Vogue 1777 is a Rachel Comey pattern.  After a bit of googling I discovered that this design is from the Fall 2019 collection. It is called the Tempo dress.

Apparently Vogue’s designer patterns are direct copies of the designer’s actual dress – they are given the dress, then Vogue drafts it up, grades it to their size chart, and writes the instructions.

I chose to sew it in linen from The Cloth Shop.

I have to say that the linen was absolutely divine, both to sew and to wear. The colourway looks a bit like denim or chambray, but it’s a substantial yet soft denim with some texture and slight colour variegation. I bought it in person, so am not sure of which linen it was, but feel that it could be this one.

This garment was not quick to sew. The bodice is lined; I used some coordinating Liberty printed lawn left of from a shirt that I sewed for Dan some years ago. It’s so smooth and soft against the skin.

I also used the Liberty print for one half of the pocket bags. Those welt pockets – they took ages to sew! You need to be really precise. Unfortunatly the instructions were a bit lacking in this area, and I ended up with one pocket bag done perfectly but the other one off-set and needing to be trimmed to fit. This isn’t an issue at all from the outside, and isn’t a problem in wear, but clearer instructions would have prevented it from happening at all. I spent quite a bit of time poring over those illustrations and instructions! More markings wouldn’t have gone astray.

The front bodice is bias cut, with cut-on facings and darts for added shaping, with the front lining on the straight of grain, whereas the back bodice fashion fabric and lining are both cut on the straight grain.

The sleeves are a little deceiving, and Vogue’s line drawing is not actually correct. They are not a set in sleeve, and there is no sleeve seam in the back; it’s an extended sleeve. The front sleeve does have a seam with an additional sleeve piece, and I think that it’s utilising the grain to improve fit. The cuffs are cut separately, attached to the sleeve, then are folded in half back to the sleeve seam.

Size wise, I sewed the Medium, despite Vogue suggesting that my measurements put me in a size or two larger. I always look at the finished garment measurements when selecting a size, in addition to the overall style. And have you been wondering about that surplice neckline? You wondered correctly – it’s fine when just standing, but once you start moving around it gapes open (maybe it wouldn’t on smaller boobs or if made with more ease). I ended up using some safety pins to secure it.

The collar sits beautifully around the neck, especially in this scrumptious linen. I didn’t make any alterations to the pattern other than shortening the skirt length quite a bit – maybe around seven inches? That still left plenty of fabric for a nice deep hem in a length that works with my 158cm height.

There is some topstitching around the collar, and I machine stitched the hem, but other than that there is no stitching visible. I used my sewing machine for the majority of construction with the overlocker used to finish seam allowances. I am very happy with how this dress turned out, and enjoyed the ‘slow sew’. I am sure that it will get plenty of wear once the seasons change. These photos were taken a month or so ago in Brisbane – thanks Anna for your photography skills!