And when I say ages, I mean ages: almost 30 hours of work,
to be exact, all-in-all over a month to finish it, knowing that I do have a
full time job and sew only on week-ends and rarely during the week.
Moreover, contrary to my usual sewing, this dress does not
even have lining. Although the lining choice could have saved me some time in
the end.
So why, WHY did it take so long?
First of all, this was my first designer dress from the
Vogue collection. As a traditional Burda sewer, I discovered Butterick last
spring and was pleasantly surprised by the fit. I still need to do some
adjustments, but do not encounter Burda’s plunging necklines and large
shoulders. I tend to sew, and wear, always the same style, so the Ralph Rucci
V1317 seemed like an interesting innovation. Still a business dress, but a
DIFFERENT one.
I have seen very different versions on the internet, from a
very fine fabric, to false suede (which, btw, is one of the recommended
fabrics). I took some risk and tried to sew it from a great violet wool crepe.
Wool crepe, you say, so fluid fabric, but also a lot of
fraying. The pattern does not include lining and since it took me at least 2
days to understand how all the pattern pieces should be assembled, I decided to
follow it and not to put the lining in.
Which meant: another solution to prevent the fraying:
Hongkong binding, or something similar. Add to this the double stitching and
the result is clear:
Every seam had to be sewn 4 times:
-
One for the seam itself
-
One for adding the binding
-
Plus the double stitching (attaching the binding
at the same time)
All this on often curvy seams….
I was not 100% convinced by the model (round shoulders…
hmmm, not quite my style, it makes me thinking of the 90’s), until I have sewn
the kaliko. And there, the revelation: this dress could turn out pretty well. I
guess I was this revelation moment which actually motivated me to finish the
dress, because what came next was a serious attempt to lose my sewing mojo.
If you have narrow shoulders and a short back like me, this
is not a model where adjusting is simple. Fortunately, the wool is somehow
forgiving a few imperfections. I remember having adjusted the pattern correctly
on the kaliko, but on the final model I still ended up taking in an inch or so
in the shoulder area.
Then came the craziness with the binded seams, and I can
tell you, I had a great training!
OK, let’s stop complaining and get to the positive side:
I have managed to finish this dress and turned out quite OK.
The colour is just beautiful, the double, or triple
topstitching is perfectly visible on the dress and the fit is better than
expected. I now also have a big stock of violet thread, as I was afraid of
running out of it :o)
The only thing I am still hesitating on is the waistband.
Put it on the front, in the back, or cut it out? Not sure.
To sum up: great pattern, great challenge, original dress
and certainly going to buy some Vogue in the next weeks.
And of course with the Vogue pose:
Inspiration: Ralph Rucci
Pattern: Vogue 1317
Pattern changes: waist adjustment, shortening body part, only
one pocket
Technique: Hongkong binding
Fabric: violet wool crepe
Time to Complete: 6 weeks, probably
Total Cost: 46 EUR
