Saturday, June 19, 2010

Not-necessarily-black-not-necessarily-a-dress Cocktail Outfit - Part One

I got all excited for our planned Cocktail Party at PR Weekend Montreal, because in real life I never go to dress-up cocktail parties - and then the Vogue patterns for summer were announced and I chose Vogue 1182, the Kay Unger dress with draped cross-over front and lovely wide collar.

The red version of this dress is obviously sewn in silk dupioni and I decided to baldly imitate Vogue.

I chose one of those fantastic iridescent dupionis where the warp and weft are different colours - in my case fuchsia warp is combined with a brilliant orange weft.  This photo just does not do justice to the richness of the fabric in person but it'll have to do.

But first to muslin the pattern.

Normally, I'm all for cutting Big 4 patterns, but in this case two of the pattern pieces (the side front and side back) were not nested in the usual way.  This made switching between sizes (which I have to do with 2 sizes difference between bust/waist and hip) impossible, so I started by tracing these pieces.  Grrr.

Vogue says this pattern is "average" difficulty.  The reason is that it has 4 different centre front pieces - the full length right front (overlap) with pleats, the half-length left front (underlap) with a dart running from the princess seam to bust point, the half-length upper CF lining with a dart running from the neckline down to the bust point, and the half-length lower CF lining.  To test the pattern, I used the lower CF lining piece plus the upper left front.

I cut a 10 from the waist up, transitioning to a 14 at the hip.  I found that the neckline was gappy, as shown to the right.  That would have been very bad!  On the plus side, the lower front fit reasonably well. 

In the back, it was quite sloppy above the waist with fabric pooling in the small of my back.  At the sides, I needed to fine-tune the hip curve. 

I pinned out approximately 2cm horizontally at the neck edge and collar, transitioning to nothing near the side seams.  This required alterations to both upper and under collar pieces, all 3 upper CF pieces and the side front.  The mechanics of this were similar to what I had to do on the little top and jacket I recently made. 

To the right is a picture of the front with my pinned changes.

To the left you can see the changes pinned in the back. 

Next up ... to unveil the dress.

13 comments:

  1. oh it looks so good already! I love this pattern and your fabric.

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  2. The fit looks great. This dress will be beautiful in your fabric.

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  3. I can't wait to see this on you! That fabric is stunning, and I am sure that your workmanship will be impeccable as always.

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  4. Such a lovely dress in person! Loved seeing it. Amazing job.

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  5. And you looked Gorgeous! The fit was impeccable.

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  6. It was so beautiful in person. The fit and the colour were perfect! Now you need to find another occasion to wear it!

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  7. looking forward to the next post, the muslin is perfect.

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  8. Beautiful dress, I've seen it on other blogs and it always looked gorgeous, can't wait to see yours!

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  9. What a fabulous dress. I want one just like it in my closet. You did such a great job, I can't imagine how you didn't win the contest!

    Kathryn

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  10. Kay, where oh where are the great step by step photos that used to appear in your pattern review? I'm just at that stage in sewing up this gem and now I need them!
    Thanks,
    Peggy

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    1. click the label "Kay Unger Dress" for all posts on this project.

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  11. I see these photos but I have a strong memory of seeing a step by step set of photos describing that crazy lining challenge. Maybe I am thinking of a different review, but yours is certainly the most thorough. I have made a mess of mine, not sure what to do now as the wedding is Saturday next! One problem is my silk lining--way too hard to work with. I have done two prior muslins and still can't get it right. Discouraging! Anyway, thanks for your posts and reviews.
    Pegg;y

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    Replies
    1. Maybe my Flickr album? Try here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/54636325@N00/sets/72157624211622704/

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