the conquest of jersey

[anotheranon]

WHAT: Vogue Pattern 2453, Donna Karan dress ca. mid 1990s
NEW(ish) STUFF: I haven't worked with knits in years, and never before with historic sewing techniques
PRO: interesting style and drape, tailored instead of tight, basic but not boring
CON: pattern/instruction SNAFU, fit not perfect.

The details:


I made the view on the right


My version


I ended up connecting the back and front overlays to each other nearer to my waist, instead of the hip-level indicated in the pattern. The latter produced a drop-waist 1920s silhouette which might look great on someone else but wasn't flattering on me.


The side seam ended up looking bulky around the zipper (as well as kind of chewed due to repeated basting/removal). Fortunately the side seams tend towards the back and this doesn't show much.


The Elizabethan whipstitched edges worked fine on the knit, allowing me to salvage the project. Unusually I didn't need to serge the seams, because all of them are concealed.

The fabric was pleasant to work with and is dense/thick enough not to be revealing. A synthetic I actually like!

I made the armseye higher and tighter to avoid revealing gapping and I'm glad I did so. I think I got the fit mostly correct save a slight flare at the back neckline, but that may be more due to my poor posture than poor construction. In actual wear neither of these will detract as I usually wear a jacket over anything sleeveless.

Reminders for next time: Read ALL of the directions before starting assembly to see just how pear-shaped it's going to get :P If I ever make it again I might eliminate the bulky zipper problem by making it in a two-way stretch as a pullover, keeping in mind that the some of the draping effects may be lost and the end result might be too casual for work.

Speaking of work, I may pilot this sometime this week, if it cools down a bit (it may be sleeveless but it's still ~4 layers of synthetic). What shoes to wear with it, I wonder? I can only imagine boots working with the mid-calf asymmetrical hem but I'm open to experimentation.

Comments

[belfebe.livejournal.com]

Ohhh, me likey! And my biggest challenge with modern sewing is zippers. I can never get them right. Sigh.

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

I've actually found zippers fairly easy most of the time: baste a seam closed, line up the zip, baste in place, stitch around (hand or machine). I think in this case the zip was the extra layer that pushed that seam over into bulky.