Vogue 1369 Kay Unger dress

Another doubleknit dress - this time a Vogue pattern by Kay Unger, one of the last batch of new patterns.  This has restored my faith in Vogue designer patterns - or at least in their sizing.  I made my usual size 12 graduating to a 14 at the hips and didn't need to make any alterations to the fit at all.  The suggested fabrics are crepe, crepe back satin and jersey, by which I think they mean something like a doubleknit that has a bit of weight to it.

Vogue 1369

Making it in a knit meant that I could eliminate the back zipper, but I swapped out the back pieces for the plain lining pieces because I wasn't sure that the ruching would work in my fabric.  I'm not even sure it works on the Vogue version either, I quite like the ruching at the back waist, but those folds going into the skirt look a bit strange.  I totally forgot to take photos of the back of my dress, but it has a centre seam and 2 darts to shape the back. 

I really liked the asymmetric detail on the front of the dress, the instructions were good and it was quite easy to make.  

I still don't have any lining suitable for a knit dress so once again I left the dress unlined.  I did however need to cut an undercollar piece in lining so I just used self fabric instead.  This was a mistake as it did mean I had a lot of layers of quite thick fabric in the collar area which would have looked too bulky if they were serged.  I couldn't bring myself to leave them unfinished even though the fabric won't fray - once I had trimmed and clipped the seams it just looked a bit messy.  So I used bias strips of silk and bound the raw edges at the neck and front band, partly by machine and partly by hand.  I also used the same treatment on the armscyes making sure no stitches show on the right side of the dress.  Honestly it would have been quicker to go out and buy some lining or to unpick the collar and redo the undercollar with silk lining - no stretch is needed in that area and it won't show - so don't do what I did!

Anyway I am pleased with how this turned out, I think it looks just like the envelope promises and having it in a doubleknit makes it a really comfortable cocktail dress.  I also plan to wear it with boots and a jacket for more casual (and colder!) occasions.  I haven't seen many reviews of this pattern, but I do recommend it, I can see myself making it again.

Vogue 1303 Kay Unger dress

I made this simple Kay Unger dress recently and I have to say I am totally uninspired by it and I'm not sure why.  I like the fabric and I like the pattern, but the combination together is just very...blah.  If it wasn't for the hot pink lining I might even have dozed off while making it.  I'm thinking (hoping) it's just wrong for the summer and I'll like it better in the cooler weather with boots and a jacket.  Anyway a reminder of the pattern.....

I used a grey jacquard rose printed fabric and as I started working with it I knew I had to make a few changes as it became very soft and stretched like mad on the bias.  That middle pleated section is cut on the bias with a straight of grain stay underneath it - I had to cut off a lot of excess to get the bias piece to fit the stay.  At this point I hurriedly added fusible stay tape to the neckline and armscyes and decided not to make the little v in the front neckline.  I also had to take it in quite a bit at the side seams, but that may have been due to my growing fabric rather than an inconsistency with usual Vogue sizing.

This is the inside front on it's side, you can see the darker printed fabric at the bottom of the photo that I had to trim off the bias pleated front part - a good 3 inches!

I did like that this pattern has no facings, it's just lined to the edges.  I decided to add little cap sleeves, but if you make it sleeveless do make sure you ignore the instructions and instead keep the side and back seam open until after the lining is attached at the neck and armholes.  It's a much cleaner and easier finish, if you're not familiar with this method (like the Big 4 instruction writers apparently!) see Slapdash Sewist's excellent tutorial here.

Hot pink silk lining - aka dressmaking caffeine in this case

Here is the finished dress, it really doesn't help the boring-ness factor that you can hardly even see the only detail on the dress!

OK the post is over, you can wake up now!  Much more exciting is that I am due to go to a wedding in the UK in less than 2 weeks and I decided today that I did want to make a new dress for it after all, lets see how that crazy idea pans out.