Fantasma

I finally got around to purchasing the Vintage Vogue reproduction Diane von Furstenberg wrap dress pattern that everyone around the interwebs has been making.

And since it was October by the time I got around to actually making the pattern, I decided that the perfect wearable muslin would be my annual Halloween themed frock.

I have a couple of vintage 1970s DVF wrap dresses in my closet, and they are generally made from a cotton/rayon knit jersey with a decent weight to it.  The fabric does not have any spandex in it, and I think the reason that they are so universally flattering is that particular textile choice.

Now, finding a cotton/rayon blend jersey is not something that I was able to do in 2024, which is a shame.  However, I did stumble across this adorable ghost print 100% cotton jersey on the JoAnn website.  Go figure.

It's definitely a thinner material than the originals, but I figured it was worth a try.

I did make a couple of changes to the pattern, such as interfacing the facing pieces instead of the bodice and skirt fronts . . . along with my standard fitting alterations of lengthening the bodice and taking a wedge out of the back bodice.  I will also note that the given facing pattern pieces are quite a bit wider than they are on the vintage ready-to-wear versions.  I cut off about 1/4" while serging the facing edges, but when I make this again, I will probably go ahead and significantly narrow the facings.

I also ended up serging extra bits like the front seamline that attaches the facing as well as the seamlines on the waist ties to keep the cotton jersey from rolling (this cotton really wanted to roll along the edges).

I also placed my topstitching closer to the edge than is suggested by the pattern and my vintage originals.  It just felt right for the print. 

The pattern itself is rated as a "Very Easy Vogue."  The dress does go together very easily, and quite quickly.  (I always forget how quick it is to sew garments with knit fabric.)

That being said, I wouldn't suggest this to an absolute beginner with no garment sewing experience as it might be a bit overwhelming.

One other alteration I would suggest is narrowing the sleeves if you want them to resemble the pattern illustration.  If you look closely at the photographs of the reproduction dresses on the models that are included on the simplicity.com website, you can see that there is quite a bit of ease through the sleeve.  That is not how the illustration and the vintage model photos are drafted, and my ready-to-wear versions are also quite form fitting through the arm, right down to the sleeve cuffs.

I also ended up serging about one half inch off of the length of the skirt.  The pattern suggests taking up a 3" hem, and I knew that I didn't want to do that and have to deal with all of the excess fabric from the shaped pieces.  If you want a full length dress, you may want to lengthen the skirt pieces.  In heels, and with what would have been a 2" hem taken up from the skirt as drafted, this dress doesn't quite hit the ground on me, and I am only 5'6" tall.  

Yes, this pattern uses quite a bit of fabric, but if you want the full length 1970s maxi dress experience, you won't want to shorten those skirt pieces unless you are petite.

Overall, I would highly recommend this pattern.  It doesn't get much more classic than a Diane von Furstenberg wrap dress.  Do I agree that she "invented" the wrap dress?  Absolutely not!  But it's a garment that you can throw on with minimal effort and look completely put together.  There is a reason this silhouette is still popular fifty years later and doesn't even look "vintage" to most people.

As for my ghosty print version, I am very pleased with my choice of fabric, and my finished frock!

The Last Days of Summer

Well, Summer has definitely ended, and I have stopped working on warm weather appropriate projects in the sewing room for the year.

As for this white eyelet top, it served its purpose, and works quite well as a separate with many of my skirts.

But will it ever be a favorite?  Not likely.  It will be an easy to wear option when I'm looking for a solid white top since I don't have many of them in the closet.  But it's unlikely that I will make this pattern again.

It's more complicated than necessary, in my opinion.  The gussets don't really do anything, so I am not sure why they are included.

Would I like this more if I sized down so it wasn't quite as oversized?  Perhaps.

And I don't think my fabric choice was wrong, so that's not the issue.  I am glad that I retrieved the project from the unfinished pile to at least figure out that it's not a design that I want to repeat.

But for a project that was not as successful as I had hoped, it still turned out completely wearable and is useful.  So if I have to have a less than stellar outcome every once in a while, this is the kind that I am willing to deal with!

Blouse:  Made by me, Simplicity 9538
Skirt:  Made by me, Butterick 4792
Belt:  Vintage from Xtabay Vintage
Shoes:  Amazon

Summer Eyelet

When this pattern was released I was mostly interested in the design, not because it is a peasant blouse (there are plenty of those around), but because this particular pattern includes an underarm gusset.  My main issue with most of these blouses is that there is a lot of extra fabric and I thought that the addition of a gusset would make the garment a bit more streamlined.  That was not really the case, and there were other things that frustrated the process of sewing this project.  But that's okay.  Not every project is destined to be a favorite.

Well, the first thing that I got wrong about the pattern was misreading the illustration.  I thought that View B, the plain white version, was ruffled around the neckline and armholes with self-fabric.  This was my fault, and I should have taken a better look at the required yardage/notions or I would have noticed the additional trim needed for that particular version.

I knew that it would be almost impossible to find a matching white lace to match the eyelet, so I just added extra length to the neck edge to create the look of a ruffle by placing the elastic about an inch inside of the finished edge instead of using the raw edge itself as the elastic casing.  But again, the issue of using a bright white casing was going to present a problem.  In the end, I used the unembroidered selvedge edge as my casing.  Yes, it was straight of grain instead of bias, but it worked just fine.

I simply finished the raw edge as suggested by the pattern instructions.

And since I had given myself some extra length around the neckline, I was able to place the elastic casing/binding just below that finished edge.

Once the elastic is fed through the casing, the "ruffle" is created.

But that wasn't my main gripe with the pattern.  Instead, the gusset pieces were incorrectly notched and it took me way too long to figure out what I was doing wrong.  I got frustrated, put the whole project aside for about a year, and when I finally came back to it, I realized the issue was the pattern, not me.

Also, because of the gusset construction, I didn't want to add length to the sleeves, so I couldn't replicate what I had done with the neckline.  I just added a strip of eyelet to the edge, finished that bit with seam binding, and stitched it into place with two parallel lines of stitching to create a casing for the sleeve elastic.

It may not be the most well thought out solution, but it certainly worked.

And while I am not a huge fan of elastic finishes, I figured it was worth the aggravation to try out this pattern.

I was hoping that I would love the result and be able to make multiple versions in different fabrications.  In the end, however, I don't believe I will be using this particular pattern again.  The result is very oversized and that gusset does not do much to control the extra volume.  It's not terrible, and it is certainly wearable . . . it's just not what I hoped it would be.

And that's okay.  Not every project is going to be a favorite.  I am just happy I stuck with it and finished the darn thing!

Patterns Illustrations

This is one of those patterns that I purchased soon after it was released with the thought that I would make it right up.  I was intrigued by View A (I love a tie front!) and thought it would make a lovely summer frock.

Of course, time got away from me, and a few years later I finally decided that I wanted to make something with a novelty print, and this pattern seemed like a good choice.  I had slightly more yardage than needed, so instead of the knee length dress I had originally intended, I thought that the longer skirt with the patch pockets would be a nice way to use up the majority of this wonderful novelty print.

And to make those pockets stand out a bit more amongst the crazy colors and designs, I added some rick-rack.  To tie everything together, I also added a length of the rick-rack to my straps.  One happy result of this is that those straps will not be stretching at all.  As a note on construction, I did have to shorten the length of the straps considerably compared to the original draft.

While I would have had enough fabric left to cut my bodice back pieces out, I decided to save the scraps for something more interesting than a simple lining.  And, of course, a tie front does require that the front lining matches unless you want the contrast to show, and in this instance, I did not want that look.

I went ahead and made bound buttonholes on the skirt front instead of pulling out my vintage buttonholer.

This is a stable cotton, so it's easy to work with, and if a fabric is anything but super sheer, I do prefer a bound buttonhole to one that is machine made.

Honestly, I find the process to be less stressful and requiring less "practice" before I get to making the buttonholes on the actual garment.

The only visible seams were the skirt side seams, so I finished those with rayon seam binding.

And while I didn't manage to take any photos of the process, I did make an Instagram reel about adding bust pads to the bodice of this dress.

And to make the bodice feel more secure, a hook & eye was added just under the ties to keep the bodice closed.

This is one of those designs that looks great in the technical drawing, but in reality, could use a bit more finesse when it comes to the instructions that come in the pattern envelope in order to make it a more wearable item of clothing.  For this particular dress, I do not think it would have been very wearable without the addition of that hook & eye to keep the bodice closed.  Obviously, every body is different, but I would definitely recommend an extra closure option rather than relying solely on the wide fabric ties that are part of the bodice front.

That being said, it's a very cute sundress, and I am happy with the finished product.  I am especially pleased with the fabric pattern/design pairing which I think looks rather 1980s does 1950s in the best way possible!