The things I do to get back into blogging!
I’ve just run inside before the snow has kicked into gear. I was outside taking some pics of my finished Vogue 9127 dress and it was COLD and windy!
This pattern is for a loose-fitting dress with shoulder pads, shawl collar and clever integrated pocket. There is a curved back yoke back, a darted sleeve cap, decorative stitching for arrow head trim, front button opening, and side zipper closing. All seams are top-stitched and there is an attached belt that fastens at the back.
This dress was pretty hard work but I really love the finished dress. I spent 8 weeks on putting it together. That included three muslins to get the fit right. I made a lot amendments! I made a size 6 in the chest and size 12 around the hips because I wanted a much closer fit. I shortened the length by 12cm and removed the sleeves. I also made petite adjustments around the upper chest and did a sway back adjustment. Doing a narrow shoulder adjustment around those pockets nearly killed me. In fact I tacked the pockets closed because they creep open wider and wider as you wear the dress. Finally I left off the arrowhead darts for the time being but I may go back and add them.
I think I’m the only person in the UK to make this and blog it. I’ve not seen any US reviews either but that might just be my poor searching. So here are some top tips for anyone considering this pattern:
There’s a lot of hand-basting needed, and don’t skimp on this if you want all those seams to line up.
The top-stitching really works best if you have an edge-stitching foot or a stitch in the ditch foot (with a right hand needle position) like I used.
The sleeves are really lovely, I just couldn’t pull them off as I’m not a strong shoulders kind of a girl and they don’t seem to lie well without the shoulder pads.
The wonky button front is a little distracting. See how it suddenly veers over from the centre line of the skirt to fit in space for buttons. It annoys my eyes when I look at it too closely, but maybe you’re more forgiving than me?
The instructions are amazingly clear EXCEPT for the pocket construction which I had to read about 20 times to make sure I was doing it right.This isn’t a pattern you can just wing it without the instructions as there is a specific order to follow.
I’d suggest not using a fabric that frays or you’ll have to overlock everything and that will affect your finished seams from the outside. The seam allowance is pressed to one side so overlocking both sides of the seam allowances will add bulk and distort the seams when viewed from the front. I pinked the hidden layer of the seam allowance and overlocked the top layer, so from the inside it almost looks like I overlocked everything.
Here’s a back view with no belt buckle. I’m struggling to find one the right size so maybe I’ll just add a buttonhole. Gosh I love that curved yoke.
It’ll be best if I make this up again in a thicker weight fabric as this thin crepe shows my bra straps quite visibly. I have plans for a rose print polycotton version for the summer which should sit nicely.