In the end, I am not going with any of the Vogue patterns that attracted me. Here is how it happened.
This last Saturday, I went into town with a friend to hunt for fabrics. London is a big spread-out place, so I did not manage to get to all the places that I had hoped to go. I started on Gold Hawk Road near Shepherd's Bush tube station. It's a good place to grab a bargain. I was thinking that I would buy some sort of Silk for between £7 and £13 a meter. In the end, I bought a lot of cheap cotton jersey, but no fancy fabric.
We decided to head up Edgeware Road to check out Joel and Sons. Wow! They had a lot of beautiful fabric. They had a lot of expensive fabric. I fell in love with this piece of silk.
My friend thought it was just awful. She doesn't care much for black and yellow together. I couldn't be dissuaded, though. I was able to contemplate buying it because it was the last 2.7 meters on the bolt and therefore they had knocked it down to half price. Still wildly expensive by my standards, but I went for it. The sales girl was pattering the whole time about how it was couture cloth from Raffaella Curiel. How can the fabric be couture? I thought couture referred to the sewing technique, not the materials. I did google Raffaella Curiel, and she is an actual Italian Designer. (I am pretty ignorant.) The important thing for me is that the fabric is really, really pretty. No one in my circle would know such a name or care, but we all appreciate beauty when we see it!
I am including a picture of the bag because my husband said it was the fanciest bag he had ever seen.
And how about the Queen's warrant while we are at it!
While I cannot claim that making this dress at home will be an out and out bargain, I can say that I got a lot of "bang for my buck." I wouldn't have had nearly as swanky experience spending the same amount of money on a dress at a store, not even if I had spent three times as much on dress. So, in that sense, I did get value for money!
Of course, making a completely random fabric choice, meant reconsidering my pattern options. I went to the Oxford Street John Lewis, the best place I know to get a good selection of patterns. They did not have the new Spring Vogue patterns at all and didn't seem to think they would be getting them in either. Strange. In the end I flicked through everything they had and settle on version D of Simplicity 2579. Not something that I even noticed before, but it did come in at the right amount of yardage, and I think it will show off the fabric nicely. Additionally, it looks like an easy pattern to alter. It should be no problem to sew a 12 on top and a 14 on bottom for instance.
Also, I understood all the instructions, when I read through the pattern. There was nothing conceptually over my head which isn't always the case when I embark on a sewing project. Sometimes I just plow in and hope it will make sense, when I get there! I learn a lot this way, but I don't always end up with successful garments. With expensive fabric and a definite date of May the 8th for this dress, I am happy to stay as much within my comfort zone as possible.
There is only one review on pattern review for this pattern, but they did rate it Easy and Great for Beginners. So, fingers crossed!
