Vogue 8747 Long Sleeve Shirt & Dyeing Finished Shirt

This fabric looked so nice when it first arrived, washing did not improve it.   Now it's a reluctant shade of orange and it's a bit fuzzy.  This will be an experiment on many levels, first I'll be reducing the fullness of the gathered area by half and  I'll be using cotton thread, and dyeing the shirt once it's been sewn up instead of dyeing the fabric first.

Tissue fitting

Back hip needs to be reduced a little

Since this is one of those patterns which is sized with a cup measurement I chose the "C" following the instructions.  This does not correspond to my bra measurement which is an F these days.  They differ in that the pattern calls for the difference between the high bust and full bust measurement, and the bra calls for the underbust and full bust difference to determine cup size.... and let's not forget that different manufacturers use different fabrics, and cups, and cup widths and so on.

Front 

Narrow the hip slightly at the hem, you can see where it forms a triangle at the hem intersection.

Then I'm going to remove some of this fullness.

It looks pretty good so far, hoping to finish tonight, and I'm glad I reduced the gathers at the bust.

I've only made small changes to this pattern, and it looks as thought the sleeve cap doesn't have an excessive amount of ease, we'll see once it gets added.  It is a very fitted shirt pattern. 

It's as finished as it's going to be, the next step will be the dye bath.  I like the fit of this blouse, for the next version I would change a few things.  The sleeve cap did have enough ease to form gathers on the cap, I would like to eliminate these in the next version, and the shoulder is too long and will be shortened, other than that, I love the fit, the sleeves are a nice width and have a pleat at the cuff that gives it wearing ease, I didn't have to bother with the FBA since the pattern has cup sizing.  

Since there will be topstitching on the front placket and cuff I will leave this off until after the dye and match the thread to the final color.... just in case the dye doesn't take well.  Or I could just wear it as is on the 31st to hand out candy in a most appropriate shade of Great Pumpkin Orange.

Wow is this dark...

So let me show you something interesting.... I sewed the garment with a poly cotton blend thread .

I basted it with cotton, and when I hemmed the bottom, I wound a cotton thread in the bobbin and completed the hem right side down so the cotton thread is visible.

Along the bottom is the cotton thread, on the top you can see the blend, which took on some of the color but the polyester didn't so it remains on the "white - ish" side.  The next time I do this I will do all of the top stitching in cotton, and dye some buttons along with the fabric to see how that does.

Dye Job....

I was thinking about using Khaki, but Brazil Nut was already opened.

This is not my first dye job, but it is the first time in the kitchen sink.  All other attempts were in the washing machine.

I don't recommend the kitchen sink, but if it's all you have know that...

It will splash and probably dye the counter top, the clothes you are wearing (including shoes).

You will need to be stationed at the sink to agitate the fabric

You should wear a mask, since the dye and soda ash is in powdered form.

Wear a mask, old clothes, wear gloves and have a rag at hand to clean up the spills.

Believe it or not this is the same color as this fabric which was a rayon spandex jersey.

Dyed in the machine the dye was diluted to achieve a taupe color, instead of a dark version.

I was a little bold with this attempt, throwing caution to the wind and winging the dyeing, by this I mean, I doubled the dye amount required, but kept to the recommended dyeing times on the dharma website.

I don't recommend the kitchen sink, but if it's all you have know that...

It will splash and probably dye the counter top, the clothes you are wearing (including shoes).

You will need to be stationed at the sink to agitate the fabric

You should wear a mask, since the dye and soda ash is in powdered form.

Wear a mask, old clothes, wear gloves and have a rag at hand to clean up the spills.  I'm waiting for the creature from the black lagoon to emerge.

I also took advantage of this process to dye some additional orange Swiss dot for an upcoming quilting project.  Since it wasn't in the dye bath as long, it's a lighter shade.

Donna Karan OOP Vogue 2813 Long Sleeve Shirt with Hidden Placket and French Cuffs

One of the TNT patterns in my stash, made twice and of the most comfortable shirts I own. This version is made from a black cotton spandex, and the pattern only needed a sway back adjustment.

It has a hidden buttoned placket, french cuffs, and a high rolled collar.  

I especially like the collar stand detail.

Also in a scandalous cotton spandex print.


This is how the collar stays rolled

The original pattern calls for a stretch charmeuse, but I can get more use out of the cotton spandex.

Donna Karan Vogue Inspiration with OOP Vogue 2813 and Butterick 5756

It's black (slimming), it has pockets (practical), it's cotton (feels good against the skin), it has spandex in it (comfortable but manages to hold wrinkles but not a sharp pleat), it's poplin (so it's lightweight).  

  It rustles a bit like the nuns gowns.  When I was putting it together I was reminded of the pleated plaid skirt I had to wear in school.

Here it is without the hem band (way too short).

Here it is with the hem band fully extended (way too long)


The waistband is 1 1/4" wide, and contoured, so I had to make the changes to the curve for a swayback adjustment. The new pattern pieces lie beneath the originals.



As you can see it sits nicely.

Here are the details on the pocket from Butterick 5756, which are hidden in the side seam pleat.  

This is what it looks like inside out.

Here are the pattern pieces for the body of the skirt, they are rectangular.  The round shaping achieved at the band is through the angles of the tucks at the waistline.


We have front and back pieces here with the side seams facing each other.

As you can see, there is a tuck that bridges the side seam front and back piece.

First you add the pockets to the front and back side seam.

You join the side seam as you would any other, about 2" down from the waistband, then from the bottom opening to the hem (see pins), then around the pocket pieces.

Then you open up the seam...

And sew in your tuck

The pocket sits within the fold of the tuck, out of view.

Sorry about the black projects, they are nearly impossible to photograph.

I will say that the nice thing about these pockets is that if you have something in them, the fullness in the skirt camouflages the contents, which might be a nice feature when travelling.

I bought the skirt pattern (Butterick 5756) in the hopes I had found a workable solution for that Donna Karan shirt dress on the Vogue cover back in January, it had some of the elements I was looking for but falls a little short.  It's almost there but not quite.  So a little more tweaking.  The black shirt from Donna Karan OOP Vogue 2813, the Butterick 5756 skirt.

The Vogue dress for reference

On the runway

I need a wide belt to go with it, but there's no way I can make it out of the scrap that's left.  I did a really good job of getting all of the pieces cut from a limited amount of fabric. So the skirt has a similar silhouette, and it has the bottom hem band, but in black you can barely make out the pleats or any details.

What this really needs is a skirt that's not as pleated, maybe just one pleat to hide the pocket on the dress, and a fabric with a bit of sheen.  Something way happier than this dull black. 

Front - medium width belt

Back - medium width belt

Front - Wide belt

Back - Wide belt

I think I like the narrower belt for this version, so back to the drawing board.