First Up Vogue 7283 - Take Four

Here is Take 1, Take 2, and Take 3.

Ok, here is the second muslin. I used two different prints of cotton. Looks kind of funny. This time I took 1.5" out of the front, sewed the princess seams deeper, and lower the neckline. I think that the next time, I will leave the princess seams alone (notice the weird bust wrinkle now?) and take some extra fabric out of the side seams. I shortened the raglan dart but that just made the point shoulder seam pointy-er-er. Next I will cut into my fashion fabric and hope for the best. I'm not sure what I will use.

All the fabrics are just remnants.

The zipper looks so funny because I am using an old metal zipper and the fabric kept getting stuck in it. So I ironed the fabric open. From this view, it look like I could take some more out of the back too; right above my ample posterior.

Swap Storyboard Update

Here is my new and improved SWAP storyboard. Now for the other things on my list.

First Up Vogue 7283 - Take Three

After making and trying on the first muslin, I decided to compare the KS pattern that firs so well with the new pattern. Why didn't I do this first? Duh? Lesson learned. Here are some pictures of the two patterns. Hopefully later today I will be able to sew up, try on, snap some shots, and post my second muslin. Remember that the KS pattern used 1/4" SA while the Vogue uses 5/8" SA. KS is on the bottom and the Vogue is on the top. I lined up the bottom of the armholes and the waist lines.

This is the back. Pretty close, eh? But see the big dart on the KS pattern? I added it to the Vogue pattern.

Here is the front. I pinned together the princess seams on the Vogue pattern so I could see what the width was. No suprise here. Look at the waist on the KS pattern (underneath) compared to the Vogue. And look at the large dart in the KS pattern. I'll have to take a lot out of the front of the Vogue pattern if I want it at all fitted.

More later if I can get to the muslin.

Shhhh . . . I think I'm done with my SWAP . . .

Not officially yet or anything but all my pieces are done. Before I "officially" finish my Work In Progress at PatternReview.com there are a few thing I want to do.

1. Take pictures of all the combinations. This may take a while with all my "helpful" children. DONE, here is the picture of all of them together.
2. Make sure, for the last time, that all the pieces go together. I'm not quite sure about the corduroy embroidered fitted blouse. I love the top but am not sure it will go with the brown skirt and wool skirt. DONE, they look fine.
3. Maybe make a dress to go with the wardrobe too. This would not be hard. I have been itching to try the Kwik Sew Shealth again but without the buckles and belt. I think it would look very classy in a brown or wine wool crepe. Or even a nubby multi-colored wool? Something from Gorgeous Fabrics? DONE, decided not to.
4. Re-vamp and update my storyboard. I have made only a couple of substitutions but it is currently out of date. DONE

Here is today's garment. It is not on my storyboard. Like I said, it is out of date. There will be more pictures and an actual review within the next couple of days.

This is Butterick 4549.

I love the bodice on this.

I used a purple zipper because it is all I had. It doesn't show when I wear it.

First Up Vogue 7283 - Take Two

Well, I made several adjustments to the OOP Vogue dress. Here is the result in muslin form. I think I'll try for another muslin before making it in fashion fabric. I plan to line the dress even though it called for underlining and facings.


The front and, yes, I can lift my arms more than that. I'm not sure why I stopped at that angle.


The back. It is crooked because my darts are all off. I used my trusty Kwik Sew jumper pattern and compared the darts. I marked it on the pattern pieces so next muslin they will be straight.

Isn't it amazing what a shorter lenght, cute shoes, and a belt will do? Yikes, no one look at the hair or face. You can tell that I didn't get my beauty sleep last night.

I'll give ya a full run-down of all the alterations once I cut the next muslin. Muslins are great for getting rid of the yards and yards of quilter's cotton I have.

First Up Vogue 7283

In this post I showed you guys what I bought on eBay. Well the package arrived today and I couldn't stop myself from cutting into a muslin already. I am going to try this one first.




The description on the back is semi-fitted A-line dress has short raglan sleeves; jewel neckline or bias standing collar. Pockets in front seams. Self belt variations. I am making the collarless version.


This pattern is in great shape for being 30-40 years old.



I did my usual (I love being able to say that) adjustment of shortening the length between neck and bust by 1/2". Since this is a princess seamed dress, I had to do it 4 times. Front, side front, back, sleeve.


YUCK. This pattern is supposed to be for bust 32". My bust is either a 31" or 32" depending on when I measure. This pattern is way too big for me. I can grab inches of fabric. Like 4-6 inches of fabric.

So here is the big question, where do I take all that extra room from? Below is the seaming on the front. The lines are approximate because it is darn hard to see where the seam are on this fabric. If I mess with the princess seams I'll have to mess with the sleeves. But maybe that is okay since that dart is wonky anyway.

One more thing to go for SWAP!!!

I only have one more thing for SWAP! I drafted this tote bag from CharityinAK's blog. It's a super easy tutorial and it makes a super-cute bag. I would have made it wider but didn't realize the gussets would takeout width-wise material. Duh. Oh well, it turned out cute. The bottom of the bag is square and that is a cool feature. I can put baby bottles in it and it stands up perfectly.










This is what they do when I tell them to smile.