spring is busting out all over
As some of you may know, I don’t mind showing a little cleavage in my dresses. I am currently making a dress to wear to Frocktails this Saturday night. After sewing together the bodice, I thought that I’d better try it on for fit and see if I needed any adjustments.
Holey moley! There is a whole lot more than a LITTLE bit of cleavage going on there; it’s major bra exposure! The dress is Vogue 1256. I could only find one (incredibly comprehensive) review of it on the internet, and the reviewer didn’t have this problem occurring at all. I do note that she did a FBA for the dress, and I didn’t. I usually don’t for knit dresses, as I haven’t found that I particularly need to (although I sometimes do need them in wovens). Here’s the line drawing of the dress.
In addition to the amazing gaping going on, the dress doesn’t look as though it comes down to my waist. Maybe I really should have done a FBA. I cut this out at size 14, and didn’t make any of my usual short waisted alterations. I actually considered it, as well as considering making a small FBA, but decided that the pleating in combination with not making short waisted alterations would accommodate a C cup without much hassle. Once the extra weight of the skirt is there, it might alter the way that the bodice is sitting too. At the moment the bodice looks high-waisted, but in the pattern photo it isn’t. You can see how it fits the incredibly slender model on the pattern envelope here: a low neckline, but not a wide open one.
Everyone, I need your advice! I have considered doing a few things.
- Tacking the neckline in place at the centre front as in the following photo, but it makes the pleats and folds look a bit weird:
- taking it in a bit at the top of the centre back (to keep the shoulder seams in the right spots) and wrapping the fronts over further
- undoing the pleats and refolding and stitching them to sit better after pinning the neckline into a better position
- a combination of these
What do you suggest? I’d really like some help with this one. By the way, I eliminated the centre back zip, and the bodice is fully lined. I rather like the sleeve treatment, and think that overall it will be a successful dress. Even if I do have to wear it over a black cami. But I’d rather improve that neckline! Please help!
If it was me I’d try wrapping the fronts over further. I had the same thing happen to me with my first version of the Tiramisu dress and had to overlap it extra by a good couple of inches to stop hanging out of the dress!
Great fabric btw!
Me too! But then I did a FBA on the Tira and kept the crossover, and it is a perfect fit!
How about adding a folded piece of fabric either side of the neckline, to make it look like more folds of the front? It will fill it in more without the ‘I’ve pinned it because it was too low’ look ;-).
Also, I really don’t think adding the skirt is going to make the waist drop more than a couple of centimetres. Something went wrong when they drafted it.
BTW – nice bra 🙂
Good luck!
Nice bra! 🙂
It is always amazing how much even a slightly larger cup size can change the fit of a top. I agree with anne in Tecoma that the skirt is probably not going to pull the bodice down enough to make it to your waist.
You need more fullness in the front of the bodice to get the same look as the model.
I think I would re-pleat and lap the neckline more. Would that be totally annoying? It is a gorgeous dress!!
I think I would re-pleat and lap more of the neckline too if that is possible with a lined knit top. i hope you keep going with it, as it looks like a lovely dress if you can get it to work
It does seem very high-waisted… the skirt will pull it down a little but not that much – high-waisted probably suits you though.
Definitely needs a little more overlap, or could you consider a small tack to hold it in place higher up the crossover if that makes sense…
I’m with Rachel, re-pleat and fold over more. If you are still getting sagging along the edges of the front neck, you can also pull them down futher so the bodice cups (sorry can ‘t think of a better word) the front of the bust. Like Karen says the skirt will pull it down. The pattern picture looks like its supposed to be a high waist dress, does the description say otherwise?
I was wondering if the problem wasn’t coming from the shoulders. The models shoulder seam looks to be an inch closer to her neck and consequently the front angles down a lot more sharply. This results in the same deep v shape but with a higher cross over and will probably also drop the centre front slightly. I am thinking that it is another case of the pattern company’s drafting not actually matching the designers sample. The line drawing looks to have the back wrap end extending to the side seam, so maybe pulling the back wrap across and then the front wrap end down to recentre the v might work?
A question: I’m thinking about making Vogue 1256, and wonder: does it really need the back zipper since it’s a knit? Thanks!
Hi Dianne – I didn’t include the zip for exactly that reason, my fabric is a knit, and I haven’t had any problems with getting it on and off.