Izzy.

Overall I love the dress and wonder why this one didn't catch on in the sewing blogger world when it was released in 2009.

I am on staycation now and have sewn 2 lace tanks for the gym and refashioned 2 shirts into one for the gym. I want to make this dress again in aqua blue and I'm hoping it will go faster next time....but I won't do it this week.  There are a few "easy" items I want to make....let's see how it goes!  I will be blogging them one-by-one for maximum reading pleasure.

Be well!