La Dee Da

I have another dress in my winter wardrobe!  I finally got round to making my second Assembly Line V-Neck Dress, in that lovely rusty windowpane wool I bought at the end of the summer.  This takes my winter dress total to 3!  Woohoo!

I made a couple of adjustments to the pattern this time.  I stayed with the size I made the first time, the large, which fits well enough and I like the feel.  The first change made was to narrow the shoulders.  I took the shoulder line in by 1cm and gradually shaped the armhole line back to the original line by about halfway down.  The fit across the shoulder is much better now, so that’s an alteration that’s staying.

Now, the first dress I made with this pattern, fabulous as it is, has a small problem.  Although other people have told me over and over again that it’s fine, I still feel akward abaout it.  It’s the depth of the V.  I keep pulling the dress back so the v isn’t so low, or, now that it’s chilly, I wear a jersey vest top underneath.  This just keeps me from feeling that it’s too low and I’m showing a little too much.

Sooo, I decided this time to lift the V by 5cm.  I traced the existing neckline, and taped paper to the front to extend the centre front line up by the 5cm.  Then I just taped the traced line so that that front point lined up and tilted the new line until it lined up with the existing line at around the shoulder point.  A bit of truing to make the line nice and smooth and it was all done.  Then I traced that and made a new facing.  I’m much happier with this new line and height of the V, it still has the shape intended, but leaves me feeling more comfortable wearing it.

Now for the fabric!  I bought it from a little shop in Kenilworth, Karen Delahunty Sewing & Knitting Centre.  It’s a lovely, soft, draping wool, and is very comfortable to wear.  I am glad I’d bought 3m originally, because with the shapes and length of the dress pieces – and trying to line up the pattern, you need almost all of that!  There’s very little left.  As it was keen to fray, I overlocked everything before starting to sew.  Now, as for the instructions, they’re dead easy to follow, plenty of images for those who prefer pictures to words!  You end up with a very neat inseam pocket too, which is always nice.

So, I’m happy with my new dress, I just need to figure out a good colour of tights to wear with it.  Initially I thought grey would be good, but now, seeing these photos with the black tights, I’m thinking navy….  And I need better shoes!

Author: Anne W

I love fabric, and sewing. And I could do nothing else but sew, all day, every day, if I could! View all posts by Anne W