Vogue 8503

I sewed!! The truck with all of our belongings on it is still in Texas, but I couldn't wait any longer, so I hiked my machine and ironing board up to the card table we're using in the dining room and set up shop.

The pattern is Vogue 8503. I've wanted to sew it for some time. It just looks so cool and chic. I love the dolman sleeve with empire line. I think I've mentioned before that I don't typically find a dolman sleeve flattering, but when the width is balanced by the empire line, I think it has a very slimming effect.

The pattern is fairly simple - darted upper bodice, lower bodice with side seam shaping and hip vents. The neckline is faced. The pattern called for topstitching to secure the facing, but I prefer a cleaner look, so I understitched and secured the facing at the shoulders and center back seam.

Alterations I made were to cut the pattern at a size 12, except for the neckline and facings which I cut on the size 10. I did a 1 1/2 inch FBA, which looks like it was a little aggressive. I didn't want a side bust dart with a cut on sleeve, so I moved all the fullness to the underbust dart, which made it enormous. I transferred about 1/3 of the width to a second underbust dart, which gave me a nicer, more rounded shape.

The fit in back isn't bad. Most of those wrinkles are because it is too snug in the hips and is pooling above them. I probably could have taken out a smidge of a swayback. When I first tried this on, before I had added the facings or marked the buttonholes, I was afraid it was going to be a total wadder. It was too small in the hips, too big in the bust and the neckline gaped terribly. I really like it though, so I wanted to save it. I first tackled the neckline problem.

The neckline is on the bias, so I wanted to stabilize it as well as pull it in a little. My clear elastic is on a truck in Texas, so I decided to use on grain strips of fashion fabric. I stitched them into the facing stitching line with the fashion fabric at the bottom. I pulled the fabric strips taut and allowed the feed dogs to ease the neckline in a little. This stabilized it as well as shortening the neckline, which makes it curve in to my body better.

I also got a little creative with button placement. Since it was too large in the bust and too small in the hips, I just slanted the line of the buttons to lap over a little more at the top and less at the bottom. I also used one more button than Vogue called for.

While it isn't perfect, it is wearable and comfortable and I do really like the pattern, so I think I may give it another try. I'm pretty happy with my save of this version, but next time I should probably give myself a little more time in the fitting stage.