Little Black Dress: Vogue 8742

After my MMM ’13 meltdown earlier this week I decided to make some dresses that could cover several bases. I wanted to make dresses that I could wear out to town and also to work. So I made Very Easy Vogue 8742 (now out of print).

Full disclosure: i fell in love with Jorth’s version a wee while ago. I think this dress covers those two bases nicely. It is both modest enough for work and fitting enough to wear out to town (as I did last weekend). I like the simple style too – just a plain fitted dress. Its made a bit more interesting by the gathers on the front side pieces creating a flattering silhouette shape.

I made this dress out of a cotton and merino knit fabric from Nicks Fabrics on Dominion Road (FYI I bought four metres of wool knit fabrics for $24 – wow!) The wool content of the fabric and the long sleeves make all the difference in keeping warm. I know it sounds basic but I was pleasantly surprised by how cosy it was when I was out in the evening last weekend. It is deliciously warm and breathable too – perfection!

I made this dress in a straight 14. It is probably a touch big for me but 1. I hadn’t pre-washed my fabric so I was worried about shrinkage and 2. I wanted this dress to be comfy so that I didn’t feel like I had to straighten or rearrange whenever I stood up so I decided slightly too big is better than slightly too small. I also took 14 cm off the bottom of the length as per usual.

I felt like I needed to share this photo. I got all the seams to match up. Its kinda a big deal to me… This was my second item made from a knit fabric. I’m pretty pleased with how it went but I definitely had some angry words with my sewing machine swallowing up my fabric if I back stitched too close to the edge. I’ve never had this problem with a woven fabric so I don’t know if I was just having an off day of if this is a thing with knit fabrics.

So that’s it for me, is anyone else out there sewing any knit clothes? Tell me all the awesome patterns!