Draped in Vogue 1442 - A New Summer Dress Classic

Vogue 1442

I love this dress.  Sandra Betzina is so right!  This is a terrific summer dress.  It's rated as easy, but I had to do some tweaking before I was satisfied with the shape of the side and the drape.  There is only four pieces with the main body large enough to wrap around my entire body.  It's essentially a rectangle with curves.  The other three pieces are the shoulder strap, the neck and armhole facings.


I'm continuing my little stripe challenge.  This fabric came from Fabric Mart.  It is an ITY jersey with four way stretch and a smooth hand.  Love it.

The pattern description is misses' tunic and dress pullover tunic or dress has shoulder strap and underarm stitching forming drape, mock bands, front and back cut in one, no right side seam, and stitched hem.  It comes in "Sandra Betzina" sizing A through J.  I used size E through the bust, size C at the waist, and size D at the hip to the hem.  My selection of "sizes" created a curve along the side giving the dress some shape.

The instructions were easy to follow.  It is important that you follow the construction and final sewing of the strap as you may need to make some adjustments.  I needed to.  I did find the draping of the front right side interesting as you attach the extended strap to the inside of the dress to create the front drape.


My dress does look like the picture on the envelope, with the exception of the stripes going in a different directions.  I thought this was a more flattering look for me.


I like the drape and the ease of wear.  This is a simple, carefree look.  Perfect for summer and vacation.  The dress has a sort of Grecian style look to it, which I also like. 

I did make a few other minor changes:

• 2" to hem
• Adjusted the strap at the back by 1"
• Added clear elastic to the neckline.  I was afraid the neckline would loose it's shape over time and wear.  After I sew the facing to the top of the dress, I then sewed the elastic from the side seam (front) to the beginning of the drape section.   I used a zig-zag stitch placing the elastic right next to the stitched seam on the seam allowance side.  And repeated the same for the back.  This helps the dress remain snug along the neckline, side and back.

I think I may make view A, tunic.  And I do recommend it.  Not too many people made this one.  It is worth a try.

Other thought:

I did notice that there is some blouseness at the back. And I thought of putting a couple of vertical darts in the back.  Then I just decided to leave it as is.  I can always decide to do that later. ;-)

Happy Sewing!

C