Back on the Minerva Crafts Bloggers Network

I’ve returned to the Minerva Crafts Bloggers Network! This is where Minerva Crafts provide fabric and patterns in return for a blog post (hopefully!) showcasing their fabric and providing inspiration for readers of their site.

This time around I see this as an opportunity to use some really lovely quality fabric that I wouldn’t normally buy. My skills have come on so I feel less pressured and a little more within my comfort zone!

So this is the Very Easy Vogue 8724.

And it is very easy with no sleeves and no zips!!!

With my upcoming holiday in mind I wanted to add a new easy pack, easy wear jersey dress to my suitcase.

I choose an Art Gallery Jersey  because I knew it would be a good medium weight for this dress. It the most beautiful quality pima cotton and spandex jersey fabric and washes really well.

The Ochre I chose is definitely a sunny day holiday colour but there are so many more to choose from on the Minerva site.

Unusually for a stretch pattern, this easy vogue pattern come with different cup sizes. You have to read the instructions and measure your bust and high bust and follow the table to work out which one you need. Beware, it does not tally with your bra size!!

I didn’t want to make an error with my gorgeous Art Gallery Jersey, so I made up a toile in some super cheap snake (I know!!!!!) jersey from my stash. I wanted to check the bra cup size choice and practice the make. This snake jersey was a little lighter weight and I doubted I would wear it beyond being a toile, but it’s grown on me, so I’ve finished it off.

This dress took just 1.5m of the Art Gallery Jersey for the shorter Version A.

I used heat vanishing pens to mark my darts and pleats on my fabric, after testing them on a patch first.

I like to sew 2 rows of basting stitches across my pleats so I know they are not going to budge when joining them up to the top section.

The back comes in 3 panels which provides a lovely fit down the back.

I made 2 changes in the construction

The first was a tip I picked up from another blogger I came across when I was doing my research into other people’s experiences with the pattern; something I always do. I added a band to the neckline, instead of just turning and sewing a narrow hem. This stabilizes this area a bit more will prevent any possible future stretching out. I also think it looks nicer.

I didn’t use an exact length for my band. I just made sure it was a length equal to the neckline and stretched it out a little while attaching it using a straight stitch (for extra stabilizing) on my normal straight stitch sewing machine. Then I overlocked the raw edges, turned it over and pressed it.

The second change was to hem the sleeves before I joined the sides of the dress up. This made this a lot neater as I wasn’t struggling and stretching out the arm hole trying to hem it afterwards. I learnt this from making up my toile!

I would really recommend this Very Easy Vogue Pattern. I think it would also be lovely in winter with tights and a long sleeve top underneath.

Love, Lucie xx