Vogue 1986 view B 

Hey! It’s your favorite intermediate beginner sewist here with my first pattern and fabric review.  The pattern is an older Vogue pattern and I made view B.  

I choose view b of the pattern because I felt like it would bring the drama – which it did.  I wear a size 8-10 in women’s clothing and initially made the size 18 when I did my muslin – always do a muslin- and went down a size for the final make.  On the smaller size of the pattern 16 the largest and 18 is the smallest on the larger option –  so I had to purchase both. The pattern also lists the following notions: an invisible zipper, hook and eye closure and interfacing.  The pattern was really straight forward and only had  5 pieces.  

After making my muslin in the larger size, I ran out of tracing paper and my fave Pellon tru grid 810 to trace my patterns.  I tried using shipping paper from Staples but it was a flop.  Woomp! Woomp!.  Thus, for the first time since I started sewing I had to use the tissue pattern paper that comes with the pattern… NEVER AGAIN!. I do not know whether it was the fabric I used on just the tissue paper but it was harder than normal to cut the fabric using the tissue paper.  Another first for me was cutting my fabric on the floor.  The train on view B is super long and has to be cut on the bias soo it did not work out on my cutting table. 

The other thing I would note about the pattern is that the fabric is cut on the bias so the pattern calls for the skirt to be hung at least 24 hours before hemming the skirt. 

FINAL VERDICT…

Difficulty: Easy 

Would I make it Again: Absolutely

Pros: An easy to make skirt that you can wear to a formal or semi formal event, brunch with friends or to Target with a cool T-shirt – I’m extra.  LOL. 

Cons:  None

JMOAbout Ice Velvet Fabric……..

Now to the fabric.  The pattern recommends crepe or jacquard and I initially purchased a beautiful jacquard but the party I wore it to turned out to require black and silver attire so I had to pivot and quickly.  My daughter was wearing black velvet pants so I decided to match her fly and go with a velvety fabric also.  I got the fabric from Joann’s. Here’s the link: Ice Velvet Fabric

This was my first time working with velvet fabric.  I always prewash my fabric and this fabric washed up nicely.  I normally use clips but switched to pins thinking the pins would hold the fabric more securely… WRONG! Thank God for my trusty old seam ripper.  After ripping out the seams when the pieces on the bottom of the skirt were about a 1/4 inch off for the second time, I decided to use the basting spray I had on hand for embroidery.  IT WORKED! I used the spray to temporarily baste the seams together and then stitched them together.  The basting spray temporarily holds the fabric together and does not leave a sitcky residue so don’t worry if you get some outside of the seam allowance.  For the stitches, I used a zigzag stitch on the sides and down the back because the fabric had some stretch in it,  just in case I wanted to drop it low at the party.  

Final Verdict…

The skirt turned out to be everything I imagined and more.  

Would I Buy it Again: YES! 

Pros: Elegant and soft and readily available at your local Joann’s. 

Cons: None.