Now I’d like some lemons!
In keeping with my current fruit obsession (discussed in details in my last article) , here is my second fruit garment: the lemon dress.
Based on the largely modified Vogue v8630 pattern (used here and here without modifications), it was sewn literally the day after the cherry dress!!
A bit crazy I know… But how much do I love this fabric! Although the pictures make it look black, the background is actually a deep navy, which will be perfect for Spring. The quality is fantastic: it is a mid-weight cotton sateen, with a bit of elasticity, making fitting adjustments that bit easier. I saw it on Emily Hallman’s website and immediately ordered 5 meters from www.fabric.com in the US – no matter the distance or the shipping and import duties, I just had to have it!!!
After a rather disappointing fitting experience with the Vogue V9197 pattern, I decided to follow the advice of a friend who is a professional haute-couture sewer: go back to a perfectly-fitting bodice pattern and play around it. So I went back to V8630, which had shown such a good result in two very different fabrics, and made the following changes, in this exact order:
- I removed the collar, as I wanted a completely plain bodice.
- Once the collar removed, the neckline was too wide and too low, so I raised it, using the V9197 bodice pattern to help me get an accurate shoulder slope.
- V8630 has two lower-back darts, but I also wanted the top of the shoulders to be perfectly fitted, so I added two darts there as well, about 2cm wide and 10cm long.
- I had shortened V8630 by about 1cm for my previous dresses, but with a wide skirt it looked strange, so I went back to the original length.
- And for an obscure reason I must have lost a bit of weight over the past month (??) as I had to increase the curvature of the bodice by about 1.5cm.
All this pattern fussing-about was a bit lengthy but really worthwhile: I now have a perfect bodice pattern, which I am going to be able to use for multiple projects by decreasing the neckline, adding a button placket or a collar… The possibilities are endless!
In any case for the lemon dress I made not further adjustments, the fabric speaks for itself so it really does not need further complications. I added a self-drafted pleated skirt, lined the skirt only (to make the dress wearable with tights) and I was done! And very happy!
In summary :
- Pattern: Vogue 8630, modified by raising the neckline and adding two shoulder darts.
- fabric: bright yellow lemons on dark navy background, in the nicest quality of cotton sateen ordered from www.fabric.com.
- Sewing level: V8630 is completely manageable for a motivated beginner, so if you want to keep the same bodice without adjustment and add a circle or pleated skirt it is easy-peasy. Modifying the pattern like I did requires a bit more experience of course, but it iscompletely worth trying!
- Love level: HUGE CRUSH FOR THIS DRESS, I absolutely adore it.
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