Vogue 1343 Tracy Reese Dress

I've just finished this dress by Tracey Reese.  I really like the details in this design, but in case you are the type to scroll over posts let me do you all a favour and say DO NOT BUY THIS PATTERN!

Vogue 1343

The details are great

The skirt is great

The back is great

The instructions are even really good and give you a nice finish on the inside (not so good when you need to rip it all out)

BUT

The drafting for the bodice front is appallingly BAD.  Seriously the drape on the cowl was heading towards my waist and although the bodice is meant to be loose fitting I don't think this is what the designer intended!

I know lots of people have trouble with the amount of ease in the Big 4 patterns and I have been one of them, but I have generally found Vogue designer patterns to be at least consistent, and especially within the pattern.  It feels like the front got mixed up with a different grading system entirely.

In Vogue's defence I used a knit (one of the recommended fabrics is a matte jersey which I think must mean a stable not very stretchy jersey, like a double knit) and I did not cut it on the bias, although I suspect it would have come to my knees if I had.  And in my defence, the only review I can find had exactly the same problems, I bet there are a lot of unfinished versions out there too.  Interestingly Merche has just had similar unexpected sizing issues with a Rachel Comey pattern so maybe something weird is going on at Vogue.  Anyway I used a combination of the fixes used by the pattern reviewer and Merche to come up with this.

The fabric is a camel & black printed jersey, and for those of you who wanted me to pair my last outfit with red accessories, your advice didn't completely fall on deaf ears, wearing a pop of red with these colours helps bring the dress to life.

Hopefully I've convinced you not to try this, but if you do I really recommend using a cowl front from a different pattern.  After making my changes I really didn't have the heart to do all the neat finishing on the inside again so I changed the construction.  Briefly the changes I made were;

• First I tried to not have to undo all the perfectly finished yokes so I took it up at the shoulder seams by at least 2 inches and reshaped the armhole a bit to compensate.  This helped but more was needed if I wanted to ever move in this dress without flashing everything to the world.
• Begrudgingly unpicked the front yokes and front facings
• Added an elastic casing to the front bodice
• Shortened the front yokes by another inch or so
• Joined them at the neck edge so I had a finished edge there and serged them onto the bodice front
• Applied a facing strip to the back neck edge
• Serged the shoulder seams and applied facings to the armholes

So all in all a very frustrating project and I'm glad it's over and that I managed to rescue the dress.  I feel all wound up just from typing this!

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;