Stepping out of the comfort zone... Vogue 9112

I have been eyeing off Vogue 9112 for awhile and watching peoples makes around the interwebs.  I like the collar, the loose styling and the quirky piecing details but wasn't sure about the bell like effect if made in a firmer weave.  So in my quest for cool, loose dresses for summer, I though I should give it a shot.

I found a lovely rayon crepe (I think?) from The Fabric Store in Brisbane.  It is a good weight and a lovely drape but I wasn't sure how it would all go together.

My biggest hassle with the pattern was the sizing.  Using bust size I should be a large going by the sizing chart.  However I know enough about Vogue sizing that I bought the Xsmall-Small-Medium pattern size.  I then checked the finished bust size on the pattern piece and was still scratching my head about what size to choose.  The small would have been too snug at the bust but the medium had way more ease at the bust than I thought I needed.  I was a bit stuck.  They define Medium as a size 12-14 but it is obviously aimed right at the 14 and I think a 12 would have been the size I need (and the one I generally have made in Vogue patterns previously). 

I didn't want to make a muslin so I did the good old Palmer Pletsch tissue fit.  Taped the armholes and pinned the 2 front pieces and two back pieces together.  It seemed to fit alright across the bust but looked way too wide at the shoulders (particularly on the back armholes).  So I adjusted the pattern pieces for that by taking some width out of the armhole front and back.  I did have that thought that I find tissue fitting often gives a false impression of size, and it may be too big still, but at least it was within cooee of getting a reasonable fit.

So I cut out the gazillion pieces which took forever and got stuck into it.  The sewing is quite fun as it is like sewing puzzle pieces together.  If you make this dress watch you mark all the match points and keep your pattern pieces out as there are so many of them you will miss some!

The front and the backs are pieced and then sewed together at shoulder and side seams.  I tried it on for size at this point and I did need to take it in at the bust.  So I ran it in from the armhole to about the first notch.

My next challenge was the collar.  My fabric was not going to work in this collar but I had cut it anyway as I like the collar and thought it would be a bit plain without it.  It would not hold the height of the collar with the drape in my fabric and also the wrong side would show.  So I sewed the tucks in as per the pattern and pinned the collar to the dress, whereupon it pretty much collapsed as I expected it would.  So after a bit of head scratching I simply folded the collar RS together (folding along the length of it) and sewed the collar ends.  I then flipped it out and pressed, basted the raw edges together and attached the collar as per the instructions.  However I could not see the need to use the facing so I overlocked the seam together , pressed the seam toward the body and stitched it down.

My collar now is basically half the height of the collar but I like it as the higher collar probably would not have suited me as my neck is not very long.

So I am pretty happy with the outcome and think I will get a bit of wear out of this dress.  I don't think I will ever make another one though as it is quite distinctive.  So I want to pass the pattern on to someone.  If anyone in Australia (sorry not willing to pay for OS postage) wants it please let me know in the comments.  The pattern is cut at the Medium but I have tried to keep all the lines.  I have also narrowed the shoulder (taken width off at the armholes) a bit on the pattern pieces.  If  more than one person expresses interest I will do a draw.  I would like to mail it next week, so let me know by Monday 11th Jan if you are interested.  

My review is here.

One more pic to show the breezy nature of this rayon fabric...

Ciao kittens, please let me know if you are interested in having this pattern.  I am in de-clutter mode and would love to pass it on to someone rather than have it sit here in a box gathering dust.