Vogue 1084 - Ms. PB

Today I'm practically forcing myself to at least post to my blog. Lately, I have been in a "no blogging" mood. Every day last week I kept telling myself, "Post the final segment of Ms. PB's dress, Vogue 1084." I couldn't seem to get it done. So now I'm on a mission to get back into blogging.

Here is Ms. PB in her vintage vogue dress at the Pastoral Banquet. She has already asked me to make another dress in a wool crepe for the fall. And..., she on the list for another Pastoral banquet outfit.



Pattern Description:
MISSES' DRESS: Close-fitting, flared dress with side front seams and darts, raised front neckline, low back with darts, waistline seam, tie, skirt with side back seams and inverted pleat, side zipper closing. A: short sleeves. B: long sleeves with snap closing. Below mid-calf length.

Pattern Sizing:
Sizes 6 - 20

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes, except for the changes that I made.


Were the instructions easy to follow? Yes. They were pretty easy to follow. The only difficult process was joining of the sleeve, front and side front bodice. Before I cut into the fashion fabric, I made a muslin to help identify the difficult areas and/or construction processes. I also tested how the facing and the bodice would join using the pattern to help me visualize the join.




What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? This dress was sewn for a client/friend. She adored the styling of this dress. No dislike reported. For me, I like to fullness of the skirt and the tie at the center back. My dislike is the front is very plain and the neckline didn't really drape as the illustration on the pattern envelope.

Fabric Used: The queen of fabric: silk (dupioni)

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: Plenty: All documented on my here on this blog.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? Yes. I'll make another dress for Ms. PB in the fall. Yes I would recommend it.

Conclusion: Ms. PB was very pleased with her dress. So pleased I've been commissioned to make another. Sewing it was not difficult at all. If this is your style of dress, try it.

More pictures on Flickr.

The Finish Line Vogue 1084 - Part IV

It's been over two weeks since I last posted. March was a big submission deadline via our application. So I've had to support the users more than normal in addition to the other tasks assigned to me. On the home front, I've been out and about more than usual. Not much blog reading, but haven't missed out of sitting at the sewing machine. As far as blogging about it, I'm about five posts behind. Ms. PB's dinner dress is done! And in between the fittings and sewing of it, I managed to meet/shop with a few more clients, make two pair of pants and a skirt for me.

And oh yeah! On March 6th the Haute Couture club met (other post). We learned about silk and silk painting. The club is sponsoring a fashion show April 18th. Several ladies showed off their entries for the Challenge: "It Is All About The Shoes". Each contestants creates an outfit centered around a "interesting" pair of shoes. And loads of other exciting updates about the going ons of the club. Fun! Fun! Later...,

Back to Vogue 1084. This dress will be showcased on March 28th. I'll only give a few details today, but will post event photos and full review later. There were multiple changes in the design of the dress. Most mentioned in an earlier post. Since then, we've had two additional fittings, both last week.

Design changes -

- sleeves were changed to above the elbow and fitted
- hem sleeves just by turning under two inches and handstitching the hem in place.
- made an additional tie out of the contrasting fabric (back skirt)
- made three belts 3 inch wide (heavy interface), two 2 inch wide belt to tie at waist. (Just in case)

Fitting changes -

- taken in at sides, requiring removal of the zipper, bodice through hip area
- taken in at upper back (center and shoulder sections)
- making adjustment in back facing (ripping out inital facing, resizing a new one)
- increase the wideth and length of the back darts to address sway back

This was good experience for me. I love sewing silk dupioni. It handles well, easy to press, and is beautiful. Normally I underline it, but this time I didn't fear that it would affect the drape of the dress.

The pattern was average, I think. Some may feel the joining of the side bodice would be a little challenging, especially since it is very visual and there are two. It may be difficult to get the same finish in both.

Below are a few photos from the process of joining the side front to the front bodice and sleeve:






In closing, now I need to finish my outfit for the event. My fabric and shoes.
Happy Sewing!

Fitting Vogue 1084 - Part III

Over the weekend I was able to sew and fit the muslin for Ms. PB's banquet dress. As a rule I make muslin for clients. It helps me with fitting, of course, and it helps identify the challenges in the construction process and how well the pieces go together. With each project I glean more useful information from the muslin process. Making the muslin provides information on how the garment will look draped on the body. One of Ms. PB's first questions about the pattern illustration was, "Will the dress stand out as it does in the pattern drawing?" My response was, "I've learned over the years that the drawing may be a little exaggerated. The truth in the shape and foam of the dress will come in the muslin made in a similar fabric as the desired dress." In this case, there was not a lot of body in the form of this dress. It hangs close to the body.






Fitting changes: The overall pattern fits a little big on Ms. PB. Throughout the bodice and skirt I could have cut the pattern between size 16 and 18 instead of size 18.

- Sides take in 1/2 inch
- Sway back adjustment needed -- increase the darts and fold out about 1/4 inch along the center back (small back area)
- At upper back seam where the sleeve and bodice join, take in 1/4 inch
- At shoulder seam increase the seam allowance of the back upper sleeve





There are a few challenges: the joining of the side front to the front bodice/skirt was that the upper and lower corners. And the upper seam of the side front didn't evenly go together. So that needs to be tweaked just a little bit.



Design changes:

- Sleeve length is above the elbow
- Add slits at upper sleeve seam
- Cut skirt at pattern length, but it may be adjusted at first dress fitting
- Deeper pleat at center back

That's it so far. Will see how the next fitting goes.
C

Vintage Vogue 1084 - Ms. PB - Part II

Last Saturday, Ms. P. Bell and I made another trek to Fishman's for fabric. Vogue was unable to place the order from the warehouse because the order was for less than 30 yards. We were lucky. Fishman's had some of their silk dupioni on sale for $7.50. You can't beat that. We were able to work out a design scheme with two shades of gold.

Initially, we thought to redraft the front bodice/skirt section into two separate pieces. But on Monday Ms. P. Bell spoke again about changing the way we would use the lighter shade for the back skirt. In which case, the front bodice/skirt section could remain as one.

I must send a shout out to Fishman's sell team. They are always super helpful with gathering materials needed to make your garment. On Saturday, Thomas spent quite a bit of time with us. I've never had a bad experience with the sale's team.

While I was there, I noticed the pattern section only had Vogue pattern and the Cadena fabric/fashion catalogs. And yeah, the ladies at the register told me the Cadena magazines were in. I reserved mine Spring issue a few weeks ago. I need to pick it up today or tomorrow. Of choice, I have a show and tell. Cadena is the best.

Oh well, the pattern has been cut. Next I'll make the muslin. (Not following Jean Haas's technique this go round. Maybe I follow it for DD's Easter dress.) Other sewing news. .., Min. Hollis's robe is complete. I'm picking it up from the cleaners today. It's white trimmed in black. When I did the final press, I noticed a few dirty spots on it.

More to come later.

Special Thanks and New Client Projects

Special thanks to everyone who commented and complimented on the wardrobes for my DD. On Friday she interviewed with two companies: one for her entrepreneur class and the other with a cyberspace newspaper. She wore the hounds tooth suit. Blessed girl..., she was hired for the cyberspace newspaper on Saturday. Today DD is a Voter Administrator for election. She is growing up and doing exciting things. I'm happy..., sigh, sigh

Saturday I went shopping with Ms. PB. You remember her? I made Vogue 8355 for a dinner party about two years ago.





This time I'm commissioned to make Vogue 1084.



Dinner date March 28th. Back to the shopping experience. The dress will be made of silk dupioni. First we went to Fishman's to just look at all the beautiful fabric candy. Their silk dupioni is $18.00 per yard and the silk taffeta and shantung was $60.00. So went walked over to Vogue; they had the dupioni for $11.99 per yard. We ordered the fabric there. The Evanston store has every fabric in every color. Their silk taffeta and shantung is $30.00 per yard.

I only had one prom dress commission this year; she canceled Sunday. So that leaves more time for me to sew for myself.

Finally, I'm making another clergy robe and am about half way done. Still need to finish DD's purple dress for wardrobe 2.

So that's it for now.
Stay Tuned and Happy Sewing!
C

PS
Still making rounds to all the blogs I like. See ya soon!