Monday, April 3, 2017

MAGAM March garment - Vogue 8190 Floral Dress

I have been away from the blogsphere for a while - family illness, travel, family illness, etc. Now I'm back. I have finished the March MAGAM (Make a Garment a Month) themed dress. The theme was 'Movie Make'. I decided to use one of my stash pattern Vogue 8190 to make a 'red carpet style' dress. I found this black and white floral stretch cotton woven in my stash that had been there for 8 years. I never knew what to do with it until now.

The pattern is a ruched front, strapless gown. Strapless gowns can be a bother because they always conform to gravity (i.e. slipping down slowly) so I decided to add straps to this dress. Also, the floral cotton fabric was busy enough without having to ruch it. I decided to just use the lining pattern pieces to make a simple dress with flounced hem.



I used my usual size 14 but the chest area needed some adjusting. I did my usual short waist adjustment. The dress wasn't difficult to sew without the ruching. It was actually easier to make body adjustment using just the lining pattern pieces. I chose the shorter length flounce instead of the longer one because I was hoping to actually wear this to a dinner date. I added 5 strips of boning in the foundation garment. I also added firm cups in the chest area. However that length just below the knee seems to make me look even shorter. Perhaps the longer, floor length would have been the better choice.



I realized that the floral fabric is great in camouflaging the lumps and bumps on my body. However, it also creates a generally heavier, fuller look. So I decided to add a black belt and see if it could define the waist better:


I think it defines the waist a little better. In a way, I think that 'Santa Claus Belt' actually make the dress a bit more casual looking so that I can actually wear it for a family brunch as well as to a wedding as a guest.

In general this pattern is okay the way I have used it. The length to me is not the most flattering so that can be remedied by shortening the length or by using the longer flounce. I think this pattern can be used for a very nice wedding gown or wedding guest dress.  I'm not sure if I will use this again as I have tonnes of other uncut patterns that I haven't tried yet in my stash.

My review of this pattern is at PatternReview.

10 comments:

  1. Very pretty and a lovely style for you! I think this would look good at all three lengths so it would be hard for me to choose if it were me. Sorry to hear of your family illness - we are just getting over a bad respiratory bug here and it's been a long haul!

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    1. Thanks Jenny! I think this can be a very nice dress without the ruching. I think if I have done the ruching it would probably add to the full heaviness to my figure.

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    2. I think you are being way too hard on yourself! The dress is gorgeous & seems to fit you well, both belted & unbelted. It's very inspirational.

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    3. Thanks Maria! I think I'm just not used to seeing myself in a bold floral dress. I am looking forward to trying it out in a couple of months when the weather is warmer!

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  2. So sorry about the family illness, it's the same here but glad that slowly we are recovering. Love your pretty dress, it looks great on you with or without belt. I am still working on my March dress but not so sure when I will finish it :)

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    1. Thanks! Everyone is fine now which is a relief! I'm looking forward to seeing your March MAGAM make!

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  3. Can so identify with family illness-happened with me last week. Glad you got your MGAM completed. I am way behind with sewing something each month. Love your dress! Great look especially the high/low flounce!

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    1. Thanks! I'm looking forward to seeing your MAGAM March make!

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  4. I hope everything is settling again - when a family member is ill, it affects the whole family. It's amazing you managed to make something as complicated as this. It looks absolutely gorgeous, and it looks as though you could wear it in lots of ways and for lots of occasions. I'm sure your imagination will work that out.

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    1. Thanks Sarah Liz! Everyone is fine now. This dress is actually not that complicated to do since I only used the lining pattern pieces. It's actually very elegant and one can make many different looks from this one pattern.

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