Vogue 8827: recital dress

 

Pattern: Vogue 8827

Fabric: Polyester Peachskin, 3 yards

Notions: Grosgrain ribbon (for ties

Notes:

This was not a fun project at all, but I must admit that I love the results!  8827 was my initial favorite from the fall vogue patterns – I like the loose silhouette and the asymmetrical drape.  It looked very modern, and I immediately pegged the long version as a great informal recital dress.  I’m going on tour again this spring (in Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia) and I need dresses that look elegant but will not wrinkle.  To that end I picked up a polyester peachskin.

Peachskin isn’t exactly fun to sew, but it is better than most polyester fabrics IMO.  My advice for sewing peachskin:

1. Use a Microtex needle (to avoid skipped stitches)

2. Pin Sparingly (because pin marks are permanent!)  

3. Best for drapey styles (does not really hold a crease).

4. It will pucker when you sew, but it goes away with ironing (use steam!) Works better with the serger.

5.  Attracts static like mad!

I constructed most of the dress on my serger.  As I said above, the fabric puckers, but I had no issue pressing that out.  I had a little more trouble on the seams that had to be sewn on the machine.

 

I had issues with the pattern.  It’s fairly well drafted, but the instructions are a bit nonsensical.  I would not recommend, no matter what it says, making this from a jersey – there is a lot of hand sewing and pressing that will not work!  I topstitched the front edges to attempt to keep them in place – between that, the belt, and being caught in the hem they stay well.  The pattern wants you to slip stitch them to the dress, which might work on the short version, but there’s no way it wouldn’t pull at this length and weight.  I removed a good 2.5″ of ease from the sleeve caps (peachskin does not ease, nope.)  My belt is quite a bit longer than called for – I wrapped it twice and tied in the front like an obi.  This keeps it secure without the need for a closure on the outside (the insides are closed with a piece of ribbon sewn to the seam allowances.

You can see that it has a little static issue above – it’s better with tights.  It seems to be a time of conquering fears – both this and my coat contain my biggest sewing issue, the inset corner.  I found this video from threads and want to try it, but I can’t buy cotton organdy locally.  I will have to get some and try it out!  This time I managed, but it isn’t the best looking collar ever.

I do recommend the pattern, because I love the style, but it’s probably good to be forewarned that the directions aren’t the greatest.  I’m very excited to wear this to sing!