Monday, July 1, 2013

Vogue V1250 DKNY Cowl Dress with Alteration Notes

1250 fitted


This pattern has been extremely popular, I made it and didn't have as much success the first time around.


It takes 2 yards, and sews up in about two hours and  the original review is below. Many versions I've seen have been made up in ITY (which has 4 way stretch), I used a rayon jersey (2 way stretch - which the pattern specifies) which didn't have the same drape.

Vogue 1250 adjustments

I had a lot of fullness under the bust across the abdomen and it seemed all over.

Turn the dress inside out and try it on, and pin the side seams to fit.
1250 tweaking Inside out

Take the dress off carefully to avoid those pesky pins and place on a table.
Straighten the pins out so that they form a continuous line and are more or less symmetrical on both sides.
Your corrections might look like these.

The sway back addresses the little pleat that formed at the small of the back.
Swayback

Fullness under the bust was addressed with a curved side seam.
New sideseam

It's worth it to baste this dress and try it on first.  I made these alterations on a dress that was already completed and fortunately the armholes and center back seam were not affected.


The First Time Around

So many of these have been reviewed already, it has turned into a very popular pattern because of the cowl and it's very easy to make. I would say this is about a two hour project (not including the time spent shopping the stash). The common observation with this is the fullness around the midsection.



On the pattern envelope they must have used a fabric with more drape than the rayon lycra jersey I used. This was purchased from Fabric.com last year. It is very lightweight and once it was washed, the surface of the fabric became fuzzy, so we aren't talking about the highest quality, so it went into the muslin pile. It is very soft and the cut edges curl, there is widthwise stretch and no stretch in the length.

The pattern was made with no alterations in this view. The skinny belt is actually 1" wide, and it disappears in the blouson. It looks best with a wide belt, but the belt has shortened the length a little, so I would lengthen the pattern.

Front 1250

The back is very long waisted, and I could make a sway back adjustment to correct it or wear it with a belt.
Vogue 1250 Back

If I were to make it again to wear without a belt these are the alterations / changes I would consider.
- Removing excess below the bust.
- Sway back adjustment - 1" total at the center back waist tapering to nothing at the sides.
- Shifting the shoulders to get rid of upper back wrinkles
- Lengthening the pattern 1.5"
- Reworking that puckered back seam (because I know this is going to drive me crazy)

Vogue 1250 adjustments

As it is, I'll hem this puppy up and wear it around the house :)

Some people didn't have to make all of these alterations, as the Sewing Fanatic noted in the comments, she made it up here in three different versions and it looks fantastic on her.


Also the only part of the instruction that could be confusing is the cowl facing instruction.
The illustrations don't show you the front tuck but if you match the shoulder edges it will show you what you need to do. All the edges should match.

035

033

034

VOGUE 1250 dkny

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