Vintage Vogue 1137 in bottle green Liberty

Hi guys! I hope your week/bank holiday weekend is going well! Thanks to the extended weekend here in the UK, I have managed to snap some pictures of my latest project today to share with you :)

Remember my test run for the Vintage Vogue 1137? More than 2 entire years later (!), I'm pleased to say that the "real deal" is done, and just as I envisaged when I picked up this beautiful piece of Liberty wool in an unusual bottle green colour from Goldhawk Road.  

Long term readers of this blog will know that green is not a colour that I reach for very often; I can't help but think that the drawings on the envelope may have something to do with my fabric decision here. 

Thinking about it, I can't actually understand or explain why it took me so long to pick up this pattern again. My test run had gone really well, and the unlined cotton dress ended up getting plenty of wear, for its comfy-to-wear, easy-to-pack, simple-to-style qualities. What's not to like? In fact, it featured so much in my work wardrobe that the colour has even faded slightly in the wash!  

No wonder Vogue 1137 was one of my pattern picks!  

When I did eventually pick up this lovely pattern again, I felt very grateful to my younger self that I did not need to make any alteration to it. The only thing I did change for this version was adding a lining, and I sure didn't hold back! 

Oh how I so wish this dress was fully reversible! The bodice lining is a super soft watercolour viscose (I only had a tiny piece), and the skirt lining was the leftover aubergine polyester lining from my Ultimate Work Skirt. 

Now I want to make version #3, in something slinky and dressy!

A couple of notes on the construction. First, as explained in my skirt lining tutorial here, instead of sewing full darts, I opted for tucks on the skirt lining to allow some additional ease (see picture above). It worked well, and I can move very freely in it.  

The second one is about inserting the bodice lining. I didn't follow the instruction for this, but instead, I used this super clear tutorial (based on the same pattern!) which let me get away with minimal hand sewing. It worked a treat! The only hand sewing that I ended up doing was stitching the lining to the lapped zipper, and finishing the dress with an invisible hem. 

The lapped zipper:

Remember these subtle but elegant V-necklines? Front and back?

  

I'm so pleased with how this dress has turned out (and in!), and am proud to have this addition to my work wardrobe. It was worth the wait, after all!