This is the last make for wedding events. The bridal showers, rehearsal dinner, and wedding dress are all done. For the bridal shower with my family I made/wore Orchid Midi Take 2 (bodice ruffle hack). I really wanted each wedding event to have it’s own special dress that I hadn’t worn before. John’s family wanted to throw us a bridal shower for his side of the family. Which is why I came up with this dress.
I used Anne Klein’s Vogue 1543. It has some beautiful front pleating but it is otherwise a pretty simple dress. The tricky part is the fabrics, I used a chiffon which can be tricky to cut out. You can find here. It’s currently on clearance! I did not buy it on clearance, so I’m jealous I didn’t wait now lol. It’s really pretty. I used a basic sheath poly lining. I prefer the lining I used on my birthday dress. In general poly linings are cheap, which helps cut costs but they aren’t super nice.
I did a quick muslin because I have only sewn up 2 other Vogue patterns before. One was a PJ pattern and I wasn’t super happy with the boob fit, and one was a dress which fits pretty well, so I just wasn’t sure. I started with a size 12 in the bust graded to a 14 at the waist. I ended up after the muslin doing a small bust adjustment. I applied it to both the front and front lining pieces.
I used tailor tacks for the first time and I loved it. I did a bit of googling on how to do it but it made the pleating super easy and I felt a lot more accurate. I will be using tailor tacks more for sure.
The front lining seemed a bit weird to me as it’s 3 darts that are at a diagonal, but it all worked out and lays nice. I’m also not totally sold on the belt. I may or may not wear the belt for the Bridal shower.
The dress has a side zip which I really like as it’s easier to put on by myself.
I followed the directions for the most part. I skipped a few steps at the end: the bra strap snap, belt loops, and hanger ribbon. The bra strap snap is the only part I still might go back and put on. I don’t totally mind a bit of bra strap so I didn’t think it was worth the effort, and since I’m not sold on the belt yet, I didn’t want the loops there if I was never gonna wear the belt with it. I appreciate Vogue having some nice finishing touches to it.
Pattern: Vogue 1543
Size: 12 graded to 14 waist
Fabric: Chiffon with poly lining
Alterations: small bust adjustment and some skipped finishing steps
Overall: I had some doubts while cutting it out that I might not be able to get the chiffon cut out accurately but once I got going sewing, every part renewed my confidence in it. I can’t wait to wear it. Making a muslin is almost always worth it despite my objections.
Handmade Shelby 