Yet another third make!  Is there a rule of threes with some of these patterns?  I don’t often do four, I don’t often leave it at just two.  However, it is a while since I last made Vogue 1179.  I first sewed it back in October 2010, and the second version appeared in October 2011.  Tellingly, I still wear both dresses fairly often.  Well worth another go!

Because this pattern had been used before it was already shortened both above and below the waist. I think that it was cut out at size 12. I didn’t use the instructions for the construction, but made it in a similar way to previously. Make the pleats in the front and secure them. Sew the shoulder seams together. Seam the cowl into a tube then fold it in half wrong sides together, then sew it to the neckline. Sew the side seams. Turn up the hem (it’s a deep hem – around four inches) and stitch with a twin needle.

I remembered that the original instructions were just to turn the armholes to the inside and stitch. In my experience that doesn’t really work well around the bottom curve of the armscye, even in knits. So instead I finished the armholes with binding made from a strip of the fabric cut on the cross, folded in half right side out, sewn to the right side of the dress, turned to the inside along the stitching line, then topstitched in place. Phew!  As it happens, the armholes are a little smaller and tighter than I would prefer.  Not sure if it is a function of the fabric or a function of my size this time around.  But can I distract you with my stripe matching?

The back of the dress isn’t really shaped all that much.  The hemline is pegged, and the side seams of the back pattern piece are much more on grain than the side seams of the front piece, which are quite angled across it.  This is what creates all the extra fabric at the top of the dress that is then controlled by the front pleats.  Clever drafting for a three pattern piece dress – especially when you consider that one of the pattern pieces (the cowl) is just a rectangle!

This dress is meant to be a sack-style of dress, which I suppose is why I am drawn to it. I keep on coming back to my catch cry of “comfortable”. Luckily I don’t think that comfort and style need to be mutually exclusive! The fabric is from Darn Cheap Fabrics‘ current range, and is a slightly crinkled and washed-looking jersey. I think that the composition was poly/viscose/spandex, but that could be wrong. It was the colours that I was drawn to.

As the weather cools down I can layer this dress over short or long sleeved t-shirts, add leggings, boots, wraps and scarves. Very versatile. And now that I’ve re-read my previous blog posts I have discovered that this is actually my fourth rendition of this pattern! There was a petrol blue wool jersey version that due to the nature of the fabric was always too big for me and was given to a friend before ever being blogged. So maybe it’s not about third time lucky after all!