Putting those leftovers to good use . . .

There were a fair amount of scraps leftover from the dress project that used this floral velvet print, although they weren't especially large, but I was determined to find a use for them.  It may be polyester, but that print is just too pretty to waste.

Something made me purchase Vogue 1923 soon after it was released.  I am not a huge fan of a bodysuit, but something about that neckline made me want to have it in my collection.

And after some creative machinations, I managed to cut everything out (although I did have to add an extra seam to one of the larger pattern pieces).  I have also discovered the joys of using a rotary cutter with knits, although I feel that I could use more practice with the technique.

The pattern itself is easy to put together.

And I even managed to use a bit of rayon seam binding with this knit project.  It just feel strange when I get through an entire garment without pulling out a spool of my favorite notion.

As with most knit fabric designs, these projects go together extremely quickly.

I didn't love the instructions regarding the finishing of the bodysuit closure, so I just went ahead and did my own thing.

And it worked.

The coverage on the back half of the bodysuit is slightly strange.  It's not full coverage - perhaps it's trying to be more of a "cheeky" style panty.  I would prefer an old school 1970s full coverage bodysuit style or a thong - the in between is giving the silhouette a bit of an identity crisis.

The one thing that I forgot about (probably because I never make anything like this) is that I need to add length to the midriff part of my torso as well as from waist to lower hip.  Well, I forgot to do that second alteration, and because my fabric choice has slightly less stretch than is suggested for the pattern, and the fact that I have a long torso, the bodysuit was just a bit too short.

After being grouchy about my mistake for a bit, I decided the easiest fix would be to add a small section of fabric to extend the length between the snaps.

Which, I am pleased to report, saved the garment.

Considering that this project was a test of the pattern, more than anything else, and that my fabric choice did not have the proper percentage of stretch, the end result turned out quite well.

I did have plans to make another version with a stretchy rayon knit at the time I finished the project, but one thing or another distracted me.  Now that I am going through these photos, I think I may have to revisit the idea.

Elegant Comfort

I suppose the question is, does this dress look exactly like the velvet version?

And yes, it's pretty obvious, right down to coordinating color stories. 

But honestly, I don't mind having two of these dresses in my wardrobe.

What I found interesting is that I didn't notice that extra length just above the back waist with that velvet fabric.

If I look really, really closely at the photos of the velvet dress, I can see a small bit of wrinkling, but that might be due to the rotation or angle of my body.  It could also have something to do with the fact that the velvet fabric is slightly more slick than the interior of this sweater knit.

I don't work with knit fabrics all that often, and I did contemplate doing a flat back adjustment or a swayback adjustment, but decided that since there was no waist level seamline, it would be unnecessary.

Seeing these photos, perhaps one of those alterations would improve the wrinkling at the back waist.  Then again, maybe I'm overthinking it.

Because this really is an incredibly comfortable and easy to wear dress, and I am certainly happy to have it in my closet, with or without a few fit wrinkles.

Dress:  Made by me, Vogue 1907
Earrings:  Vintage
Shoes:  Vince Camuto "Alinkay" Boot 

Sweater Knits

This is the first version of Vogue 1907 that I made.  I decided that it was time to try this pattern that had caught my attention as soon as it was released before I got distracted by something new and shiny.  It feels a bit late in the season to post a sweater knit, long sleeved garment . . . then again, it was hailing and cold two days ago so I am going to call this seasonally appropriate!

This particular sweater knit had been taking up a whole lot of space in my sewing room for at least 9 or 10 years.  I have pulled it out a few times, but it never seemed like the right project for the fabric - I think it was waiting for this dress pattern.  I used the same fabrication in a slightly different color back in 2011 to make the Vogue dupe of the Roland Mouret "Galaxy" dress.  Although this fabric is a knit, I just used it in place of a woven, including lining it with a bemberg rayon.

This time around, I figured the textile deserved to be used as it was originally intended . . . as a knit.  Part of my reservation about the fabric was that the wrong side of the fabric just seemed odd to me, and my first inclination was to cover it up with a lining.  It's not scratchy or uncomfortable, it just feels very different than the brushed side of the fabric.

One thing to note with this design is that the bodice pieces are very short.  I added a bit of length and I am glad that I did.

Other than that modification, I did shorten the sleeve length significantly.  In the end, I probably shouldn't have done this quite as much as I did.  The fact that the puffed sleeve is set slightly in from the edge of the shoulder made me think that it was drafted extra long, but it's not.

And here is another project that allowed me to use my serger.  I don't use this machine very much, so it feels good to give it a bit of a workout every once in a while.

Because of the look of the fabric, I decided to hand hem both the skirt hemline as well as the sleeve.  I think that a strong topstitched line would have looked odd.

The final adjustment that I made was to lengthen the collar by one inch.  I didn't love the look of the collar on the pattern envelope and so I wanted to have just a bit more fabric to drape along the neckline so the collar didn't look chintzy.  It's not a huge change, but I am happy that I decided to make that adjustment.  

Other than a couple of minor changes to the pattern pieces, this project went together very easily.

The pattern is given the "Very Easy" rating, and I tend to agree.  This dress goes together with a minimal amount of effort but looks quite put together.

It's also extremely easy to wear, so I believe that this garment will be a popular choice on those colder days when I can't be bothered to spend any time getting ready but need to look presentable.  I would absolutely recommend this pattern and frankly, I'm not sure why more people aren't making this one!

Cabbage Roses on a Field of Velvet

I thought that a floral themed velvet was an appropriate outfit choice for a day at the Legion of Honor to see the Botticelli exhibit, and so the first outing for this dress just happened to be at a museum.

The day was rather gloomy with quite a bit of rain, but my Mom and I made the journey to San Francisco to spend the afternoon exploring the galleries.

My main reservation about this dress was the fiber content.  I am not a fan of polyester, and I avoid it as much as I can.  But I was stuck on the thought that this design would look great in a floral velvet, and since the pattern requires a knit fabric, it was impossible to find anything that fit the bill other than polyester.

I have been wearing a silk slip under this dress, so it minimizes the amount of polyester that I feel on my skin, and while I can't say whether it's this particular fabric, or the fact that I'm wearing an underlay, it's less plasticy than I was expecting.  So that's a relief.

As for the changes that I made to this version of Vogue 1907, they are minimal to the overall look, so anyone who has an eye for style lines would easily be able to tell that they are the same pattern.  But I do think playing around with the design was worth the extra effort.

The addition of the band that extends into a tie at center back stitched into the underbust seam works very well.

As for the sleeves, I shouldn't have shortened the length quite as much.  The shoulder seams sit slightly in, and the length of the pattern piece made me think that it was going to be extremely long.

That aside, the pointed sleeve hem does work.  The point has a tendency to rotate slightly toward the outside of my hand, so if I was to do this again, I might cheat the point a bit away from the center line.

But I think that I will leave it for now.

And I really do love the colors and the print, and the silhouette is really easy to wear . . . so overall, this was a successful project.

Dress:  Made by me, Vogue 1907
Earrings:  Nicky Butler
Shoes:  Royal Vintage

Floral Velvet

This is the second version of Vogue 1907 that I have made and I posted a lot of the process over on Instagram.  I'm not all that proficient with knits, but I was drawn to this pattern when it was released, and I decided to finally get to it with a sweater knit that I had in the stash for a long time.  And then things got complicated with Mr. Tino.

I went to work with essentially no sleep that Friday, and finally managed to exhaust myself enough during the day to fall asleep for more than a few hours that evening.  When I woke up Saturday, I knew that I needed something to keep me distracted, and my hands busy.

This project seemed like a good option where nothing was too complicated or was going to be super involved.  I also feel like this print reminded me of two dresses from the late 90s, one printed rayon velvet Nostalgia brand dress that Elaine from Seinfeld would have felt right at home in, and one rayon challis print that I made early on in my garment making journey with a winding oversized rose pattern.  Velvet also seemed comforting in some way, even if this knit is polyester, and I don't have the greatest history with velvet sewing projects going my way . . . but my grief-addled brain wasn't really thinking in a logical way.

I did finally get around to trying a rotary cutter with a knit on my cutting mat that hadn't ever seen a blade, and used pattern weights that I picked up last year at an estate sale.  I am not completely sold on the technique, but it does give a nice clean edge, so maybe I just need to give the rotary cutter another chance.

As with every other knit fabric I have stitched together (with the exception of my Alabama Chanin inspired outfits) I used my machine to stitch the seam and then went back with the serger to trim a small amount off the edge to keep that cut edge from rolling.

I suspected that this knit velvet textile might be a bit less problematic to work with than a silk or rayon velvet, and I was right.  There wasn't a lot of fighting to keep edges even as it fed through the machine, although it was not quite as well behaved as a crisp woven cotton, for instance.

Instead of that plastic stuff that I have seen used to stabilize knits at the shoulder seam, I like to use a length of rayon seam binding, since I have plenty of that stuff on hand.

The fabric also gathered down nicely, even with the added bulk of the velvet nap.

Since I just made this dress in a similar color (although it is a solid) I wanted to do something slightly different with this version.

The first thought that came to mind was to add a point to the sleeve cuff.  I extended the sleeve by drafting a small addition to the pattern piece.  To finish that new shaped edge, I cut a duplicate of that addition and used it as a facing piece after adding a lightweight fusible interfacing.

The skirt came together easily with the same technique of stitching with a narrow zig-zag on the sewing machine, and finishing the edges with a serger.  The sweater knit did not drop on the bias, but I made sure to give this velvet a chance to stretch before hemming it.  Turns out, this one didn't need any evening out, either.

After leaving the skirt to hang on the dress form, it was time to get back to the bodice.

As with the previous version, I extended the collar by an inch, just because the versions shown on the pattern envelope made the collar look slightly chintzy, in my opinion.  Having just a bit more fabric to pool around the neckline worked fine, and I think I prefer it this way.

I was curious to see how this would look on the dress form, but this was probably a mistake.  Stretching the unfinished lower edge over the wider part of the form stretched the fabric slightly so that it wanted to curl under.  This made attaching the bodice to the skirt slightly more aggravating than it would have been had I not stretched that lower edge prior to stitching the seamline.  But that's just something to remember for next time.  And I suppose it depends on the textile, because the sweater knit didn't do this.

For the second change to the pattern, I wanted to add a band to the high waisted seamline that would extend into two ties and would drape down the back of the dress.

I cut two ties on the bias (not certain that the bias was necessary considering that this is a stretch fabric) and folded it wrong sides together.  At this point, I was unsure how much length that I wanted, so I wrapped the pieces around the dress form to get an idea of how large I wanted the bow, and how much length I wanted for the ties.

The portion of the ties that would drape down the back were finished, while the section that would be sandwiched in the waist seamline were left raw.

The remaining raw edges were serged and hand stitched into place for the sleeve facing hem, and the skirt hemline.

While this dress clearly resembles the previous version, both in color and style, I am glad that I made a floral velvet version.

I have already worn this dress twice in the last couple of weeks, and it makes an easy-to-wear, yet still put together outfit which is always nice for the dreary Winter weather.  Am I suddenly sold on polyester?  Absolutely not.  But this print was special enough to make an exception for . . . and since I always plan on wearing a silk slip underneath, the feel of the synthetic material is made a lot more bearable.

And while I desperately miss my furry companion interrupting my sewing progress throughout the day and reminding me to take a break, having something to focus on is extremely helpful (although maybe not the healthiest way of coping).  I am still struggling in moments where I am not multitasking at work, or completely distracted by something else other than missing his little face and tiny warm body keeping me on the couch, whether I liked it or not.  Thank you to everyone for your lovely words about my little man.  My world has changed, although I am extremely mindful of the fact that I wouldn't trade the sixteen-plus years I had with him for anything.