Presenting, at long last, my Fall for Cotton project! The challenge was to create a vintage pattern using 100% cotton fabric. I’m calling it the Sunset Stripes dress because the colors remind me of those in a particularly beautiful sunset (if you like the fabric, you can find it here).
I’m pretty happy with how it turned out and I think it captures the essence of my inspiration dress even though it’s in a completely different color scheme:

I procrastinated just a bit on this project and so I ended up finishing it on Sunday night. I had my very obliging boyfriend snap some photos of me right after we got off work yesterday so I could get it in just under the wire. Will I ever learn? We took the photos right down the street from where I work, in the Pismo Beach Butterfly Grove. It’s the off-season right now, but later this year this grove will be filled with thousands of Monarch butterflies coming to breed and congregate on the trees in huge clumps. It’s quite a sight to see!

Anyway, back to the dress: I made a few changes to my original pattern. I wasn’t so sure about the skirt of the Vogue pattern– it looked really big and I had a feeling I would have to shorten it quite a bit. I decided to use the skirt from the Cambie dress by Sewaholic instead. I think it was a good choice and I’m especially excited about the in-seam pockets. I added four inches to the length of that skirt. I also decided to add a lining. The original pattern just had a facing, but I felt that since my fabric was sort of thin that I would feel more comfortable with a lining. I debated about cutting the lining on the bias, like the main fabric, or on the straight grain, and ultimately I cut it on the straight grain to help prevent stretching out over time (as bias-cut pieces are wont to do). I was originally going to line the entire dress, but ended up just lining the bodice because I was afraid the skirt would end up too bulky with an extra layer of fabric.

As you can see, I drafted these chevron pieces to resemble the inspiration dress. It looks like they’re the pockets, but actually they’re just stitched on top. At first I wasn’t sure how to go about it, but was actually pretty easy to do! I just used my clear ruler and lined up the stripe with the 45 degree line.

I also decided to embellish the front with some self-covered buttons, just like the original dress. I tried to center them on the fabric as I cut them out so each one would be mostly one color.

Here’s the back view. The Vogue pattern had a side zipper, but once I decided to use the Cambie skirt I thought it would be easier to move the zipper to the center back since there’s no side seam on it. It’s not really historically accurate, but I’m OK with that!

I had a few issues putting the zipper in- I sewed one side, which was fine, but when I sewed the other side the fabric stretched a little and it got misaligned. I ripped it out and then I realized that all I had to do was use a fabric pen to mark where the skirt and stripes were supposed to line up. Duh! It worked like a charm and I really wonder why I didn’t just do that in the first place!

I’m so excited that this skirt has pockets! It’s always such a practical feature.

Pattern Notes

Changes I made:

• used the Cambie dress skirt instead of the original
• added 4 inches to the length of the Cambie Skirt

• added chevron accents to the skirt

• lined the bodice (I cut the lining on the straight grain to help keep the shape)

• in lining the bodice, I lowered the neckline by 5/8 inch

• took in the shoulders by about 1/2 inch

• added buttons covered in the fabric

• moved the zipper to the back

What I would do differently next time:

• I would understich the lining (I might actually do this later- it kinda pokes out and it bugs me!)

• I would mark the zipper (the first time!) to help line up the skirt and stripes

• I would fiddle with the bust darts to get them less pointy!

I’m seriously considering taking the dress apart a little bit and fixing these few issues. I know it seems really perfectionist but I love this dress and I want it to be as well-fitting as possible!

All in all though, this dress came together really easily, even despite being from two different patterns, and I like the way the bodice fits. I would definitely sew with Vogue 8789 again and I would probably line it again too. Feel free to message me if you have any questions about the pattern or my modifications.

Thanks for checking out my dress! Stay tuned to Lucky Lucille for the slideshow next week- I can’t wait to see what everyone else came up with!