Faux Fifties Dress in Plum Shantung

Here's Vogue 8615, which is a current pattern that secretly believes it's a vintage pattern. Vogue thinks so too. The pattern supplies include a "purchased crinoline"! I'm wearing one of my "modern crinolines" here, which gives it just the right amount of pouf for everyday, I think. (Here's my crinoline tutorial if you're interested!)

This lighting shows the color better, along with every crease and wrinkle in the fabric. Sigh.

And here's my attempt at "sexy face," effectively proving that I would be the worst pin-up model ever. There goes that dream.

All in all, I really liked this pattern. I made a size 14 and only made two alterations: one for my forward-rounded shoulders and one to adjust the length. You know what drives me crazy about modern patterns? They usually have two lengths, one of which is way above the knee, and the other of which is mid-calf. Srsly? Can't we all agree on a nice, flattering below-the-knee length? I usually end up splitting the difference between the two offered lengths.

I like the v-neckline in the back.

Also, it has sideseam pockets - yay!

One construction thing that I thought was a little screwy was this: the directions tell you to line the sleeves and the bodice to the edges, and then treat each lined piece as one when you set in the sleeve. So, you would have an ugly unfinished seam in the armhole. Isn't the whole point of lining to conceal these things? To avoid this, I set in just the dress layer of the sleeve, and then sewed the sleeve lining in by hand. Nice and finished!

The lining I used is a mauve-ish Ambience bemberg rayon. I love this stuff!

I would definitely recommend this pattern, especially if you want a retro look but don't want to use a vintage pattern for whatever reason.

I spent the weekend prepping some other projects. I cut out two blouses and a skirt! I have high hopes that prepping over the weekend will make some weeknight sewing easier. Wish me luck! I hope you all had a lovely, productive weekend of sewing.