On to my next dress! The fabric came from the same store as the orange dress, but it is a much more casual jersey with chevron pattern. There was two choices, I had a hard time choosing between the grey lines and this lilac and light blue chevron, but finally settled with this one. I think I’ve made the right choice!
The pattern is Vogue 8728 from Vogue Vintage Model line, a reissue of “The Greta Eberhardt Collection” pattern circa 1946. What is great about this pattern is that it can be made in both knit or woven fabric. From the pattern envelope: “Misses’ dress and belt: Dress has shoulder pads and side snap or zipper closing.” Of course this is not an adequate description of the pattern. The dress has front gathered yoke with all in one sleeve, a couple of back darts, and gathered skirt.
I wanted to make the dress in size 6 but unfortunately the smallest size stops at 8 so I had to do some improvisation. These were not proper pattern grading technique, but I suppose it would work since the dress is made of knit fabric and not very fitted.
- Removed 2.5 cm from each pattern pieces at the center front of skirt, center back of skirt, and center front of yoke.
- Removed 1 cm from each pattern pieces at the center front of lower bodice and the center back of bodice.
- Shortened the lower bodice by 3 cm.
- Shortened the hem considerably.
- Lowered the shoulders about 1 cm on each side since I have no intention of using shoulder pads.
The pattern instruction is great if you want to learn some vintage sewing technique. Some of them seemed quite unusual, like turning in the seam allowance of the lower bodice and topstitching them on the yoke gathers or attaching extension to the side of bodice for sewing snaps. I disregarded them all and went to the quick road: overlocker! Most of the seams were sewed using overlocker, except for the topstitching around the upper edge of lower bodice and neckline.
Instead of bias binding as the instruction suggested, I used regular T-shirt neckline finishing technique. A strip of folded fabric is attached to the neckline using overlocker, then topstitched down. Also, the stretchy fabric allowed me to skip using zipper. Just like my previous dress, I sewed a pair of store-bought bra strap holders to the inside of the dress’ shoulders. No more bra straps peeking out of the wide neckline!
As you can see in the finished dress, my clumsy alterations changed the shape of the yoke which is now shaped like a V instead of a shallow U. Next time I should correct the top of lower bodice shape. But I suppose other parts of the dress looked quite okay. I love how the chevron lines creating shapes on different parts of the dress. The dress is now one of the most comfortable dress that I own!
Pattern is Vogue 8728 size 8, altered to fit.
23 Comments
Wasnt bad at each of. Great Game. Sold it back already, got 30 bucks
I really love the fabric, and the dress looks great on you!
This is so very beautiful. I love your fabric choice.
Congratulations! You have turned a “vintage” pattern into a very contemporary dress — I love it — well done!
Very cute!
so lovely… I need to make this dress for myself! Thank you for sharing!
Hope you will have fun making the dress! :)
Really, really cute!
That’s soooo nice! Your creations always look so perfectly made! xx
Aww thank you so much Zoe! :)
I love this pattern; I’ve already made it twice. Super flattering! Great job!
Super cute!
Thank you Janice :)
Lovely!
Thank you Mae!
Love this dress! Beautifully done!
Just a question – how did you finish the armhole edges?
Thanks,
Amy
It’s quite an ordinary treatment. The raw edges were overlocked, then the 2.5 cm hem was folded inside and topstitched. I guess the pattern is so busy that you can’t really see the topstitching :)
I like it! :))
This looks absolutely gorgeous on you!
I first saw this dress made in a woven fabric a few months ago and didn’t like it – it stood away from the sewer’s body too much. I’m so glad you did this in the wonderful knit – it has a lovely drape. I generally don’t sew much knit because the fabric drives me crazy during the cutting stage. How do you control slipping and curling? Are there some knits that are easier to work with than others?
You might try using interlock (double knit) jersey, it is more stable and easier to work with. When cutting knit fabrics, I put lots of small pattern weights spread across. They really help preventing slipping and curling :)
This is just lovely! That chevron pattern is great – I wish I could find some like that over here in the UK!
cool fabric!! I like this even more than the orange one!