Category: Vogue 1407

Me Made May 2016

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May is super busy so I decided to focus on wearing clothes I’ve made but planning my week ahead rather than just throwing on ‘the same old thing’.

This year’s pledge was to wear something I’ve made everyday. ‘Keeping it simple’.
Day 1: Burda Jacket, Vogue jeans and Butterick top 
Day 2: Simplicity 1425 top with my block skirt added to make this dress.
Day 3: Burda Style dress
Day 4: Vogue 1407 
Day 5: Burda style 7828 wrap dress
Day 6: Simple skinny jeans and New Look top

Week 1 was warm so dresses were my go-to work wear. I keep a jacket at my desk to overcome the aircon.

Morning workout set: Steeple chase leggings, New Look top, McCalls jacket

I did 4 morning training sessions and above is my loudest workout set (no makeup).

Day 7: Lace dress using block pattern.

The weekend was social and I still squeezed in a park run on Saturday morning.

Day 7:Steeplechase leggings and New Look top
Day 8: Vicki’s fabric choice using Simplicity 7156 (to be blogged)

This week is a juggle so this is what I’ve worn so far. 

Day 9: Kwik sew dress
Day 10: Burda wrap dress

I have two ‘business casual’ work days this week so this is what I’ve put these aside.

Day 11: Vogue jeans and block pattern top
Day 12: Simplicity skirt and wrap cardi
Day 13: Vogue jeans and New Look wrap top

Training wise, this week is a quite one because Sunday is the half marathon so I’ve done 2 training sessions early this week. My legs need a break because I know I’ll be running for at least 2 hours on the day so that’s it for training hard.


And that gets me through the first two weeks of MMMay 2016.

Vogue 1407 lining

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I’m really pleased some of you loved Vogue 1407. The pattern has lining pieces with the darts included so I had a ‘what if?’ moment. Could I use the lining pieces for a simple ponte dress? Mmm.


Then I grabbed another Tessuti ponte remnant and tested the lining pieces to see what would result?

I’ve sewn in a zipper and used black fold over elastic to finish the neckline and arms.

This unlined ponte dress worked. 
So while the pattern has a distinct dress style to it, I’ve managed to make two dress types from the one pattern.

Minerva make – Updated work look

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Vogue pieced patterns like V1407 are irresistible and Minerva has the right dogtooth print ponte and stretch lining for this dress. 
Here’s a close up of the front binding WIP.

Spring in Australia gives us a few hot burst of Summer to come ie 35C during the day with relatively cooler nights, so Vogue 1407 is the ideal choice.

The test version confirmed the adjustments I needed to make as I didn’t want to ruin the fabric and notions from Minerva Crafts UK.
Noting my basic adjustments on the pattern envelope in pencil.

Adjustments

Roll shoulder, sway back, shortened hems, checking bust darts and straightened the side to match my hip shape were needed. I make these adjustments to just about every pattern.
Lining up the print to match once these pieces were cut out
Vogue pattern provide the actual bust, waist and hip measurements on their patterns and I rely on these so that I know what size to choose. Vogue pattern grading on their patterns help me grade as I go.

Vogue’s instructions are easy to follow and they name the pattern and provide the pattern number in their instructions. This keeps my sewing on the ‘straight and narrow’.

Lining up the centre fronts to match.

The fabrics

I did use Minerva Crafts dogtooth print in my March make work dress. So when I saw this brilliant white and black version, I knew Vogue 1407 would work. And it does.

Lining up the front pieces.

The lining from Minerva Crafts is something I’ve not come across locally before. It’s smooth and has a bit of stretch. The lining was easy to cut and easy to sew. It’s light-weight and sewed nicely but doesn’t add width to the dress. I’ll be bookmarking this fabric for a future knit sewing project.

The finished dress

Lining update 8 November: Here’s a link to it. It comes in 8 colours. Is anti-static – that’s why I like lining knit dresses. And is 60″ wide. So this lining while it has some stretch, won’t ride up your body while you’re wearing this dress.

The dogtooth print has a very strong white against the black contrast. This print is also big enough to see and close enough to match up easily.


Sizing
I used the 14 on my hips and 12 at the waist and bust. Once I got this dress ready to hem I resewed the side seams in so the dress didn’t look baggy and was more form fitting. On both sides of the dress I took out 3cm at the side seams from the bust to the waist. I didn’t want to assume a smaller size. The test dress was a stretchier fabric so I gave the seams some lee way just in case I needed to let out the seams.

Those lines are me twisting and not the dress.
My design feature

The back dress and back dress lining pieces are the same width, but not the same length. Remember that if you cut this dress out and you’re rushing.

Curves

I have curve so I embrace them. On the test version, I noticed the centre back seam hangs correctly but was very ordinary looking. So once I got this dress fitting well on the side seams, I tapered out the centre back seam so that it curves towards me and not away – with Mr V’s approval. Hey, Mr V smiled when I showed him the finished product.

So now I have a Winter and Summer dogtooth print dress. I can safely say the Winter work version was worn quite a bit and was comfortable in the office. I know this Summer version will be too.

Minerva Crafts have now sponsored me each month for a year. Vicky been really kind and supportive every time we’ve ‘spoken’ by email and in real life at the Minerva meetup. Thank you Minerva Crafts.

Tech post – Vogue 1407

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This pattern Vogue 1407 is definitely eye catching. 

source
I liked how it gives the illusion of a waistline. So can you see why I sewed up those shapewear pieces from Jalie and CJ patterns last week? They are my ‘dress insurance’ pieces. 
The other ‘dress insurance’ I needed was to test this dress out with some stash fabric before I cut into my Minerva Crafts fabrics.
The test version has some purple stash fabric with a good amount of stretch, white mystery knit lining and some Tessuti remnant ponte.

Above is the dogtooth print from Minerva Crafts. I was able to lining up the front pieces correctly once I’d made the test dress. 

The problem with the test dress fabric was the purple fabric was very stretchy. There wasn’t much stability in it which is great but not so great when you sew in a zipper. Hence a bit of hand stitching. I could have made it without the zipper but I was testing the pattern – so the zipper stayed.

Lori from Girls in the Garden has made a great version with no zipper.

The zipper was a success. The centre back seam had a curve in it so I didn’t need to adjust it too much more for my curves.

And I think the pattern placement worked too. There were still some additional pattern tweaks to do – roll shoulder, neckline gap and hand stitching the lining on the next version.

So with the pattern sorted, I was ready for the real dress. You’ll see that later this week.