Pattern: Vogue 1183, a Kay Unger design
Fabric: Olive green doubleknit from fashionista fabrics
Notes: I bought this pattern when it came out, but then promptly forgot that it existed. It’s a bit more tailored and office-like than I generally go for. But… I had this olive green doubleknit to use up, and I only had enough to make a slim fitting dress. I remembered this pattern, so I gave it a go!
This is not, in general, my favorite color. I love green, but I really prefer emerald to olive – too much yellow and I start to develop a bit of a sickly pallor. Having said this, I think this color works pretty well on me – it has enough intensity to make me happy, and it works with red hair. I can wear more warm colors when my hair is red. Speaking of which, I am not going bald – I just have blonde roots that are showing when I pull my hair back! Time to get to the salon.
The dress was easy enough to make, but a bit time consuming with all the topstitching. I did not run 2 lines per seam – I just topstitched the seam allowance down 1/4″ away from the seam. I omitted the lining, and opted to turn and sew under all the edges, so I didn’t really want even more stitching showing.
I am very pleased with the fit in the back. There is no zipper – it goes over my head easily!
I had one major fitting problem with the dress, which I have seen touched on in other reviews. It was too long from shoulder to the top of the midriff, causing the bust to gape open. I removed 1.5″ total from each shoulder, which fixed the issue. I have no gaping on the neckline now! I also removed about 1 inch total at the sides from the underarm to midriff, because it was big otherwise (meaning I had to use 2 sizes smaller on top than bottom… but I think this pattern runs big in the bust.)
If I made the skirt again I would remove the darts – they aren’t necessary in a doubleknit fabric, and just added a strange wrinkle. I had a really hard time photographing this dress – the color is intense, and I have yet to get a lens I like better from my camera. I did, however, get a new phone (the HTC EVO 4G) which has a pretty decent camera – it took the photo below!
I couldn’t get the color to turn out, so I just used one of the downloaded camera filters
I enjoyed this pattern, and I think it’s a nice basic. I will certainly get some wear out of it – I picked up a leopard print cardigan yesterday that goes with it really well (though I will not wear the leopard shoes at the same time… even my animal print love has limits!) I recommend the pattern – just watch out for the upper chest/ shoulder issue!