June Capsule, Vogue 8379 wrap top

 

the wrap top I made for the June Capsule is morphed from the popular very easy vogue wrap dress pattern 8379. I have previously made 2 versions of the dress, and find them comfortable and flattering to wear. I love the bargello print from Fashionista Fabrics, and had considered making a dress from this fabric, but felt that horizontal stripes should be restricted to my upper half. (also I had used some of the fabric for a jalie sweetheart top). I did not work very hard on the dress pattern to turn it into this top. I had already fitted the bodice with a FBA and widening the sleeve, and have posted about this earlier. This time, I again used view B, without the collar, and lengthening the arms, this time to the wrist, and eliminated the cuff. I lengthened and widened the ties. For the lower part of the bodice, I initially cut out the skirt to the lengthen lines, with a stripe placed at the hem, but this was not successful, being too long and sticking out at the sides. I shortened the "skirt", straightened the side seams, and fiddled about until I had a length I liked. This was much shorter than I initially expected.
In the upper bodice, I did not cut out the fronts on the bias, because I wanted the stripes to remain horizontal. I was a bit worried that this would affect the fit or drape, but it seems to me to have made no difference. I finished the neckline and fronts by turning the fabric once over 3mm swimwear elastic, which I stretched slightly, as this bargello lace type knit has less stretch than the fabrics I have used previously to make this pattern.

vogue 8379 dress

 
 
I finished this dress this morning so that I could wear it today. I generally have one day a week when I am a "stay at home" Mum. This means that I spend some of the day at home (preferably sewing, but housework does call out occasionally) but most of the day running errands. In Summer I wear sundresses, easy to make, comfortable, and smart enough to wear grocery shopping and to collect the children from school. In Autumn and Winter I generally wear skirts and tops for these days, but when this dress made the pattern review best of 2007 list, I thought it might fill this gap in my wardrobe. The fabric is a lightweight cotton knit print from Georgeous Fabrics. I am very happy with it, but it is a little too thin, and the print a bit big for my original intended purpose - a long sleeved surplice shirt, so I thought I would try to squeeze this dress out of it. I ordered 2 yards, but it was cut generously, and I managed to make a long sleeved version of the dress, admittedly without collar and facings, despite the pattern calling for 2 and 3/4 yards. I did need to add a centre back seam to the bodice, but was able to cut the back skirt on the fold and to keep larger elements of the print where I wanted them. I need a slip under the dress, due to the thinner fabric.

The pattern piece I made with a D FBA and a pleat added at the waist worked well, and I am happy with the fit. I hope you can see the pleat I drew in, it is the one closest to the centre of the pattern piece. The other changes I made that I did not mention in the previous post were to interface under the attachment points of the sash, and to use bar tacks at either end of these attachment seams. I did not use cuffs, but lengthened the sleeve to a suitable length. I finished the skirt and the sleeve hems with a lettuce frill on my overlocker. I am happy with this effect.

I hope to sew more today. I am considering a silk blouse for me, or pyjamas for my DD#2. The blouse will require a toile, so I am leaning more towards the pyjamas.

Vogue wrap dress

I worked on this dress today. I bought it last month with my Vogue 8246 skirt pattern, as the postage was $US 8.50 for one, or for 4 patterns, so of course I needed to buy 4 patterns in order to be economical. Vogue patterns on line are on sale again today. The international postage has gone up to $US 12.00, and now is the same for 1, or up to 3 patterns. I am not quite so tempted by the sale as I was before I pressed the shipping charges button. I am sleeping on it before I buy any more patterns. I have only made 2 of the 4 I bought last month.......
This pattern currently has 21 reviews at pattern review, and most are happy reviews. I read all of them today, and the dress should have been straightforward. I made a FBA of 3/4 inch by adding a side dart and then rotating to the centre front, and making an additional pleat with this fabric. I was very pleased with myself for achieving this, and I only referenced 2 books. Making your own dress patterns and Taunton press's Fitting solutions. Reading all those reviews did help, as there was a great picture of a different method of FBA to help me think this through. I could have just copied this but for some reason I really need to understand why I am moving the edges of the pattern here and there, so the slash and pivot method makes me happier, although it also makes me pretty slow in adjusting my patterns. I will get along faster when I no longer have to look up several books and 19 blogs before cutting anything out.

Many reviewers found the bodice too short. I did not lengthen the bodice, as I am a little short waisted, and the only suggested distance in the 21 reviews was 5/8th inch, which I thought was not worth bothering about. If I make the dress again, I will lengthen the front and back bodice by at least 1 inch. I did lengthen the ties by 15 cm, to allow for a bow with long tails.
I was really excited to see a suggestion to apply elastic to the front opening and then blindhem, as I have only recently discovered my blind hem foot. I did use this technique, but found it rather fiddly when crossing seams, and the finish looks great - but only in spots. Fortunately I started the blind hem on the underwrap ( I was thinking ahead) and my beginning messy spots are mostly hidden.
I had planned to fully line the top wrap skirt with the fashion fabric due to the tendency of wrap skirts to expose this region, but I made the dress with less fabric than called for in the pattern, and had no room for such experiments. Fortunately the dress is well drafted and I noticed no tendency for the skirt to sit anywhere other than where it is intended. This really is a lovely pattern.
I have trialled a lettuce finish hem. I have not quite finished, but hope to post photographs after some fine tuning tomorrow.