Vogue 1220: Everyone else is doing it

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you my newest creation: Vogue 1220, a Donna Karan Collection pattern. Now I'm one of the cool kids, just like so many others.

I bought the lavender stretch poplin I used with this specific pattern in mind. I loved the pattern art,

which shows the dress in grey, and was so tempted to copy it directly, but I encountered two problems:
1. I couldn't find a shade of grey that was right for me.
2. I found lavender, which is a color I do not have in my wardrobe.

I really wanted a cotton sateen, but I found a poplin and went with it.

Now a little problem that I encountered was that the pattern only gives yardage for 60" wide fabric. And my lavender lovely is only 45". I guessed on how much I would need and bought 5 yards, which ended up being enough, plus quite a bit. All of the pieces fit on my narrower fabric, except for the sash, which is got across the grain and is super long. I ended up having to cut it in three pieces and sew it together. Not a huge deal, and it really makes no difference in the look of the sash.

Here it is on my dress form.

I think it's pretty spectacular. On me, I think it's also pretty spectacular. I really like this dress!

I added 3 inches of length, and I'm glad I did because the dress would definitely have been too short without it.

And it has pockets! They are shallow, but awesome for having something to do with my hands when I get nervous. 

I encountered one little problem in the instructions which say something completely incomprehensible (to me anyway) about the pleats that hide underneath the sash. I read them, reread them, slept on it, discussed it with my mom, reread them, and ended up just doing what I thought was best, which was just matching up the circles and sewing a line down the middle. There might have been something in the incomprehensible part about tacking them down or something, but I suppose I will never know.

Other than that, the dress went together fine. I found parts of the pattern annoying: the pieces are so weird and irregular, there are too many pivot points for my liking (who am I kidding, any number of pivot points is too many), and the button placket is kind of heavy (because I used an interfacing that was too heavy for the fabric).

One other issue is that I have trouble when sitting. The front along the legs wants to gape, and crossing my legs is tricky without showing some thigh. When I wore the dress out of the house I had to sit with my legs folded rather than crossed. It wasn't a bit deal really, just something to be conscious of to ensure I don't have any wardrobe malfunctions.

All that being said, I love the style of the dress, and I'm glad I made it. I'm also glad I'm finished. But I think this will one of those classics that I'll keep around in my wardrobe for a long while.


The shoes, while I'm not convinced they go with the dress, are these:

Guess Candice in black satin. They are cute with their little bow on the toe. There is one unfortunate consequence to wearing these shoes: they rub in a few places and tend to clean rub the skin away. Ouch. There's a clump of thread and glue that's nearly microscopic at the heel of one of the shoes. As small as it is, it is enough to cause pain and open woundage. So these shoes are not for everyday use, which is just as well since they are satin and therefore kind of dressy.

I bought them at DSW in August for around $40.

I haven't decided which of my shoes would go best with this dress, or if I need to be on the hunt for just the right pair. On the dress's maiden voyage I wore Guess Florie, and this time picked a black shoe. Bah. Either way the dress is great.