10.4.11

Chevron

When this Japanese cotton print arrived from Tessuti, I was a little surprised at how stripy it was!  Of course, the on-line photographs show it to be stripy, but somehow my brain had not registered that detail.  Being pear-shaped, I am never quite sure what to do with stripes.  It seems no matter which way they go, they just emphasize that pear shape.  It took a bit of pondering, but I decided to discard my original pattern choice and go with Vogue 8184, with the skirt panels cut on the bias to give a chevron effect.

Here are front, back and side views, to show you the pattern matching.  The bodice panels were cut off-grain, to get a diamond shape of the pattern in both the front and the back.  I only used boning in the front princess seams.  I would have liked to not use boning at use, being a casual dress, but the dress was collapsing below the bust.  I'm not sure if this is because I am small busted, or whether I need to contour the seams below the bust more.
 I should have stabilised the seam allowance before I put in the zipper, especially because the bodice is off-grain.  I did realise part way through sewing the zipper, but I have little sewing time at the moment, and knew that if I didn't finish this dress that night, it may not have got finished for a long time, so I just powered on through.  The zip is a little bubbly, but not too bad.  I am only admitting to this mistake on the chance that somebody else wants to make a chevron dress!


 It pairs nicely with this cardigan and my favourite necklace.
 A close-up of the straps.  I took this idea from one of the designs in the Twinkle Sews book.  In this photo, you can see the lining peeking out, even though it is understitched.  I think this is happening because I cut the bodice off-grain and the lining on-grain.

15 comments:

kbenco said...

What a fabulous dress, you look terrific. How clever to use the stripes in a chevron. It is good to read about how you managed the off grain sections. I would never have guessed of the difficulties by looking at the very polished finished garment.
Your subtle asymmetry with the pleated fabric detail on one strap is gorgeous. I love looking at your sewing.

Mary Nanna said...

It's very very pretty fabric and the details are super cute. I'm looking with amazement at the outside pics. Still real hot where you are, huh?

Sue said...

Great use of this lovely fabric. It is funny what seems obvious after you purchase the fabric, but you didn't notice before (had the same sort of slip up with motif size!)

Very envious of the warm sunny day!

Sewingelle said...

Wow this dress looks fabulous and so do you. And what a great backdrop!

Audrey said...

You picked a great pattern for a stripe type print. The chevrons look really neat. The colors of the print and that dress style look wonderful on you.

Joy said...

VERY neat use of the fabric! I like the diamond effect. I'm sure it was a chore to do all that matching...

Katherine said...

you are just amazing.

Jacquie said...

Love your dress, it looks terrific on you. The detailing on the straps is so cute.

liZ said...

Just ran across your blog---You are so brave...making clothes for EVERYONE in the family! I haven't ventured past my little girl. I'll be back to visit soon...hopefully it will help me to build up my courage.

meli88a said...

This is fabulous. What perfect placement of the stripes to make the chevron!

Sheryll said...

What a great use of fabric - I love your new dress!

Amber said...

Wow, it's beautiful. I love the colors!

Colette said...

lovely Katherine and very clever use of the stripe. The colours are perfect on you.

Myra said...

Very, very cute dress! I love the way you've pulled the lines together! Great Work!

Bernice said...

The fabric is really lovely. I think you came up with a wonderful design to really make those stripes work for you. Love it with the cardi. The sleeves are most groovy.