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Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Presenting the Spotty Dress!

Jorth sat in the counseller's office in a mood of utmost despair. Leaning forward on her chair she declared "It's just becoming ridiculous! I feel like it's taking over my life. I can't eat, I can't sleep - all I can do is think about... about... making more!", finishing the sentence in a rush before despondantly slouching in her chair.

The counsellor, after making a few notes in the ubiquitous notepad resting on his lap asked "And when did this obsession with Vogue 8184 begin?"

"I can trace it back to the first one I ever made", said Jorth. "It fitted so well, and even though it was only intended as a day dress, being made as it was out of patchwork cotton, it got compliments wherever I went. Fuelled by the buzz of admiration, I soon made a green one with a halter and straight skirt, then a red spotted one with a full skirt I gathered in random sections, then a bird one for a friend, and now this spotty number. And now all I want to make is Vogue Bloody Eight Bloody One Eight Four. I feel I can't even show my face out in public whilst wearing one, just in case people point their fingers at me and say "Look, there goes the 8184 girl!"

Sitting across from her in his chair, the counsellor stroked his chin thoughtfully before saying, "Well, there is something we can do this fix that particular problem..."


"Hmm", though Jorth. "Brilliant in theory, but I don't know how much longer I can get around like this. My arms are beginning to hurt!"

Project Details

Pattern: Vogue 8184, size 8, View D
Fabric: Japanese 100% Cotton from Tessuti Fabrics
Notions: One 35cm (14") zipper, covered boning

Like I explained above, I do have a wee obsession with this pattern. I just can't get enough of it. I had a couple of slight issues with this dress: first one was that I needed 1.3m of fabric, but only had a 1m remnant, so there was quite a bit of mucking around trying to get all of the pattern pieces to fit. I ended up having to cut the front skirt piece in two separate pieces, which means there is a seam in the middle. To be honest, I'm not exactly thrilled about that, but still love the dress nevertheless.

The second issue was getting the fit correct around the bust. I put boning in, as being strapless the dress needed that extra bit of structure, but then found that the bust was a tad gappy. Only by about 1cm either side, but just enough to bother me. The obvious solution would have been to unpick the bodice and take it in 1cm on the side seam near the bust line, but I knew if I did I wouldn't be able to breath as I rode my bike to work wearing it. Trust me, the boning made taking deep breaths hard enough.

So what's a less-than-well-endowed girl to do? Invest in a good strapless bra, that's what. That way I can fill out the dress properly yet still breath. Hoorah!

15 comments:

  1. I think soon there will be a syndrome called V8184. I'm thinking of making a third version and at least one other tessuti lover has made 3 versions also. You are not alone!
    Love the spotty dress! can we see the others that your obsession with V8184 has produced please? The red spot one sounds interesting.

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  2. Fabulous photograph!!!

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  3. Gorgeous! You have a talented eye for matching the right fabric with the right pattern.

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  4. Love it! Must be a contagious addiction... I am just about to make my first one! With a remnant of stripey material from Tessuti. Will wear it in when I finish.

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  5. Gorgeous dress, great fit and a lovely fabric!

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  6. Lovely spotty dress! Great pic ;)

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  7. What a great dress. I love the shape and the fabric. I can imagine that when you make a dress that looks that good on you, you'd be tempted to make a lot more of them ;-)

    Just found your blog and love it!

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  8. That's so cool, and the spotty fabric is perfect.

    You can be Vogue Girl 8184, and I'll be Vogue Girl 8077 View C (I'm about to make my fourth version of it!).

    :-)

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  9. Gorgeous dress and it fits you perfectly! Thanks for stopping by my blog and the lovely comment.

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  10. Great dress - lovely fabric - planning on more????

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  11. A beautiful dress from lovely fabric!!!

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  12. I just LOVE this photo! (Nice dress too)

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  13. Hey,

    Love your dress and your blog- I have seen your finished designs on the tessuti blog and its nice to see your own blog with more photos.

    I am making my first Vogue 8184 at the moment. As it is my first one I don't know how roomy the straight skirt is- do you think it has room for side seam pockets?

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  14. This is wonderful, a must-have for every closet!

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  15. Ooh I love this one too! I have not yet managed to master making a pattern up with less material than required (possibly because it made my brain hurt) but it gives me hope that it's do-able!

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