Saturday, October 31, 2009

Vogue 8138 - Dress

Well, my 30 minutes a day goal went by the by as I had that head cold to contend with this week so my sewing started again today. I started on Vogue 8138,dress first up. Here it is on Diana, the fashion shoot will come later when I have some more pieces made.

I lined this dress in a skin tone jersey as the main fabric is a mesh-y type knit. The only issue I had with making the dress is that the side seams of the mesh-y outer fabric are pulling up at the side seams. The lining fabric had no such issues, so I don't know why that is. I cannot be bothered to unpick it but have pressed it since this photo and think it will settle down. Should I have stretched the fabric slightly as I sewed it? Any suggestions welcome....

This is the simplest dress to make and lining it was not difficult. I sewed the dress and the lining at the shoulder and side seams, then sewed the two together, right sides together, at the neck edge. Turned then topstitiched the neck edge. I then trimmed the lining at the arm openings the width of the seam allowance and turned the outer fabric over twice and stitched it, catching in the lining. I did pin, then hand baste before I sewed it to ensure it would all be caught in and felt it was worth the extra effort.


I think the instructions tell you to hand sew the hem, but honestly on a simple T-shirt dress like this - why would you bother? I turned up the outer fabric and machine hemmed it and then simply trimmed off the lining to the right length, leaving a raw edge. It ain't going nowhere... Very happy with the outcome and I think I may make some more as this is a good simple dress to pack for my beach holiday as well as for putting on in the evenings after returning from work.

Here is Lulubelle again, continuing the domination of the household... she is sleeping on the dog's pillow (where he sleeps every night!) I don't think he has noticed her there yet!

Happy Halloween! This is not a big thing in Australia, but as it is the night that my husband & I first started going out together it is a date I always remember!

13 comments:

  1. I like your dress Sue. Very nice!

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  2. Lovely dress and love the print. I enjoy sewing simple dresses and will need to aad that pattern to my list.

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  3. Terrific dress. Sorry, I don't have any advice for your side seam problem.

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  4. Hope you feel better so you can enjoy your date night! Love the fabric for the dress! Knits scare me to death and love hearing sewers adventures with them. You make it sounds easy...Can't wait to see the result. I love the wrap on the pattern envelope too!

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  5. Glad you feeling better. Love this dress!.

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  6. I love your dress! It's simple but classy. Your cat is very cute.

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  7. That is a gorgeous dress. I like the idea of sewing 30 minutes per day. Do you include cutting out a pattern as part of the 30 minutes?

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  8. Simple and perfect for the warmer weather - enjoy it!

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  9. That's a very nice dress. And the kitty is adorable :-)

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Love to hear what you think...