Dress Up Party – Pattern Review – Vogue 9109

This post is part of Dress Up Party. For contest rules, full details, and schedule, please click here!
Today’s post is from Sarah of Goodbye Valentino.

I was quite honored to receive Sara’s invitation to participate in the May Dress Up Party. Dresses are my favorite garments to make especially in warm weather!

Believe it or not I’ve been on the lookout for a simple shift dress with cut-in shoulders for woven fabrics for a long time. While that seems like an easy find I’ve never found exactly what I had a mind. When I came across Vogue’s newly released top pattern, 9109 I knew the addition of a few more inches would bring about the dress I envisioned.

As you can tell I added more than a few inches – more like 24! A silk charmeuse maxi dress was not my original intention, but I couldn’t resist once I draped the fabric on the dress form. The fabric reminds me of waves which reminds me of the beach, and there was no turning back.

From the illustration below you can see the top is fitted through the lower bust gradually increasing to a slightly looser fit through the hips.

I chose to continue the a-line cut over a straight cut below the hips. To keep the dress casual, I left the sides split from just above the knee down, and I kept the dress at ankle-length so I could wear flats.

In addition to the custom-fit cup sizes, the selling point on this pattern was the center back seam allowing me more control over fitting my narrow back.

I sewed the fabric with the shiny side on the inside of the dress to give it the appearance of a silk twill vs. charmeuse. Turning the shiny side inside made it no more (or less) slippery to sew, and as you can see, the color is very clear on the matte side of the fabric.

Three factors generally determine whether I recommend a pattern:

1. Alterations involved

2. Construction ease

3. Final result

All three get a thumbs up as my only alterations were made in the bodice and overall length. After cutting the fabric which was tricky due to its design, the dress went together quickly and hassle free, and finally, the result is just what I wanted.

Time to celebrate the arrival of summer!