I’ve been on a grey kick for a while now. And I’ve already got two pale grey woven dresses made in the last year. So I tried really hard to resist this pale grey shirting/chambray stuff that came into the store. Also it’s a cotton-poly blend, so not nearly as exciting as, say, linen.
And then I happened to be flipping through the book and stumbled on Vogue 1312. Very unlike either of my previous light grey dresses. Sold!
I made a refreshing number of zero changes to the pattern (!)—straighy size 10. Which is technically down a size. It’s a bit snug—would’ve been perfect if my fabric had more give, unwearable if it had less.
Those are some amazingly high armholes, by the way! Great for me, but if you have large arms beware. (Dude, this is not a new pattern, I’m sure there are a million other reviews out there with the same info.)
This is, by the way, the same kind of skirt as Shams’ Tablecloth Skirt tutorial from way back in the mists of 2011. Not sure if the Vogue pattern precedes Shams’ tutorial or not. Edit: Pattern is copyright 2012, so after, but I bet they were working on it already. The skirt is totally simple to draft your own. That being said there’s a subtle up-and-down to the bodice’s raised waist that really adds to the look, so I wouldn’t say the pattern’s a waste either.
There is no back zipper, which makes neat-finishing the self-lined bodice a little trickier.
I didn’t do the tidiest job ever on my points, but I’m not sweating it too much.
I added pockets to the side seams just below the zipper. So happy. I am trying harder to remember to do this, as I’m just so much happier when I have a pocket to stuff my keys in at work.
The best part about that up-down hem? It’s a perfectly straight line to hem, and you don’t have to correct for the skirt dropping on the bias because it’s supposed to be up-and-down!
My biggest dumb moment was deciding to put the side zip in upside down, so I wouldn’t have an annoying tab in my armpit all day. Well, the annoying tab is now annoyingly visible down on my hip. So, not a win, really, especially since the zipper is considerably darker grey than the fabric. A white zipper might’ve been better. Also it was a brat to set in—I should’ve used a lot more stabilizer. Someday I’ll learn. I keep saying that.
All in all pretty happy. What a fun shape, and it feels springy without being something I’ll have to wait months to wear (unlike these red heeled sandals I just found at Value Village.) And I had barely used up half my project budget on this dress, so I added a second on the way in a marled linen-blend jersey (left in the first pic)—I’ve been warned the skirt gets quite heavy in jersey, but it’s lightweight so we’ll see how that goes.
Tanit-Isis Sews 