Vintage Vogue DVF wrap dress V1610

Do you ever have a sewing idea in your head and it comes out exactly as you imagined? I don't really plan my sewing very much, I see a pattern or a fabric and then I figure out what to make. I'm not really a wardrobe planner - that doesn't seem very fun to me, I just go where my mood takes me. But ever since I found this vintage Vogue pattern I knew just the look I wanted and it came out perfectly.

Once we get out of lockdown you might see me wearing this dress all the time! (actually probably not because by then I will have even more random and unnecessary new garments to wear :)




Here is the treasure that I found at a sewing guild stash sale. They often sell patterns for 25 cents so if I see any old Vogue designer patterns I snap them up, more for the fun of a vintage pattern than for any intention of sewing them. But this one I definitely knew I would sew up.




To me there is something delightful about these old Vogue American Designer patterns - they are just so casually chic and stylish. And look - this is a Very Easy Vogue, that's interesting that it was categorized as easy. According to the Vintage pattern Wiki its from Jan/Feb 1977. Vogue 1610 Diane Von Furstenberg wrap dress, for stretch knits only.  Do you ever look at that Vintage pattern Wiki? lots of interesting stuff there.

And this is not THE DVF wrap dress, which is Vogue 1549 but this is a slightly different design, with a gathered skirt and a neck band with no collar.




This fabric is from Girl Charlee, they still have some in stock. I used another of their pink/navy knits for a top which I wear a lot. 

Let's talk a little about fit, and knits now versus back in 1977. I think back then the knits were less stretchy, think of more like a cotton interlock and perhaps the fabrics were even only a single stretch direction (crossways grain) instead of the more common printed knits we find now which have 4 way stretch (and sometimes too much).

Check out the stretch guide at the bottom of the pattern envelope. It says the knit should stretch "to here only". I don't think I've seen that on a pattern recently but it explains the issue with this dress and using a 4-way stretch knit.



When I bought this pattern I wanted to make it up right away, and to try it out I bought some truly terrible knit fabric at Joann, on a super sale couple so the investment was minimal.




I sewed it up and you can see what happens on my dress form, the waist seam migrates downward due to the stretch of the fabric. It might not seem bad here but putting in on it was atrocious. Also this fabric had a weird fuzzy feel that made me dislike it even more. Out!

Flash forward to this year when I REALLY wanted the bright pink and navy fabric to work for this dress, and the answer as usual with knits is to line the bodice in a lightweight knit fabric with no lengthwise stretch. I've mentioned doing this before in other posts. The fabric I use to line knits is something I get at Joann's called Jet Set knit. I have no idea what it's for, I usually find it in the aisle with the dance wear knits. It comes in white, black, navy, beige although the stock is hit or miss. Also in purple as evidenced by my use of that color here. Which I found in my lining bin. Thank goodness for my lining bin which sometimes seems like Mary Poppins' travel bag as I seem to find all kind of magic in it which I have no recollection of putting in there. Note - when I go to fabric swaps or stash sales and I see some bargain which has lining potential I spend the $ 2 or $5 or whatever and stash it away. Look how useful these things are! (red coat with hot pink lining)

So the answer to the issue of too much length in the cotton jersey is to underline the front and back bodice with this stable lightweight knit fabric. Problem solved, the bodice now will not stretch from the weight of the skirt and the seam stays at the waist.



I treated the knit lining pieces and the bodice front and back as one, and only put the lining there, not in the sleeves.  The goal was to change the degree of vertical stretch for the bodice pieces. I could tell that the bodice length was OK, it was just the stretch that was the problem.



To double check that I overlaid a pattern piece from a different knit wrap dress and saw that the length was very similar. I like the fit of that Butterick pattern so I determined that the Vogue would be fine if I could reduce the vertical stretch. Note that a number of the modern Vogue designer patterns I've sewn have lining in knit dresses, probably to control the stretch although some are to add a framework for the twisty details on the outer fabric, such as this dress.




Why the glass of wine? I finished this dress on the first weekend of the lockdown and posted this on my Instagram on April 4, for #virtualfrocktails. Looking back now I see that we were fortunate in the SF bay area to have had our Frocktails event in the end of Feb - which I almost missed due to having that nasty flu bug. But I will take that instead of this current virus.

Back to sewing details. Unusual for me I made almost no changes to this pattern, I think I shortened it by maybe 2 inches? and then once I finished it I thought the sleeves were just a tiny bit too long so I turned them up another 1/2".



As you can see in the photo with the wine glass, this dress does have pockets. Which are probably useless for putting anything into, since a pocket in a knit dress is going to be a bit saggy. But they are perfect for putting your hands in. Although they are maybe the tiniest pocket pattern pieces I've ever seen.  For pockets in almost anything, if I'm going to use the fashion fabric for the back pocket piece I like to use some lining fabric for the front, so that as the pocket bag lays against the front skirt it is slippery and doesn't stick to the outer fabric. Not the cutest picture below but you get the idea.



Let's talk inside finishing. I am far from a stickler about how things look on the inside, and I find using the serger to finish seams on knits completely useless. The fabric is never going to unravel and to me it just adds bulk and more steps in the sewing.




Yep - that's how I leave it. After this I did trim the seam allowances of the sleeves at the underarm but otherwise nothing else.

In all these pictures I must confess that my eye goes straight to the hem, where the skirt under layer is sticking out a bit below the top layer. So I'll have to fix that before I wear it out and about. It was actually freezing when I ran outside to take these pictures - and fussing about perfection was not in the cards. Thankfully spring has arrives since then and the weather is glorious. On the down side, I've had to start watering the plants - no spring rain for us and I think it will be another terribly dry summer.



When it comes to hems on knits I don't have a coverstitch machine and I've never found the twin needle thing to work for me. My go-to method for hems on knits is to put a small strip of fusible knit interfacing in the hem allowance, so that the machine stitching is going through both the fashion fabric as well as one layer of interfacing. This gives the hem just the right amount of weight and avoids the ripply situation you can get on knit hems. Then I hand stitched the corner so that nothing was sticking out below the hem edge.



So that's the scoop on this vintage Vogue pattern. I might even sew it up again, the sleeveless version is calling my name as well. Liking the longer length is something that surprised me, I usually don't make my dresses much past mid-knee as I think the longer length makes me look short but perhaps this works. I'll have to see how I like it with flat sandals.

Item # 2 of my quarantine sewing completed and documented. Up next, I finished a silk top from a New Look pattern that I saw somewhere and had to have. And then my denim blazer, almost done except for the buttonholes however that reveal will have to wait until I complete the jeans and have the full pantsuit. (having doubts about the outfit potential but will make the whole suit just for the fun of it).




I hope everyone is well and doing OK with the current situation. Stay safe and keep sewing!

Beth

Today's garden photo is this fantastic tulip - it's so dark and saturated in color. A nice surprise among the mystery tulip bulbs that were planted last fall.

Vogue 8784 wrap dress in silk crepe

Very happy to have this one "wrapped" up. Yes, all the cliches for discussing wrap dresses, I should just get them over with now. How about "it's a wrap" and I did feel that sense of relief when it was completed. A wrap dress with these details involves some fitting adjustments for any figure and I did make more than one test version along the way. However now that it's finished I am really happy with it and hope to make a short sleeved version when spring arrives. The pattern is Vogue 8784.  Pattern envelope photo below and also a link to a previous blog post with all the details on the fitting adjustments for this pattern.



Sophisticated is the word that I think of for this dress, the color and print are not something I would have selected but now that I see it sewn up I think it's very sharp - and gives off a the look of "business executive with a feminine twist" which suits Heather perfectly.




Here's the pattern envelope. I made the View B although I did make a few changes. Firstly to make it a regular long sleeve.



I did 2 muslins on this dress, as it was a bit tricky to fit because it doesn't have regular bust darts but the bust fullness is incorporated into the release pleats at the waist. As with a lot of other wrap dresses, I added a horizontal bust dart to allow for more fullness and length over the bust of the wrap part. You can't see it in the silk version but here in the muslin it's visible.

This image is from my previous blog post - here's the link -  which has lots of information on fitting this pattern, and photos of the various muslin variations and changes along the way.




My biggest lightbulb moment when working on the muslin version was to realize that the skirt part that wraps under doesn't need to be pleated - in fact it's better if it is flat. Less bulk and a smoother layer under the wrap part.




Another change is that the ties don't really wrap, there is no opening in the side for the tie to go through. The pattern had it but I removed it as Heather prefers a tie that is secured on one side seam and doesn't move around. Wrap dresses where the tie threads through the opening in the side seam and then the ties wrap around and tie can be difficult to wear in that the closure is dependent on the waist tie. In this version, the tie belt is stitched to the side seam on the right side so it never moves.

In place of the tie that threads through the opening, I added a short connector, which is sewn to the side seam and then attaches to the right dress front via a skirt hook. I covered some 3/4" elastic with the silk, and the elastic allows it to be snug but also comfortable.






The other side has a skirt hook as well, so this dress is wrapped and in place and the sash tie is mostly for looks.

The pattern calls for a full lining and I like the order of construction which gives a very neat waist seam plus the lining is very secure, as it is stitched to the waist. This keeps the skirt lining from ever peeking out under the hem.



Close up of this lovely silk fabric. We bought this at Piedmont Fabrics in Oakland maybe 2 years ago? Just waiting for the right pattern and I think this one was the perfect match for it. I lined it with navy blue bemberg rayon lining. I tried the lighter colors like ivory and beige but to me the navy blue looked best. Especially in the skirt of a wrap dress, which can tend to flip open. A peek of beige lining looked too neutral and underwear-ish to me (realize that's not a word but you get the idea.)
Whereas the navy blue lining looks intentional and complimentary.


    




I'll say it again, that's a wrap for this pattern - until springtime. Now that I have the fit worked out on the bodice I want to try the full skirt version. Also so many people have written to say that they appreciate seeing what I sew for Heather - I'm glad you like it and I will continue. She picks fantastic fabrics and I enjoy the pattern puzzle of fitting new patterns for her.

In other sewing news, I'm done for the year on classes at Hello Stitch - what a great year it has been and we have all kinds of new classes on the schedule starting in January, like jeans,  a quilted jacket, and repeating our very popular Lander pants and Wiksten kimono jacket classes. Plus some sewing series classes which will include pattern fitting and dressmaking. Hope to see you there!

Up next, I'm just finishing a red silk blouse for myself that may go into rotation for festive holiday wear. Along with my red plaid dress shown in my previous post - Thanks so much for all the nice words here and on Instagram. I do like the color red.

Happy it's almost Christmas sewing, 
Beth


Today's garden photo, a  rose from back in early October. It's almost time to give all my roses their big pruning, maybe in about 3 weeks. This variety is St. Patrick.

So Over It Eve wrap dress in rayon woven

Recently my sewing has been all about the wrap dress. Well, that is not entirely accurate, as I have about a zillion projects currently in progress. Sure, that is also an exaggeration but some days that's what it feels like. I just completed a dress from the May Burda magazine for myself, I made a pattern and from a pair of pants that I bought a while ago and liked the fit, I have several projects in the works for my friend Heather including a very sexy sleeveless black stretch denim version of this dress, AND then some wrap dress sewing in anticipation of a class I'm teaching in August at Hello Stitch.

I'm still regretting that I sewed up the knit wrap dress of the previous post in a slightly too small size for myself, but I will make up for that soon by sewing that vintage Vogue DFV dress pattern I snagged a few months back for the amazing sum of 25 cents. I'll revisit that one sometime, but in the meanwhile I also sewed up a dress to play around with another wrap dress pattern, and to have this example displayed at Stone Mountain Fabrics and promote the class.

This is the  Eve wrap dress from Sew Over It patterns which is a UK pattern company. They stock the  paper patterns at Stone Mountain so you can buy in the US on their website or at the store.



I made this dress in their size 10 with no adjustments and the fit was quite nice. I was really sewing it for a display item, but could you resist trying it on? not me! Plus it felt so unusual to have something at that hem length. If I were to make it for myself I would definitely shorten it as it feels like a lot of fabric. Perhaps I'm just not used to that length. And it does take a good bit of fabric.

However it does feel like the perfect dress for going to a tea party on a lawn somewhere, an event that I have never attended nor am likely to. (Also tea  - eek, I can't stand tea! do they serve coffee also at tea parties or perhaps something a bit stronger?)

Here is the pattern envelope. Usually those flutter sleeves don't appeal to me but I think proportionally they work really well on this dress, and give it kind of a 1930's style. Fabric choice is critical for this dress, it needs something that drapes really well. I used a woven rayon from Stone Mountain. I'm not sure if they have the exact one still available but I see lots of woven rayon prints on their website that would work perfectly. I'm obsessed with fruit prints lately and now I want this one. 




Here's a closer view, you can see that it has some shoulder yoke pieces in the front and there are gathers which create the shaping over the bust instead of darts.



The pattern drawing shows it more clearly. There is also a waist seam front and back. In the drawing the wrap portions looks like it drapes at the waist but I didn't find that to be the case, neither on me or my dress form.





I was pleasantly surprised at how the wrap actually wrapped, in that the center front met properly, the V wasn't too low, and the neckline was just about right. I could even see making this in a jersey knit, it wouldn't really behave all that differently and the neckline edge is stabilized with tape so you would do that same step with a knit to keep it in shape.  I was trying to slightly more serious in the blog picture - just for variety - instead of my usual grin. There is something about having my photo taken, I just can't not smile - excuse the double negative. And I think it looks a bit like an odd smirk. Ok maybe it's the week for weak double negatives and odd smirks and that is my political comment for the week - yikes - what a weird week it has been. Is it 2020 yet? Hang in there RBG is my other fervent wish!

Back to sewing stuff.
Note that I made the flutter sleeve version but used the skirt of the shorter version - and look how long it is on me. This is meant to be long I guess or just right for a tall person.



So that's the scoop on this pretty wrap dress, and I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone makes in the upcoming wrap dress class at Hello Stitch.

Another fun class that is very soon (Sat. July 28)  Pattern Hacks: Add new elements to your existing patterns. I am really looking forward to this one, as you know I can't leave a pattern alone and I think it will be fun to show how to change darts, move seams, create color block elements and generally get more mileage from the patterns we already have. Sleeves! i almost forgot  - ways to redesign the sleeve. Next week I'll be combing through my files and photos to prep for this class.


And one more look at that flowy skirt moving ever so slightly in the breeze. Check out that grapevine behind me, it's making a run for it over the fence, adds a lot of greenery and has never put out as much as one little grape. I keep it because it's pretty.



Up next, a few of those things mentioned in the first paragraph, and then maybe a t-shirt and another dress from the Burda magazine. or maybe I will spend many days in the pool because it has been really hot lately - and even with AC temps of 100℉ for days in a row really does start to wear. I know I love hot weather, but somehow the difference between 92 and 100 seems so much more than merely 8 degrees!

Happy Summer Sewing and stay cool wherever you are,
Beth

today's garden photo, when the heat sets in most of the roses get a bit limp and this one is a bit meager with the flowers, but that color makes up for it.