sew weekly: black and white

The Aspirational Chanel Dress

Post at the SW.  

The Facts
Fabric: about 3 1/2 yards lightweight cotton jersey from Mood, $28
Pattern: Vintage Vogue 8728
Year: 1946/2011
Notions: fusible webbing tape for the shoulder seams (I think I should have used twill tape instead), tear away/water soluble stabilizer for the front neckline, both from stash
First worn: 11/17
Wear again: Yes, after I take it apart and fix it.
Time to complete: about 6 or 7 hours
Total cost: about $28

I love this theme!  I think I suggested it way back when with tuxedo pants or a graphic color blocked dress in mind.  Those ideas asked too much of me this week, so I turned to this jersey fabric I bought recently.  I admit, it’s navy blue and white.  What can I say, it was what I had, and it has the high contrast that I love about using black and white together.  It was planned for a Tiramisu, but poor Steph has had some issues with the production of her first pattern for Cake, and I haven’t received it yet.  I don’t mind, since I’m not in a rush to make a summer dress, but I had to look for another pattern to use.  V8728, which I picked up after seeing Adey’s knit version last year, was a contender.  Barbara’s recent dress and the assurance from both Adey and Barbara that the pattern is easy cinched my decision.  

 The pattern was indeed lovely, and I ended up with a wearable muslin.  I went down a size since that seemed to work well for those who made it in a knit, but I really should have gone down another size overall and then some in the bodice.  I had to put shoulder darts in the back so it wouldn’t fall off.  Unfortunately, the fit seemed fine until I put it all together, which means I’ll have to take it entirely apart and start over.   Later I found that a belt helps a lot.

I also wish I had cut either the back and lower bodice (but not the yoke) or the skirt with lengthwise stripes.  I made a few sketches with the stripes going different ways, but when it came to cutting I wasn’t in the right frame of mind.  I just went with what was easiest.  And not very well.  My cutting layout was less than brilliant, to put it charitably.  Not sure if I'll keep the stripes horizontal or not when I recut the back bodice and front lower bodice to fix the fitting issues.

Nevermind.  I’m glad to gain more experience with knits.  Also, I finally tried lapped seams, which I’ve always ignored in the few vintage patterns I’ve seen them in.  Yes, there’s a lot of basting to remove, but they’re not difficult and I like the look a lot.  Bring on the lapped seams.  Plus I received the greatest compliment when I wore the dress out– with a belt– Saturday night.  My friend said I looked just like Coco Chanel!  Granted, the bar was dim, the music good, and the mood happy.  Still, I’ll take it.

removing the final layer

We took pictures in Prospect Park, where they’ve been removing tree limbs by the truckload the past couple weeks.  I have to make seasonally appropriate garments the rest of the year!