Vogue 9021: it's all about the sleeves

I'm still playing catch up to blog all my completed projects - here's a dress I finished in January and have worn quite frequently since then. This is Vogue 9021 - a simple fitted sheath dress with rather dramatic cut on sleeves.

Those sleeves are my favourite feature of this dress, but unfortunately if you make this pattern according to the pattern the armholes are so low they practically extend down to your waistline and give a clear view of your chest every time you lift your arms. When I made this dress previously I extended the side seam up much higher, so I did that adjustment from the outset this time.

Those sleeves however make it difficult to wear a jacket or cardigan over the top so I'm not sure I'll wear this dress much over the winter. The fabric is an Atelier Brunette viscose that I bought online from the Maai Design on line shop after seeing so many people use this fabric. The fabric is a lot thinner than I expected, and a bit transparent so I fully lined this dress in a thin navy blue cotton poplin.

I have to admit that I bought this fabric purely because of FOMO - I saw so many great garments popping up in my Instagram feed that I simply had to have some. But now that I've made it into a dress, even though it's a pattern that I love, I just feel a bit blah about it. I can't quite decide whether it's because the print feels a bit 1980s to me or whether I just feel a bit frumpy in this, but either way I don't love it as much as this palm print version I made from a cotton sateen last year:

I didn't buy much of this fabric because it's on the pricier side, so I didn't have enough fabric to spare to pattern match at the seams. It's such a busy print that I doubt it's noticeable at all to someone who doesn't sew.

 
In terms of the pattern it really is very simple and definitely deserves to be in the Very Easy Vogue category. I did grade between sizes as usual - smaller at the top and larger at the bottom, and thanks to the waistline with darts it is easy to get a close fit at my sway back.

 

Vogue 8667 - finally got there

Every so often I glance at my UFO pile and think about finishing some of those projects languishing in it. Well finally I have finished one after several attempts and it is such a relief to get it done to a wearable stage!

This is Vogue 8667, a princess seamed dress with a rolled collar and a skirt options. Looks pretty simple right? I had originally set out to make view E - the straight skirt and short sleeved version.

I don't know why it took me so long to finish this - I just kept losing steam at every hurdle. Firstly I should have measured the flat pattern pieces more carefully to make sure I sewed the right size, because it turned out way too big. So I set it aside for a while to think about it. A few months later I picked it up again and pin fitted it while wearing it - I had to take the dress in quite substantially at the sides to make it fit across the bust. I also flattened the bust curve to make a faux small bust adjustment.

But once I had made that change the sleeve would no longer work - it was too big to fit into the now much smaller armhole opening, but making the sleeve narrower made it too tight to fit my arms! So away it went again for a few more months. Finally in January this year I decided to either finish it or scrap it, but thankfully it worked out. I changed the sleeve to a cap sleeve so I could get the shoulder coverage but not the tight feeling around my bicep - it all worked out in the end phew!

But the real star of this dress is the rolled neckline. I love the wide neckline and stand up collar - I feel very ladylike when wearing this, but it does make it hard to wear a jacket or cardigan over it.

I've left the collar at the back to splay open above the top of the zip. It is meant to have a hook and eye at the collar roll line (ie at the halfway point of collar) to make it stand up slightly, but I knew from past experiences with this type of collar that the hook and eye never stay closed and my hair tends to get caught in it instead.

The other design aspect I like about this pattern is the waist seam - it helps get a neater fit for my swayback. It causes pattern disruption at the waist line of course, but in a busy print like this it's barely noticeable but you can see from the side view that the fit is quite tailored.

The back view is rather plain and simple, with just a small walking vent

So even though it took me a very long time to finish this dress, I'm glad I didn't give up on it and preserved until the end. I really can't explain why I had no enthusiasm for this particular project - the fabric is a lovely double knit from the Remnant Warehouse in a great teal and lilac coloured print and I do love the design lines of the pattern. I guess that sometimes you just need to be in the right frame of mind.