Wednesday 1 February 2012

Permission to sew silk. Vogue 8728 dress the third

I was quite taken with Carolyn's comment concerning rewarding oneself (with special fabric naturally) for using burdensome stash, particularly as I was thinking the same thing myself after my excursion into stash busting. Why merely have a thrifty halo for making scrappy placemants when you could have a silk dress from the same stash?
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Here is another Vogue 8728,
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I thoroughly enjoyed sewing this dress. I took it very slowly, finishing the seams with binding (Liberty at the shoulders and self fabric at the side seams),
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adding lingerie straps (bias tubes with snap fasteners) during construction and finishing the silk organza waist lining by hand so that there were no exposed messy edges.
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I also finished the shoulder/sleeve hems with the tiniest-possible-for-me rolled hems by hand (thanks Sherry, for your excellent tutorial, but don't look too closely at my stitching) so that the dress would not look exactly like my other two, having a slightly more fluttery and longer sleeve.
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I used self piping at the waist insert again, this time lengthening the upper bodice by 1cm first, which dramatically improved the fit in comparison to the Liberty lawn version (thanks again Sherry, for the constructive comment).
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I finished the hem by hand, a project that added another week to the construction of my dress and in my opinion looks no better than using the machine blind hem - due no doubt to my lack of skill.
I was also waiting for fabulous photos of this dress on me, just like I am waiting for this to happen with my leather jacket,but decided my posting would become very scanty if I was to insist on fabulous photos for every project (or maybe any project).
I think it looks pretty good in real life, and you will just have to take my word for it after viewing the vaguely representative photo at the top of the post.

Mary Nanna has challenged me to make a wool coat. She probably did not know she was doing this, by merely mentioning the limp wristedness of Auckland quality winters, but I have taken it that way. Surely everyone who lives in the subtropics should make a wool coat in high summer? They should knit a wool blanket too......Maybe another silk dress would be a better idea. I am taking my husband out to lunch this Friday in honour of the first one. It needs an outing.

27 comments:

Summer Flies said...

That style is sooo flattering on you! I loved the other versions but you are right, this one is really lovely. I hope you have a nice lunch!

Christy said...

This looks wonderful. Great work!

Anonymous said...

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PLEASE SEND RED DRESS ASAP TO LONDON STOP YOUR TRUE FRIEND EJVC STOP

Carolyn said...

Stunning! This colour is amazing on you; you look radiant! Such a pretty flattering style too...I hope you have a gorgeous romantic lunch together

liza jane said...

He should be taking you out to lunch! Your dress is gorgeous. Very flattering. And so nicely made, too!

Karin said...

You look gorgeous in this dress! The style suits and so does the colour. The extra details, like piping really make the whole project sing.

Ruth said...

Beautiful dress with the inside as good as the outside. Enjoy lunch!

shams said...

LOL. you are soo funny!

Anyway, that dress is gorgeous and gorgeous on you!!

The Slapdash Sewist said...

Beautiful dress! I just love that self-piping, and the organza midriff stay is a nice, luxe touch.

Anonymous said...

This turned out very pretty! Hmmmm....silk broadcloth, another type of fabric to hunt down.

Sheryll said...

So beautiful! You look amazing in this dress, all three? versions have been awesome. I had to laugh at ejvc's comment!
I'm glad the piping trick helped - I'm loving that finish at the moment, it is really worth the effort.

prttynpnk said...

This is too frisky and lovely! I'll bet shipping costs to me are much cheaper than London...hint, hint....

Tanit-Isis said...

What a lovely idea! I need to sew down the stash before we move next summer---I like the idea of getting a (tangible) reward for it, though ;).

And that dress totally deserves a luncheon out with the husband. I've been thinking I need to make a nice, pretty dress for me---especially since coats seem to be a bit beyond me right now. Hmm.

Clio said...

Beautiful! I think every detail was worth the effort!

velosews said...

That's a pretty dress and it does need an occasion so good on you for creating one. You do such beautiful work.

Sharon said...

Gorgeous dress and silk, excellent reward. Beautiful details on this dress and have a wonderful lunch with DH.

Mary Nanna said...

Beautiful dress, so glad to see silk being liberated from the prison of stash.

Oh I am totally with you on the wool coat and already have my next one planned. I have found woolen coats can be worn unbuttoned for several months of the cool season.

I have a hilarious back issue of Burda from the early 90's with "summer wool" dresses claiming that wools amazing breathing qualities make it suitable for summer wear. I don't know about you but I'm feeling enabled already.

.. I often feel that my garments are so much nicer in person than with the backdrop of weeds taken in 2 seconds with flat hair and no make up.. but my compromise solution these days is to feel entitled to crop out head on manky hair days or dorky grimace days and to take photos of the garment details flat, without me in it, which makes it much easier to get a nice shot of something. It's that or never.

katherine h said...

Lovely dress! So nice to have a TNT pattern you can turn to for special fabrics. Enjoy your lunch.

Sue said...

Great dress - interesting fabric - love silk! Getting photos I think is the hardest part of blogging! That is why I have had so many on the dress makers dummy lately.

Mary said...

You are a picture of style and lovliness...enjoy your lunch on Friday.

Paola said...

That style on you looks fab, and is truly worthy of a nice piece of silk.

Janine said...

sigh - what a beautiful dress - that style and colour really suit you - hopefully you get to go out every Friday just so you can wear this. ( PS hope the floods are not near you )

Anonymous said...

This is really lovely on you! Between the pattern (which I can totally see why you've sewn up 3 times) and the colour, you look gorgeous in it.

Being silk, it must be equally yummy to wear :-)

Definitely deserving of a lunch date!

fabric epiphanies said...

That is a very pretty dress. The style really suits you.

sewing spots said...

This is a beautiful dress, both inside and out! You look lovely in it!

Joy said...

Another lovely Vogue 8728!
Re: using scraps vs. using stash fabric you love. I've been thinking lately it makes just as much sense to use your favorites first, since both are sitting there taking up space. It'd be a shame to never end up using the wonderful stuff, but not so sad about the scraps.

MushyWear said...

What a gorgeous rendition of this dress!