When you see the pattern cover illustration on this Vogue 9150 dress, it doesn’t invoke much excitement. It’s nondescript. A basic bodice and A-line skirt. But it caught my eye because it had potential. Something as simple as an overlap skirt and sectioned bodice made it just interesting enough to try.
Of course I couldn’t leave it alone, so I tinkered with the neckline because the scoop neck wasn’t working for me. I redrafted it to a boatneck, which amounted to me taking a sharpie and re-drawing the neckline onto the muslin. A word of caution on that…just because you drew a couple lines doesn’t mean it will look that way. lol.
The boatneck or “Sabrina” neckline was to make it a bit retro without being overt. I chose an uneven plaid which gave me an opportunity to play with pattern direction within the midriff and yoke cutting both on the bias. Because of the wrap skirt and the plaid, this could’ve veered towards schoolgirl uniform, so I had to be careful in my selection. But pairing it with bowtie tipped shoes, keeps it slightly retro but mature. I have to admit, this is the uber conservative, corporate wear side of me, but I still love the dress.
PLAIDS
A word on working with plaids…
I could be cranky here, but I chose the fabric so I assume full culpability.
1. Any pattern piece to be cut on a fold, I recreated the full piece. This made it much easier to work with. Tick marks were made on the pattern for plaid placement.
2. I made absolutely no attempt to match plaids along the side seams. I value my sanity. I saved my crazy-sewist-perfectionism for the back.
3. The back seam was hand-basted first to match the plaids and then the zipper insertion followed. This did take some work but the result was worth it.
ALTERATIONS
I used the same technique I used in the Nikki Blazer to shape the back seam to the curve of my spine. You can see more info. on that here.
As for that neckline, that was an exercise in patience. Ad hoc sharpie markings is not the way to go. It created issues like gapping at the back nape of the neck and gapping at the front. I resolved both by removing an inch at the shoulder seam and adding darts along the back neckline. For the next iteration, I will redraft that neckline properly.
Here I’ve paired it with the Nikki Blazer which has a nice refashion on the shawl collar and was an easy sew.
Final analysis, I love this dress. Work wear still tends to be my focus and you can’t go wrong with walking into your closet and pulling out a well-fitted dress and heels.
Pattern: Vogue 9150
Fabric: Michael Levine Online
Shoes: TheRealReal – Jimmy Choo
Bag: Kate Spade
*Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. I may receive a commission for purchases made through these links but there’s no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own though.
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