My husband bought me Vogue 1151 for Christmas which has been on my wishlist since it came out. It’s a short, fitted knit dress which I think will make a nice contrast to the 70s maxi dress I sewed last.
The pattern envelope shows it made up in red, which looks great on the model. It also works really well in black. There are two classy versions in black here and here (the second link may not work forever if you’re not a member of Pattern Review). However I decided in the end that I wanted something a bit more unusual, and that would be purple. Preferably with orange accessories.
My previous attempt at a purple knit dress was not a great success as you can see
This photo is one of the more flattering ones! The pattern is a Vogue DKNY pattern, number 2091. However I still really want a purple dress so the last time I went fabric shopping in London I was looking out for purple doubleknit. I only found one, which was this doubleknit from UK Fabrics on Goldhawk road.
I think it’s as much blue as purple. The wrong side is navy. It’s nice and stable. I haven’t washed it yet – that’s on the agenda for today.
The pattern calls for a metal zipper but I can’t find one I like with this fabric, so I’m currently intending to use a black plastic chunky zipper. I have a couple of metal ones with silver teeth but the metal is dull rather than shiny, and I don’t think the bronze coloured metal zip I have will work as the zip tape is brown.
I traced and altered the pattern last night. I always have to add a lot to the length. For this one I added 3.5cm to the length above the bust point and another 1.5cm at the bottom of the bodice. I also did a princess seam full bust adjustment which adds even more length to the front. Then I added 10cm to the skirt as I want to be able to sit down! The length adjustments seem to have caused quite a lot of distortion to the lines so I really ought to do a trial run before cutting my good fabric, but I want to get going on this as I’m not going to be getting any sewing done next week because of the UK general election. So wish me luck!
Catherine Daze's Blog 