Vogue 8667 - Dress

In sorting through my sewing photos whilst preparing to write the review for this dress, I noticed my last several garments have all been grey.  So . . . this is the last grey garment I will sew for some time - on to some color!

My hands are in fists, not because I am upset, but because it was freezing outside.  Where's that new coat I just made!?

When I put this on to show my husband the finished product, his comment was "wow, that one is really nice."  Notice the emphasis on that one.  Hmmm, does he mean all the other pieces I've sewn were not nice?  Okay, Pam, quit reading more into it than what he said and accept the compliment!!!

IMHO, what makes this a winner is that collar. Other than that, this is just a basic, fitted dress. Which is not a bad thing. We all need some great classics in our wardrobe, wouldn't you agree? I know this one will get lots of wear.  The pattern instructions were to add three hook and eye closures along the back of the collar where it comes together just above the zipper.  By doing that, it would have stood up all wonky in the back and it was too late for me to alter the collar since I did not make a muslin first (ahem).  That said, I actually prefer the way it turned out because I really like the way the collar comes to an inverted V in the back.  I simply added one eye and hook closure where the collar naturally falls to the V shape.  Here's the back of the dress where you can see that collar V that I'm talking about:

And here is a close up of that back collar:

As you can probably see from these photos, the sleeves are just a bit snug.  Not so much that I can't wear the dress, but more snug than I would prefer.  Since I did not make a muslin (ahem, again), I was not aware that I would need to add about 1/2" circumference to those sleeves.  I would also extend the length about 1" to help cover my muscular marshmallowy upper arms.  :)  Other than that, I would not make any pattern alterations.  This dress fits like a glove, just as this style should.  I might make another one (with sleeve alterations) some time in the future as I do find this pattern very flattering and comfortable and as I mentioned before, the style is classic.

Oh, if anybody is interested, here is a picture of the dress without the belt:

There are so many sewing project ideas tossing around in my head right now that I am undecided what will be on my sewing table this week.  It will be a surprise to all of us.  If you are so inclined, please leave a comment, I would love to hear from you and see what you are sewing.

Pam