New Dress Goes to Lunch

The New Dress has been getting all the best outings lately... first the Sydney Sewists High Tea, on a date with the New Coat, getting introduced to several other charming garments and their modest owners*, and more recently a celebratory work lunch at Chinta Ria! 

* unfortunately due to technical issues all my photos of the event got corrupted



And despite bucketing rain and my end-of-week decrepitude, my helpful colleague Marylene was able to re-snap The New Dress just before lunch... YAY!



Looks like I've already had lunch in these photos, but that's because I had on a very naughty slip, which sneaked itself all the way up to my waist and hips without lettting on.

I KNEW I should have made the proper lining that came with the pattern!  

Try to remember: no more sewing shortcuts!

Anyway, moving on. 

I really like that this is a winter dress with some interesting design elements - interesting twisting, tucks and pleats; no side seams; front and back cut in one with the right sleeve... it's a recent pattern, Vogue 1341 - a Donna Karan pattern, of course (who else?). 

 

I realise that you can't see that interesting stuff too well in all the hot pink, so here're the technical drawings:

Isn't that a lot of good detail for a sewist? And yes, there is a curved zip in the back, but you can probably leave it out as I did since the dress is only supposed to be made from stretch knits.

I made my dress from merino wool that I bought last year from Tessuti Fabrics - so scrummy and cosy for winter - but I think the draping and folding would keep in place a lot better in a ponti. I'm tempted to make the dress all over again in fact to find out what happens to all those folds in a less drapey fabric.

Hello workmen in the semi-removated building. No, I'm not having millions of photos taken for your amusement.

The fit of this dress seems consistent with other Vogue Donna Karan patterns, but would depend a lot on fabric choice. In a soft, drapey merino the dress feels roomy and comfortable, but in a firm ponti the bodice and upper arms might be tight. There's more ease around the waist and hips than I expected, so I ended up sewing down one of the waist-level folds to make the dress more fitted.

If you're thinking of making this pattern, it's one of those that come with a warning: "no provisions provided [sic] for above or below waist adjustment". Adjustments can be made, but you have to work them out for yourself ie guidelines for adjustment aren't given and it's not immediately obvious which parts of the main pattern piece relate to the right sleevem, dress front, and section of dress back.





Thanks for reading and have a great weekend,

  - Gabrielle x