Vogue 1117 by Michael Kors

OK, 2 posts in 4 days is hardly a "whirlwind of activity", but that's the speed for which I'm known I'm afraid. So without further ado, here is another dress I've been happily wearing for a few months already, I just hadn't blogged about it.

The pattern is Vogue 1117 by Michael Kors, and it was the last garment from my Spring 2012 SWAP, the one piece dress. I originally wanted the dress for that SWAP to be made using Vogue 8648, but I could never get rid of my worries about the side skirt pieces being on the bias, so I went with this gorgeous Michael Kors model instead.

Making this dress was a bit tricky because all the pleating is fiddly. I kept checking and double checking, and wouldn't you know it? In the end I still made a mistake! I ironed the pleats on the left skirt towards the top instead of towards the bottom as I had done on the right skirt, aaarghhhh!!! I only realized this once I had attached the skirt to the bodice and serged the seam closed. Ug. So I left it alone and have been wearing it like that quite happily thank you very much...

The truth is that what bothers me now the most is not the pleating mistake but the fact that this polyester blend is rather "spongy" and it makes the pleats stand out a bit too much. I think I may try again this dress in a tropical wool fabric or maybe even a nice cotton sateen where the pleats might behave better. But that's a bit nitpicking, actually. Until I make a version 2.0, I'm quite happy keeping v1.0 in my work clothes rotation.

My review of Vogue 1117 by Michael Kors is at Pattern Review.

The binge before the diet

Leave it to me to start "working through my stash" by (wait for it...) going fabric shopping!! Yup. The biggest fabric show of the fall (Stoffenspektakel) came this Sunday to my region and I had to be there. On the bright side, for the first time I did my homework in advance. I chose 3 patterns that I want to make and I brought them along to buy the fabric.

Nice, isn't it? In Vogue 2988 I especially like the stand-away collar of the jacket.

And no, it wasn't enough to only buy the necessary fabrics to make this wardrobe once. No, I had to buy two combinations... For the jacket I bought two fabrics: a nice double-sided oxford grey wool and a fancy red coating. Then, for the dress and skirt and pants I bought a wool blend in two coordinating houndstooth designs, 5-6m in total, AND a stretch wool in solid black and solid oxford grey, again 5-6m in total.

But no, this wasn't all...



The second pattern I brought along was V1117, a wrapped dress by Michael Kors.

But no worries, I didn't buy any additional fabric for this pattern, since I plan to use some of the extra fabric I bought for V2988 for this dress as well.

And finally, the last pattern I brought along was V8620, a wide-collared jacket from Marcy Tilton. For this jacket I felt so clever...

At a stand that was selling sample squares from upholstery fabrics, I bought 5 squares for €10! As you can see the squares match in color and texture but have very different patterns. There are polka dots, vertical lines, leaves, curlicues and flowers.

I am so excited by the prospect of combining these fabrics that I think I will begin my sewing with this pattern.