A Stitching Odyssey: Cocktail Hour Dress

Happy Friday friends! I'm thrilled to be sharing my Vogue Patterns Cocktail Hour dress today, supporting this year's charity sew-along from The McCall Pattern Company in partnership with The Eve Appeal. There are 20 gorgeous patterns to choose from, with a proportion of the sales going to the charity which is raising awareness and funding research into five gynaecological cancers. 

Months ago, when I first chose to make Vogue 8997, I had visions of a romantic version in a dark floral with floaty sleeves. Then along came this stunning Cocktail Hour cotton lawn from Fabric Godmother and I had to seriously rethink my plans. I mean, aside from it having the perfect name for this sew-along,  I was powerless to resist the mid-century print and delicious colour palette.

I immediately knew that the print needed showing off with as few distractions as possible...which was problematic given the fussy design lines of Vogue 8997. The only solution was to hack the pattern - a difficult decision, but the right one I think.

I kept the princess seam bodice and re-drew the front pieces for a straight waistline. I wanted to add a circle skirt, but I soon realised that my fabric wasn't quite wide enough. Luckily, the By Hand London Flora Dress skirt came to the rescue! The whole dress is lined with anti-static lining which makes it swish nicely when I move around.

One impressive thing about the pattern is that the bodice pieces come in a number of different cup sizes. I cut out a size 14 in a D cup, but could probably have gone down to a C cup as I ended up taking out a bit of fullness. Overall though, the fit was pretty good. I just had to pinch out a little excess to prevent gaping along the neckline and tighten the 'straps'.

What I really wanted to include in this photoshoot was a sexy cocktail...but could I find an appropriate glass anywhere? With 90% of our kitchen packed away due to building work, I didn't stand a chance!

Anyway, have you been following the #SipAndSew action? Browse the beautiful makes by participating bloggers and keep an eye out for the remaining three contributions to the sew-along. 

And to see what a true Vogue 8997 looks like, check out this wonderful version by Almond Rock!