Vogue's Basic Design 1017 - Atelier Brunette Moonstone Green

Things went downhill fast after completing my Alexa Chung blouse.  Literally. Twenty minutes of frozen rain sent me sliding down my drive on my way to the Christmas work do.  Any planned photos were forgotten as I changed trousers, jacket and shoes and dried the blouse out with my hair drier.  It took 2 weeks for the bruising and swelling on my hip to go down - this must be what old age has in store!*

So on to my most recent project, Vogue's Basic Design 1017.  I made view B the blue spotted version.

I bought the pattern with in a size 12 34" bust which is a size bigger than my ideal size but generally if I make a SBA and narrow the shoulders its alright.  I found the bust adjustment really tricky to do without really distorting the pattern piece. I was conscious not to go overboard on fitting as I want to wear the dress for work so don't want it too tight around the shoulders and arms.

I love the extra details such as different cutting lines for sleeved and sleeveless views.  There are more circles to match and the notches are numbered in the order of construction.  I guess on multi-sized patterns these details would make it way too cluttered.

I chose a beautiful viscose challis from Atelier Brunette.  I just managed to squeeze it out of 2 metres, nothing left for adding pockets but I really love it when there are only tiny scraps left - so satisfying.  The 2 metres was 20cm off the recommended length, I was prepared to shorten the skirt if necessary but didn't need to.  I find that the yardages given on vintage patterns are much tighter than on modern day big 4 patterns.  I've discussed this with my mother as I often remember her buying extra for long dresses for me (not that I'm tall but if its going to be floor length then it should be floor length***), and we agree that patterns are more generous/wasteful now.
I'm glad I did a toile of the bodice as it emphasised the importance of basting the bodice front to the front band to get an nice neat corner.

The dress went together really nicely, I didn't rush and used basting stitches where specified in the instructions to achieve a good finish.

This has been quite a long post - well done if you made it all the way to the end.

* My mother was very excited to tell me that as of 1st January 2019 I can officially say I'm 40 next year**.  I don't know why she's taking so much delight in it as it means she'll be 70.
** I'm quite looking forward to it really, my 30's were way better than my 20's so I have high hopes!
*** I played flute in a few different groups as a teenager so needed long black dresses for concert wear and then went to a university that held regular balls . I wish I needed more any gowns nowadays.