Saturday, July 6, 2013

Vogue Vena Cava V1228 Cotton Silk Broadcloth Dress

Vogue 1228 Vena Cava front 1

I love this dress, flirty and easy to make and wear.


Vogue 1228 Vena Cava front

It's a little too low around the neckline, as in... the bra peeks in the corners of the neckline.  The interior is finished with french seams, and it's very clean looking on the inside.  The only change I made is slip stitching the very narrow neck facing, and adding a snap to the end of the sleeve tab (instead of tucking it into the cuff), if you do the same, remember to finish the edge of the tab instead of leaving it unfinished (for a cleaner look). I left the zipper off, because it slips on relatively easily (the dress form was another issue, I just couldn't get it on her).

You could make this dress in a weekend easily.

Now to address the neckline, to raise it would mean the tuck would not fall where originally intended which may or may not be an issue for you, but on this first try, I left everything as is.  This was supposed to be my wearable muslin, and that's what they are for (tweaking).  I may go back and add some of the same fabric to the corners so I won't be checking exposure while wearing it, but the issue with that part of the neckline is that the facing is enclosed in the pleat, and the height of the pleat will be changed if you raise it.  Another solution is to take the neckline up by way of  lowering the shoulder seams.

Here is the Vogue pattern instruction.
Vena Cava neckline instruction

Here is the close up on the garment.
Vena cava neck facing 1228

The fabric for this project was a cotton silk blend from FabricMart, it was a pleasure to work with, it is opaque, lightweight, but with body.
Vena Cava front cuff



I like the unusual construction of this dress, you can see the details a little better on the line drawing.  All in all a successful little pattern, and a dress that I'll get a lot of wear from.

Vena Cava 1228 Envelope
Vena Cava 1228 Line drawing

2 comments:

Mary said...

I like it very much and it is nicer than the envelope.

Gail said...

Stumbled upon your blog recently. I love this dress, but agree that the neckline is a bit low. I made another Vena Cava pattern with the same result.