Lilacs & Lace: Vogue 8814

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Peacock Feathers

I often skip over the non-designer selections of the Vogue catalogue only to find numerous finished examples appearing all over the internet that are absolutely fabulous. I am trying to train myself to look past the unfortunate styling choices that get printed on the pattern envelopes, and head straight for the line drawings.

This was how I happened upon Vogue 8814. And believe it or not, this pattern is rated “Easy” by Vogue.

Vogue 8814

When I first looked at the pattern, and saw all of those wonderful v-shapes, I supposed that a lot of lapped seams and top-stitching was in my future. Somehow I managed to miss those center seams. Whoops! Although, the dress could certainly be put together with lapped seams to give it a more vintage look, or with some contrasting thread colors for a fun contemporary look.

This fabulous rayon challis was purchased with an entirely different dress in mind, for last week’s Vegas challenge over at The Sew Weekly. Instead of wearing a feathered headdress, I decided that the peacock feathers would work just as well on a dress.

I pictured an easy-to-wear maxi. However, the pattern repeat just did not look quite right to me when I laid it out on the sewing table. It was a risk, but I decided that randomly cutting it up would actually make the feathered motifs look better on a long dress.

I managed to miss the fact that the entire dress is lined. Now, that is a whole lot of extra fabric. I did have some matching bemberg in the stash (enough to line the entire dress) but the challis is a mid-weight fabric and lining that entire skirt was going to make for one heavy dress.

At the last minute, I decided that I wanted to add a bit more structure to the bust. I do not actually remember purchasing the bra cups, but there they were in my notion drawer (I must have purchased them during a 50% off JoAnn sale at some point). I had to use the seam ripper to get back into the finished lining, but I am glad I took the extra step.

And you may have noticed that the neckline is a bit different than the line drawing. Against my better judgment, I used the C-cup pattern piece instead of the B, and so I had too much space up top. Instead of ripping everything apart, I just hand-sewed the center seam up an extra couple of inches.