Vogue 1027 Dress - X2

The first is definitely an approximation of Vogue 1027 - I made it more of an empire waist, dropped the tie, and didn't do a circle skirt. I used a lightweight cotton knit from the $3/yard table that I picked up in SF. I should have bought more! I made an SBA on the front pattern pieces by pinching out one of the darts, and taking about 1/3 inch folded off vertically in the center of the front bodice piece. I constructed the back with a CB seam, and used another knit dress pattern that had a swayback adjustment. I used the lightweight steam a seam at the neck line to ensure I didn't get any stretching. A bit of elastic would probably be nice, but I didn't have any. I constructed the sleeves as instructed, which isn't beautiful on the inside, but looks fine on the outside. For the hem I just turned it up 1/4 inch and folded twice, because I didn't want to make it any shorter than this, and I ran out of fabric!

(will post picture soon!)

The second is the real thing. I used a silky rayon jersey from Gorgeous Fabrics, which has a weight and feel closer to silk jersey than your average rayon knit. It also has a little bit of sheen which makes it a little dressier. I like the feel of it, but it's much harder to work with than normal rayon jersey! If you cut your skirt on the grain, it only takes 2 yards to complete it. I cut a size 8 and ended up having to take the side seams in some. The only major change I used from the pattern is that I self lined the upper bodice. This gave a little more substantial bodice to hang the circle skirt off of - important because the fabric has some weight to it! It also meant that I didn't have to hem the neck and sleeves . I did end up top stitching them though. I took 4 inches off of the skirt when I cut it, and it still hits below the knee. I used Assorted Notions recommendations for the tie. I also ended up hand stitching the rest of it to the bodice, because otherwise the knot would slip down and show the seam which looked kind of odd. If your fabric wasn't so slinky, it would probably just stay in place with a knot. Here is a pic (sorry, I obviously can't be bothered to iron for ya'll!):