Vogue Mash-Up Dress

Recently my new friend Marjorie, also living in Brisbane, invited me around to check out her Burda collection. Not in the "check out my etchings" style, but in a generous sewing kind of way.  She ended up lending me a few patterns and Vogue 8663 (OOP) was one of them.

I loved the pleated neckline and immediately imagined as the perfect pattern for the teal ponti bought in the UK recently.  One problem...I didn't have quite enough fabric for the full skirt.  However, in a stroke of genius (if I do say so myself), I remembered V8667 and the great box pleat skirt, so I mashed the two together. Voila!

This was super easy as they are both Vogue patterns and so the measurements are fairly similar.  Also any discrepancy in waist measurement could easily be hidden by adjusting the box pleat. Ha!

I really like the pleating around the neck although found it a little tricky to get sitting just right, the pattern is a little confusing as it gives the impression the pleats are stitched down. Anyway I forged ahead to get the look I was happy with and it seemed to work.  The only thing I am not 100% happy about is the dress isn't lined so the neck is simply finished with bias leaving an obvious stitching line which I am not sure I like. No-one else seemed to notice though, so perhaps I am being overly critical.

Hmmm...a bit obvious I have been sitting in it today, sorry!

Pattern alterations:
- shortening the bodice length my standard 1"
- narrowing the shoulders slightly
- here's the surprise - FBA not required - I guess the pleats provide enough ease



I know this may emphasise my boobs, but hey, they get stared at anyway, so what's the difference?!

Whilst I love the end result of the ponti, for some reason my machine hated it and the sewing was painful with the machine skipping stitches all the time. So infuriating!! The worst was when I twin needled the hem - I used a stretch 70 needle and look at the result:

The left stitch was fine and the right kept skipping!  It was a brand new needle out of the packet.  I tried changing the thread, the bobbin, the tension and I tried a non-stretch needle. I threw it aside for a couple of days in disgust all prepared to take my machine to the shop, although it was sewing other fabrics fine. But then I had an epiphany, try every single twin needle I have!  I ended up using a size 75 twin needle with a blue marker on the top, I can only presume this is a blue tip needle?  I have no idea as I don't even know where the needle came from, it is part of a large number of loose needles I inherited from somewhere. Anyway it doesn't matter - it finally worked!! I was contemplating buying a new machine!!  (any excuse right?)  Perhaps a coverstitch machine might be the way to go forward.....hmm I digress.

Have you ever had a frustrating experience like this?  Did you persevere, or give up??