Vogue 1224 Tracey Reese dress - finished

Now that the weather has stopped laughing at me long enough for even thinking about making a summer dress here it is. As always with black clothes it is difficult to see the details I'm afraid.


I realised as I was making this that I had not pre washed the fabric as my hands turned a blue-ish black colour! By then it was too late so I forged ahead, put it in the wash at the end and as with most rayon jersey type fabrics it was fine, actually it looked better, the seams and hems flattened out better than my pressing managed. My hands are back to their normal colour too.

As I mentioned before changes I made to this pattern were:

- Lengthened the skirt by 4 inches, I did not realise that the dress has quite a high waist so it's still a little short for me, next time I'll lengthen by 6 inches.
- Took skirt in a bit at the side seams - not as tight as shown on the model, but I did want a contrast between the very loose top and the straighter skirt
- Shortened the neck elastic piece by around 8 inches
- Ignored the measurement for the waist elastic and just wrapped a length around me

You could make this dress even quicker by eliminating the waist seam and elastic casing and substituting a belt or applying a separate casing. However I do like that the skirt is lined, it gives it a bit of weight and makes this a pattern suitable for thinner knits that I might otherwise only use for tops.



I'm pretty sure this one is going to get a lot of wear over the summer and I'm also sure I will make this again, but a bit longer next time.

Vogue 1224 Tracey Reese dress

Even though the weather hasn't quite decided what to do yet, I am moving onto summer sewing. I'm starting with one of my new Vogue purchases, this Tracey Reese jersey dress.



I'm making it in black for an easy throw it on anytime dress. So far it is very straightforward to sew, but I needed to lengthen the skirt - I added 4 inches and it still looks pretty short, especially as the bodice seems to be quite high waisted too. I'm quite sure the model is somewhat taller than my 5'6 so I think Vogue must have adjusted the proportions of the pattern. I'll have a better idea if it's going to be long enough when the dress is in one piece. Here is the bodice so far;