Vogue 8766 with Some Modifications

This is my first attempt at a trial for a wedding dress pattern.  I found some seriously cheap fabric (like a dollar a yard), so I thought I would give Vogue 8766 a shot as a possible pattern.

 

I made it out of two layers.  One was a white satin and the other was a see-through material with some pretty black flowers.  The original pattern has a round neckline at the front, but I decided to make mine square.

And I also have a nice piece of lace that has a beautiful edge that I want to show, so I have to make either pleats or gathers, so against my better judgement, I made gathers.  Which is basically just taking a rectangle of fabric for the skirt. And once again, I hate gathered skirts.  

 

I had to put a large gros grain ribbon on the waist just to make it look ok.  If The ribbon wasn't there, it was just too puffy right around the only feature I usually want to highlight - my waist.  I drown in the fabric and it feels uncomfortable.

 I wanted the ribbon to be fairly tight and smooth, so I made the band with some heavy-weight velcro instead of tying it, then made the bow separately and made it attach with more velcro.  In hindsight, maybe just a simple sash would have worked, but it was a fun project and the bow always stays perfect.

The bottom line

This is not the pattern I will use for my nice lace.  I want to show off the edge of the edge, but gathers aren't going to be a solution.  I don't really love this dress.  Back to the drawing board.  I love the waist seems of a circle skirt, but that won't work for the edge.  Pleats may have to be a solution.

I did manage to wear the address for some photos we took for our wedding Web site.  Not really engagement photos, but something for people to see as the RSVP.  A friend of ours is a photographer and I was lucky enough to find out she wanted to try out a new lens.  These photos are taken in downtown Phoenix.  Message me if you need a wonderful photographer - I especially love what she did in the last photo. 

 

New Project - A Wedding Dress

After 6 months, I am finally able to sew again. I had to pack up my sewing room while we were fixing up our house to sell it and keep it in storage while we were selling. It actually sold to the very first person who looked at it, but until the deal is finished, you still show the house, so the process took many months.  It is exhausting to constantly be living in a showroom. I also completely underestimated how creepy it is to have strangers in your house when you are not there. I would see little stuff randomly moved around, lights left on or off, footprints in the carpet. Nothing dramatic, but still, people you don't know are touching your stuff. It has an ick factor for me.

We are now renting an apartment and are since it is no longer a showplace, I finally got my sewing machines out of storage and am focused on a new project - I am going to sew my wedding dress for our wedding in May.

I have been drooling over two different dresses.  This one, I found on the Vogue Patterns Facebook page.

I love the champagne colored ribbon.  It really makes the dress.  It looks like there is a clasp at the front, which I think is a clever plan for not having to tie the ribbon by hand.  You can sew a perfect bow and then just attach it like a belt.  I am thinking I could add a little elastic to the sides of the knot under the bow, as well.  You can find a picture of the dress on Vogue's blog, as well.

 

 It is so pretty.  I love the lace sleeves and the buttons in the back.  Apparently, the person who sewed it used this pattern from Vintage Vogue V1084.

 And I can't find it on a blog anywhere, but it looks like there have been some serious adjustments to the pattern.  The front neckline looks lowered, the back bow has been taken out and replaced with buttons and a slip underneath looks like it was made into a camisole and attached.

The next dress I saw online was this one from  BHLDN.  The price is listed at $1,300 (on sale!).  It is a way above my price range and that makes buying it not an option, but just look at it.

 

For the BHLDN dress, I think it is closer to V8766, which I have sewn twice - once in view C, (the strapless version) and once in view F, which I made from a stretch knit.  The advantage to using this pattern is that I would only have to add some narrow straps for the slip, then sew the other view in lace and combine them.

The BHDLN dress might also be close to B5748.  I have sewn view B before and was fairly happy with the results.  With this one, I'd  make some adjustments to the skirt, since a circle skirt won't work with the border on the lace.

 

I bought seven yards of lace with a nice border. I also bought some champagne colored charmeuse for the slip.  It is so pretty in person, but the photo doesn't do it justice.  I don't normally spend very much on fabric, but I had to make an exception for the lace.  It was almost 30.00 a yard.  It seems very reasonable for this kind of lace, but way above what I usually spend. 

My next task is to make a trial dress in some much cheaper fabric. I don't want to cut into my nice fabric right away.  I have a couple of different options that I picked up on sale.  I can't decide which pattern I will start with - maybe it will be a combination of all three.  With any luck, I could end up with a nice cocktail dress.  To be continued...

V8766 - Retro-Feel Dress

This is V8766.  I made another dress in a printed Lycra.  I am really gearing up for the holiday eating season. It is super-stretchy and comfortable.  There will be no stopping me at holiday meals.

 

 I have made V8766 before.  I made the strapless version in a black and white print.  I love that version, but I have never worn it out of the house.  I just don't go to a lot of events that would require a strapless dress.  If we could reclassify going to work or the grocery store, I could say that I go to LOTS of those events. 

 I sewed view F from the pattern.  It is unlined and all seams are serged.  The only things I changed was to add a three and 1/2 inch band at the bottom of the dress, an inch and 1/2 band around the sleeves.  I sewed a removable belt in the same fabric as the bands.  

 The belt is made of heavy-weight pellon stuffed inside a tube of the pink lycra fabric.  I slip-stitched the open end of the tube, did a quick iron to stick the interfacing to the fabric and added some stick-on velcro.  There are probably better ways to make a belt, but this was quick and has the look of a sewn-in waist band.

 

 The skirt is a half-circle skirt.  The result is retro-esque without the miles of fabric that have made my past dresses so impractical for every day wear.

I actually wore this one to work already.  I work in a male-dominated industry (I'm a computer geek) and my wardrobe doesn't generally get any attention or comments.  Which is actually just fine.  I don't want to stand out for that.  Except this time, I got one comment from my boss who looked at me when I walked in his office and said, "Oh!  That's pink!" then he changed the subject.  WTF.  I have no idea what that means. 

Now I am paranoid. Is it inappropriately pink?  It is an odd dress to wear to work?   Who knows.  I am not sure I'll wear it to work again, but it is still a good holiday eat-fest dress and I liked this pattern.  It is quick and simple.  Only the neckline on the bodice is different from a sloper, but I like the simplicity.

Oh! That's pink!

Details:

3.5 yards of polka dot Lycra on sale = 10.50

.5 pink lycra = 1.50

.25 yards heavy weight interfacing - 1.50

TOTAL= $13.50

Strapless Black and White Dress V8766

This dress is from view C of Vogue 8766.  I chose a silky synthetic fabric for the fashion fabric and lined it in a white apparel lining.

This picture is actually the second attempt at the dress.  For the first attempt, I used lining, fashion fabric and boning as the pattern directed, but it just wasn't thick enough fabric to make this look work.  It was droopy and looked strange.  (I wish I had photos, but I didn't take any)

I left the dress hanging in the guest bedroom closet, unhemmed and semi-finished and was disappointed that I would never wear it and didn't know how to fix it.  Then, I took an online sewing course that dealt with bodice construction (the Bombshell Dress) and I learned a few techniques that very much helped for this dress.

One of the things I picked up from the Bombshell dress course was to  make a more constructed garment and how to reinforce the fashion fabric with another layer of fabric.  For the bombshell dress, it was a layer of muslin sewn to the fashion fabric.

I took apart the dress, which I knew was the best thing if I ever wanted to wear it, but it was still a little painful...  I sewed a layer of muslin to the fashion fabric and used them as if they were one layer.  It made all the difference! Voilà!  No more droop. 


Still, the only thing I don't like about the dress... it isn't fitted in the bodice.  Although there is boning in it and it has a layer of muslin and lining, so it holds up vertically, it doesn't really hug the curves.   It makes the girls look pretty flat from the side. I would have liked the front more rounded and fitted around them (I mean, if you are going to bother to take them out to a party, you should cradle them)

I would make the dress again, but pay more attention to the princess seams on the front.  Either the pattern needs adjusting or I may not have sewn them correctly. Or the boning needs to be adjusted so it doesn't flatten the front out.  Or, I just need to make a smaller size... or just make small bust (sigh) adjustments.

The inside of the dress.  It was really tough to get the zipper in straight with the slippery material.  I had to sew it in then take it out several times.

Overall, I like the dress and would make the pattern again.  I may make one of the other views with sleeves next time.  I like the look of the lace on the view F.  I would like to try that.  Plus, the strapless version ends up looking so dressy that it looks strange if you just wear it out for fun.  This is not a "I'm heading out for coffee on a Sunday morning" dress, but view F of the pattern could be with a different fabric choice.