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V9000 and The Big Vintage Sew-along
Wow I can’t believe my turn on the Vintage Sew-along blogger tour has come around. I hope you like what I have to share. (Sadly I’m back to taking my own pictures. Sorry about that. And the weather was awful so I had to take the pics inside. Extra sorry about that.)
So I became very interested when I saw V9000. It made me think about my version of V1044, probably because of the kimono sleeves. It went on the shortlist (thinking, well surely I’ll be swayed into making one of the other patterns) but I kept coming back to that lovely flat collar and full panelled skirt.
In all honesty I don’t think fully buttoned shirts suit me. I have a very short neck and when I’ve tried them before I just feel claustrophobic. So I thought a high buttoned FLAT collar could be the answer.
As you can tell I rounded the pattern pieces using a French curve and trimmed some height of the rest of the collar (probably too much) to create something a little reminiscent of Marilyn Monroe’s outfit here. I wanted to go for classic black and white but resisted for a pop of colour.
The panelled skirt is great for narrow fabrics while still achieving that full skirted effect and comes together so easily.
In terms of sizing the bodice is a size 8 at the shoulders a 10 around the body and a 14 around the waist. I didn’t adjust the length of the bodice or skirt amazingly. As a shorty I normally reduce the length of skirts as a rule but I really like the length of this dress. It fits fantastically when I wear the right bra – aka not the one from these pics. Isn’t it amazing how much of a difference that makes!
This John Kaldor microfibre is medium weight, glossy and a bit stretchy (like cotton sateen) with the drape of polyester. This print is called Ursula in burgundy and the fabric is from Sew Essential, priced £10.56 per metre.
The fabric print is large and abstract enough to avoid print matching. I think it looks like a papercut in a way. Or a hamsa tattoo?
Then I used plain black polyester from my stash for the collar and the self covered buttons, with a red invisible zip and red thread (almost all of my habby supplies were from Sew Essential in fact). I used some bias binding from my stash to hem the skirt.
Is it just me that overlooked how many awesome John Kaldor prints they have? OMG – I’m going back for some of those other floral and painterly prints. And it’s nice to pick up everything you need for a project in one place.
SO would you make this dress? Or have any of the other patterns from the BVSA Edit caught your fancy? I’d love to know.
Please take a look at the Edit on the Vintage Sewalong site because a proportion of proceeds from the pattern sales are going to a fantastic charity, The Eve Appeal as the work they’re doing into gynaecological cancer detection, education and prevention will surely resonate with the predominantly female sewing community.
Keep looking out for Sew-along posts because there are a lot of talented bloggers still to come and I can’t wait to see their makes. Here’s my moody shot to finish hehehe.
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Pass The Wine – Vogue V1044
Phew, what a project. This is Vintage Vogue 1044, an original 1956–1957 pattern.
I started off thinking of this as a shirtdress, but that seems flippant.
It’s a mid-length dress with a pleated button-front bodice, and has a front and back yoke that extends into kimono sleeves. The skirt is gathered, but also designed with a snap closing in front and inverted pleats.
Everything came together when Kath shared a photo of this pattern on her instagram account. You could have bowled me over when she offered to send me her copy. I had been searching for a very long time for a copy in my size and it was like a dream come true when the post turned up from Australia.
I chose this dress for my Vintage Pattern Pledge as a challenge to myself, to prove I could handle a complex pattern that used vintage techniques. And I think I’ve been pretty successful with it!
The pattern suggests Crepe, Shantung, Batiste or Taffeta but I picked this wine coloured Linen as I knew it would be well suited for the pleated bodice while still having enough drape for the skirt. Plus the colour is lush! Covering buttons for the bodice just seemed like the right choice too. Plus there was Gutermann thread in a perfect colour match.
Taking time and effort with this pattern was very important to me. I made three muslins of the bodice to correct fit and practice the complicated placket instructions.
During a bout of internet research I found some brilliant tips for this dress: I changed the order of some of the steps (e.g. sewing my darts after my pleats and stay stitching my corners before assembling the yoke). I also reinforced the sharp corners where the yoke joined the bodice with squares of silk instead of the suggested seam binding.
The yoke facing is entirely hand-stitched and so was the epic hem (I added some lace trim to the hem for a sweet touch). The visible seams are pinked which gave me the chance to use my Grandma’s pinking shears she used when we sewed as a younger woman.
I was very respectful of the pattern up to a certain point but I just couldn’t get along with the snap front skirt. It gaped and didn’t hang right, and to be honest seemed rather unnecessary. I instead recut a standard skirt and unpicked the right side-seam to hand-sew an invisible zipper.
It’s a shame, but I had to up the exposure on the camera to show the details, the colour is a beautiful rich red. I feel so elegant in this dress. And I’m even happier that the dress matches a pair of shoes I already own, yippee!
I think the only thing I wish I’d done was add pockets. Maybe next time?
Right, pass me the wine. It’s time for a celebratory drink!
