4.29.2016

Vogue 1482: The Apartment Dress

oonaballoona | a blog by marcy harriell | sewing vogue 1482

If you come to Kalkatroona for dinner, I will most likely greet you with a shriek, possibly a fan, and very little on. IT'S ALWAYS HOT IN KALKATROONA.

oonaballoona | a blog by marcy harriell | sewing vogue 1482

I'll be wearing something vaguely dressy, and vaguely roomy, the better to eat everything in. And I will probably be hopping around on my toes en relevé, because when I am happy, I hop around on my toes en relevé. Obviously, I'll be happy because you're coming over for dinner. And we'll all kick our shoes off and lounge on great big fuchsia pillows while Ruggy mixes cocktails and Al Green makes us boogie.

It wasn't all boogying with this jammie, though. You guys, I was on the road to failure with this silk jersey for so long, I thought the trip would never end! It started at Mood, when I turned from the cutting table and came face to face with this beauty. She was in my arms within seconds. Foot on the floor, I screamed north with my new companion, racing to Drapey Town. But I made a wrong turn at Cuttersville, and when I found myself at the junction between Maxi Skirtland and Tank Top Turnpoint, there just wasn’t enough lane for Waist Line.

oonaballoona | a blog by marcy harriell | sewing vogue 1482


The trip was bad, yo. Probably because I left no time for rest stops. ALWAYS LEAVE TIME FOR REST STOPS.


Ruggy was thrilled that my trip went awry, since he loved the print and wanted me to use it for myself anyway (I was selfless sewing with this beauty. My first wrong turn!). Sadly, the new route I chose was a man repeller pattern. My bosum buddy Suzanne just happened to drop Vogue 1482 in my lap, an artsy ditty with lots of seaming and little pieces. Her note cautioned: One of those patterns your husband will hate but all your lady friends love…

But the note ALSO said: very cool construction, fyi.

SOLD.

oonaballoona | a blog by marcy harriell | sewing vogue 1482

I needed a good road map after all that botched traveling! And she was right, the construction IS really cool… but I only followed the directions for the front left pocket. UGH FOLLOW DIRECTIONS OONA! WHY DO YOU THINK YOU GET LOST SO MUCH?! Listen, I had to veer off course, mainly because I jigsawed the center back out of the carnage from the draping, and had to cut it on the fold, losing two inches of width, and then had to account for the stretch of the jersey, and then add sleeves, and then remove sleeves, and then change the neckline, and then taper it in to make it slightly more Ruggy friendly, and then shorten it to make it even more Ruggy friendly, and then gnash my teeth certain that I'd basically botched 4 yards of silk jersey, and then throw it on for one more peek...

oonaballoona | a blog by marcy harriell | sewing vogue 1482

...and then DANCE AROUND LIKE A DOOFUS when I realized that, in taking the scenic route, I had suddenly stumbled upon THAT DRESS that you can wear out to summer dinners, or wear in to winter affairs hosted in your blazing hot NY apartment.

oonaballoona | a blog by marcy harriell | sewing vogue 1482

Sorry, I'm still shaking my booty here. BOOGIE BOOGIE! In our 15 years of living in this little slice of the sun, I have only one other handmade garment that can pull this kind of all-seasons duty. As it is mandatory that I greet my guests in handmade, more options are always a bonus.

oonaballoona | a blog by marcy harriell | sewing vogue 1482

And even more bonus, I finally have the perfect match for this beauty from Tweak! I love big bold necklaces, have oodles of them actually, but they seem to need a soul mate. This one has been waiting over a year for its perfect partner!

oonaballoona | a blog by marcy harriell | sewing vogue 1482

Hopefully my perfect partner will come around on this dress, because it's a keeper.

So listen, if you decide to partner up with this pattern, keep in mind that I did a LOT of hacking! The pocket and the diagonal front seam are as-drafted. The pattern as-is has a much longer hemline, sleeves that come in two parts, neckline facings, and a CB seam with a neck opening. Recommended fabrics include both wovens and jersey, which is fun and all, but you ought to consider the stretch factor if you go for jersey. I went down to the smallest size (even more, really, with all the fabric jigsawing and tapering), and you really won't need that back neck opening unless you like the look of it. The instructions call for french seams, which you also won't need on a jersey--I abandoned that once my brain switched on and realized what was happening. Directions are great, but sometimes the scenic route is the way to go!

this apartment dress was made with my monthly fabric allowance as part of the mood sewing network.

36 comments:

  1. i love it! ive been eyeing that pattern but have been scared it will overwhelm my shortness but you rock it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. it DID overwhelm me until i went all mini with it! i'm glad i did it in a jersey first, way easier to play around with. you would kill in this.

      Delete
  2. Oooo! Great! Very fashionable, which I am definitely not but I always like to admire such things from a distance. (From a distance because I never see anything like that around here.

    Also, I hope I'm not being too presumptuous but you remind me of me, a little bit - never give up, save everything and make it work, no matter what.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. i take it as a compliment!!! in fact, i was just thinking about a blazer that may become a purse ;)

      Delete
  3. It's a good thing that silk jersey is currently out of my price range, because if I had a dress as fabulous as yours I would be obliged to quit my job, hire a mixologist, and live exclusively to invite people over so that they can bask in the reflected glory of my SILK JERSEY HOUSE DRESS.

    Instead, I can only sit in my office in my frumpy casual Friday clothes wishing I was half so glamorous as a shoeless Oonaballoona. Dare to dream, yeah?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hahaha!!!! yes, this house dress deserves its own mixologist! and #shoelessballoona. I LIKE IT. maybe your casual fridays can include the removal of shoes??

      Delete
  4. What time's dinner?

    So you took the long road...it was obviously the right road! I keep coming back to the pattern placement on this little gem of a dress. Brilliant!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I WAS WONDERING WHEN SOMEONE WOULD ASK. oh, around 7:30-- not too early, not too late, the better for pre dinner cocktails and post dinner aperitifs.

      and yeah, pattern placement was a doozy! especially considering the cut up state.

      Delete
  5. So fun!!!! Although I don't know if a dress can be more fun than actually spending an evening with you! Sounds like the best of travel adventures---lots of twists and turns with a happy ending! :D

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ah this is the coolest dress ever! So glam and comfortable. Love it!

    ReplyDelete
  7. very well spend 'monthly fabric allowance' - beautiful dress
    sarina
    sewguide.com

    ReplyDelete
  8. Beautiful just Beautil! I love it great job!
    Hugs
    Shari
    MyDailyThreadz

    ReplyDelete
  9. That is uber-fabulous! My eyeballs cannot deduce what the print is, if anything at all. Now I know for sure whose place I want to crash at when next I visit the city (but I knew that already, because, well, booze.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. i wish i'd taken a before pic! the colorful splotches were like weird organisms running down the center of the yardage. one could even say they were boozily running down the center of the yardage.

      Delete
  10. Good lord, woman, I LOVE you! Is that to much, I'm sorry, we barely know each other.... I sincerely hope that one day I get to meet you in person so I can hear some of this running monologue, as opposed to just reading it, which is not to say I don't love reading it, but just that I imagine hearing it would include a whole other level of delight and deliciousness......! The dress is to die, for and I know just what you mean about entertaining-at-home wear. Didn't there used to be a whole section of the department store just for that line? My wardrobe is sadly lacking in that department, so I'm just going to have to get on that, stat! Thank you for providing such luscious rays of sewing sunlight in my grey days.....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. one day we'll knock one back together, and you'll marvel over how totally incomprehensible i can be :)). hopefully you'll still feel the love after that!!! i hope you're sewing up something technicolor...

      Delete
  11. Oh my. I went straight to the website and bought this pattern. And two more. You have broken my resolve not to buy any more patterns until I sew up some of the others I bought and never made...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I LOVE TO BREAK PEOPLE'S RESOLVE. you know, in a good way.

      Delete
  12. Your version is adorable! The original, not so much. I have a feeling your man will come around! ; )

    ReplyDelete
  13. Super cute. I've seen this on a few lovely ladies now and it's a lot of fun. I'm with you tho - it's got to be short!

    ReplyDelete
  14. This is my most favorite ever. I would wear this forever and into my grave. And that necklace! I went to her site and OMG- all the cute things! I see some new bobbles in my future.

    ReplyDelete
  15. This is so gorgeous! I snagged the pattern when it came out and have been pondering the perfect fabric... yours is absolutely wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
  16. It's so cute and it does match your apartment decor!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Wonderful dress. I love your edits to it.

    Dominica
    www.3degreesdb.com

    ReplyDelete
  18. Wonderful dress. I love your edits to it.

    Dominica
    www.3degreesdb.com

    ReplyDelete
  19. What kind of fabric did you use? I'm about to buy some to make this pattern and I love the color / pattern combo you have. Is it from Mood?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. it's a silk jersey, from mood-- but, it was in-store and i'm pretty sure the bolt went quickly :(

      Delete

i thankya truly for taking the time to comment, i love a good conversation-- and hope you know my thanks are always implied, if not always written!