I finally made Vogue 8379. I was inspired by the Wrap Dress Sewalong hosted by Meg at McCalls. So many great versions were popping up and the long sleeve version is so perfect for the in-between weather Sydney is getting right now.
Overall, I am very happy with the fit. I cut a size 12 which is a little roomy, next time I will do a 10. I did a small bust adjustment on the front, folding out two little tucks from the neckline and the facing using the tutorial from the sewalong here, and it was very effective. I didn’t sew any twill tape to the neckline though as I felt that was overkill and the area is already well stabilised from the interfaced facing piece.
I cut one tie piece longer than the other so that when tied they ended up the same length. The overlap/top/right side is longer and the underlap/underneath/left side is the shorter.
I also did a forward shoulder adjustment, not just on the shoulder bodice pieces (I pivoted it forward 1 cm or 3/8th”) but also on the sleeve. Usually I am lazy and just move the shoulder notch forward, which is perfectly acceptable and gives a good result but this time (and in all makes I’ve done since, because it results in a perfectly fitting sleeve) I have done the actual adjustment on the sleeve. This involves “pushing” the top of the sleeve cap forward – you are removing excess fabric from the back and adding it to the front. A good illustration for this is here. The black line is a standard sleeve cap, the green and red lines both show two levels of a forward shoulder adjustment. A great tutorial on this is here – its so clear and shows the “flatter back” and “bubbled front” really well.
I also didn’t make the cuffs as per pattern, I just did simple bands.
The fabric is a cheap ITY knit from fabric.com. I was a bit taken aback as I didn’t really know what an ITY knit was when I ordered it and when I received it, it seemed very “swimwear”. Now it is made up it is lovely and silky to wear. It’s a great travel dress as it doesn’t need ironing but I am a bit ambivalent about the polka dots.
In summary, great pattern, I love the sleeves, the pleats in the front are very flattering and I have two (or three) more fabrics ready to make some more of this pattern and also McCalls 6884.
