Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Vogue 9124

Right on the heels of my last less-than-perfect dress, I have this Vogue 9124 that I have had in my closet (and been wearing) for about 6 months!  The thing is, I can't decide how I feel about it.  This is the elusive dress that seems to look better in pictures than in real life.

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Let me back up.  Here is the pattern envelope photo.

Hahaha yeah, not my personal style, but it was the top drawing below, View A, that pulled me in.  I mean, look at those cute little puffed sleeves, the subtle flounce at the hem, and the tailored placket.  What's not to love?  The fabric is a linen/rayon blend with a little texture, from JoAnn Fabrics.


Here it is unadorned with a belt, and I think you can pick out my problem with the dress right away, right in the middle.  The placket has so many layers, plus some light interfacing, and it does not drape with the rest of the dress.  It stands away from the body in an unattractive, beer-gut kind of way.  Now, I think that this might be in part that it is a half inch or so too long-waisted for me, like these two recent projects, but I am happy with the blouse-iness overall, just not what the placket does.

It looks a little better in this photo, but you can still see the center front sticking out.  The other thing I am not crazy about is that there is so much gathering on the skirt that the elastic is not enough to hold it in.  Maybe a wider elastic would have been better.  I wouldn't wear this without a belt, and the easy, cool (no belt) aspect is what drew me to this pattern in the first place.

 With those complaints out of the way, I have to admit that I do wear this dress fairly frequently... with a belt.  Usually, I wear the belt I have on in the first photo because it covers the elastic waist area well, but it is too thick and warm for the hot weather coming up, so I decided to play around with a couple other belts in my closet.  Here is the first photo again, for reference:

Here it is with a skinny navy belt.  Maybe you can see that it just doesn't cover the elastic waist area very well.

And this is the only side view that I got.  You can see the upper body issue, but with a belt on, I think it is ok.

This is the last belt I tried on.  It's one of my favorites, but I don't think it works with this dress.  I would be fiddling with it constantly, trying to make sure it covered the waistline.

So, two half-duds in a row.  Hopefully the next one will knock it out of the park. I am about to start testing another pattern for Itch to Stitch, and her patterns seem to fit me with very minimal changes, so crossed fingers here.

10 comments:

  1. To me, it almost looks like it needs a SBA? If the bust was fuller, the placket would curve out over that area, instead of pooling down at the waistband.

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    1. Yeah that is definitely a possibility. I do like the blouseiness everywhere else, though.

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  2. To me, it almost looks like it needs a SBA? If the bust was fuller, the placket would curve out over that area, instead of pooling down at the waistband.

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  3. Could you redo the placket and remove the stiff interfacing or even find another closure method without it? Also would a waist stay help?

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    1. I'm sure I could, but I know myself and I won't. :-)

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  4. It doesn't look bad with the belt, but I think it would look better without the placket - maybe an open neckline with a drawstring (like a lot of bohemian tunic tops) would look good? Not sure if I'm saying it right, but I think it would go with the overall shape of the dress!

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    1. That is a good idea. If I make it again, I'll have to try something like that.

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  5. I really like it with the brown belt. It's a cute dress and looks good on you (minus the extra fabric :)). Here are a few ideas that might help... The bodice appears to be a tad too long. If you took the waistline stitching out and shortened the bodice, that would eliminate some fabric that's currently pooling above your belt (just don't remove so much that you're uncomfortable). While you're at it, consider shortening the elastic on the waist as well to give more negative ease to better keep the waistline in place. AND, while you're at it, I'd shorten the placket so that it ends about the bottom of your bust line to eliminate any "pooching" at your waist (or as mentioned above m, eliminate the placket and go with a gathered neckline with ties). Also, as mentioned above, lighter weight interfacing would help, as well as using a lightweight cotton (maybe a fun print) for the under placket instead of the dress fabric to help remove additional bulk. Good luck with the dress!

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    1. Thank you so much for the great ideas, Sheralyn! I love the idea of a shorter placket (with less bulk also), because I do like the placket look, just not what it does to my torso.

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Thank you so much for taking the time to comment! It is wonderful to know someone is reading. :-)