Thursday, March 31, 2022

Notes on a Pattern - Vogue V1858


Today I want to talk about Vogue V1858.  This is one of Vogue's latest pattern releases.  It is basically a princess seam dress with a curve "V" neck front yoke and a back yoke.  Nothing really extra special.  But it has a neckline that I haven't seen.  And that is why a decided to purchase the pattern.  

I considered this to be a relatively easy dress to make.  There is no lining, it has princess seams, and it requires moderate stretch knits.  On the envelope, it indicates a sewing rating of average.  That's okay because there is an invisible zipper and the front yoke may present a little bit of a challenge to get it just right.

Vogue describes the pattern as:  Fitted dress has shaped contrast neck bands, side front and side back seams, three-quarter length set-in sleeves, invisible back zipper, hook and eye closure, stitched hems. 

I made some changes: no invisible zipper and I hand-stitched the hems.  Simple changes.  

But first, as always, I need to make sure the pattern fits.  So, immediately I made my typical adjustments.  Only later to discover that they were a bit too much.  I started by cutting size 16.  I could have used size 14.

Below are my original adjustments.  

The FBA was spot on.  But all of the added width was too much.  


The swayback adjustment was good too.  This time I added the amount removed to the hip area instead of at the hem.  Now this area seems to be a better area to add the length back into the garment.  

Using size 16 in the shoulder area was okay.  But at the very top of the shoulder, an inch or so front and back, was too long.  I adjusted it before setting the sleeves.  So, there was no need to add in the shoulder blade area.  


The overall size selection was a little bit off.  This has happened with other princess seam dresses like Simplicity S1314.  I ended up doing a lot of tweaking to get the best fit in other areas of my body, resulting in huge seam allowances of 1" or more. 

Simplicity 1314

What I like:  the front yoke and princess seam.

Other changes that I made in my dress:  I hand-picked the zipper and added beads instead of installing an invisible zipper;  I added several inches to the length. The dress is on the short side; I hand-stitched the hems.


Right now, I can consider my dress finished.  But I was thinking of adding some more to the dress to make it extra special.  I thought of adding petals of silk flowers:  one at the side bottom hem area and another at the left shoulder.  Or a small panel of lace somewhere.  

This making it extra special feature may not materialize.  It something that I was thinking about. 

These are my notes on this pattern.  I really like the neckline and hope to incorporate it into another dress or top.  We will see. Lol.

Anyway, I hope this information was useful to other sewists who have similar fit adjustments as I do.  

Happy Sewing!

7 comments:

  1. Your zipper is gorgeous! Adding the amount removed in the sway back to the hip area is an interesting idea that I’ve never thought to do. I’m going to give that a try in the future. Thanks for sharing.

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    1. Thanks. It works. I'll post pictures of me wearing the dress next week.
      Thanks again.

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  2. That zipper is a work of art! It is really beautiful.

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    1. Thank you. I enjoy installing it. Hand sewing can be relaxing. Thans again.

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  3. That zipper! It really make the dress extra special - Sharon

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    1. Thanks, Sharon. This week I added a few embellishments. I'll post the final review next week.

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  4. This is beautiful. I really love the colors. I think I am part woman of color. Love your taste.

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