Full-Skirted Flirty 50s Number

Onto the second dress in my birthday weekend montage!

This is the frock I wore on the friday night, to dinner at Hellenic Republic with my parents, my sister and her boyf, and Michael.

It is Vogue 8615:

I made a muslin of the bodice first. I cut a 12, with a C cup. I do love the fact that this pattern has options for how big or small your bust is. The muslin fit perfectly, with no alterations.

So, I cut the 12C, and sewed away. I sewed in the lining, and it looked beautiful. And then I tried it on. And it was way too big. How annoying.

Now, I haven't lost weight, so it is a mystery to me why there was a size difference. The muslin fabric was very similar to the Japanese linen/cotton I used. Weird - anyone got any tips as to why?

But I took it in. I did this by increasing the back darts substantially, both in width and in length. Then I unpicked the invisible zip and took it in about 2cm each side at the top, tapering down. And here is a closeup of the fit from the back:

And from the front:

I'm pretty happy - it fits like a glove!

Now, cos this was a special occasion frock, I took some time to really add to the dress. First, I made a matching belt, using a belt kit:

I am so happy with it. How much nicer does the dress look with the belt! I didn't have a press-stud tool to get the little metal holes, so I sewed around them instead. I actually really like how they look.

The second thing I did was sew in horse-hair braid to the hem of the skirt. The skirt is a circle, and after seeing Gertie's tutorial of how to do this, I wanted to do it quite badly. I forgot to get a picture of the braid, but you can really see the effect in this picture!

So much fun!

I really recommend this pattern. It is straightforward to sew - even with alterations for fit - and is very vintage in its styling. I've posted a review on pattern review if you'd like to have a peek!