This fabric!!!!!!

I could probably stop there, right. Linen. Stripes. Blue.

It would be pretty difficult for me to mess this garment up when the fabric alone includes pretty much all my favourite things (ok, it’s not made out of chocolate, so not quite everything!).

I made Vogue 9253 a few years ago and re-making it has been on my “to do” list for a while.

I had been planning on a denim version, but ended up using my lightweight denim for something else (I’ll get that one up on the blog soon too!). So when I saw this linen pop up on Meter Meter’s website, I knew that I had found the one.

Back when I first sewed Vogue 9253, I had been pretty smitten by Rosy Pena’s version – I think the inspiration is pretty obvious!

I actually found the wide vertical stripes so lovely, that I was a tad undecided as to whether to go with this dress or to make a statement jumpsuit out of it. I was leaning towards Vogue 9253 (as were about 75% of you guys in my instagram stories poll), but then Meter Meter got more of this fabric in stock, including the more earthy tones colour way, so I scooped some of that up too.

It felt like less responsibility making a decision when I knew that more of this lovely fabric was on its way!

And so you’ll probably see another iteration of this fabric on the blog at some point this summer!

Vogue 9253 – My Modifications

As I discovered that optimistic Beck from several years ago had cut straight into the tissue paper of my Vogue 9253, my starting point was the size medium that I already had (although, in defence of optimistic Beck, since this pattern only comes in either sizes XS-S-M or L-XL-XXL, it wouldn’t have helped me if I hadn’t cut it out, since I was already using the biggest size of the smaller size range)!

But the fact that I have moved from one size range to another reinforces my point that I really hate the way that big 4 patterns do not include any overlap of sizes when they sell patterns without all the sizes included.

BTW, I once made a similar comment in a previous blog post and received a snarky comment basically accusing me of being an unfair and cheap since big 4 patterns were so inexpensive anyway. I just want to point out that when you live in Europe, big 4 patterns are not inexpensive. This pattern cost me more than 20 euros (around 23 USD), they are never available for sale over here and if you try to buy them on sale from the US, you get very steep international shipping fees, possible import duties on top of that, half the patterns you order end up being out of stock and don’t get sent even though they weren’t marked that way online and it’s pretty much a nightmare.

Just to say, in Europe, unlike in other parts of the world, big 4 patterns are often one of the most expensive options out there!

Now, it always makes sewing much easier when you already have a finished version of the garment on hand.

From trying on my old version, I saw that, in order to make it more comfortable giving my size changes since I originally sewed Vogue 9253, I needed to in 1.5 cm to each of the side seams. Apart from that, I didn’t mess when anything else fitwise.

In terms of addressing the practicality problems posed by this extraordinarily deep v, learning from the first time around, I modified the bodice pieces in order to create a small crossover, which makes the neckline much more manageable while still being pretty distinctive. I also pinched out a little section (about 1.5cm) along the top half of the neckline to address gaping.

I’m actually really pleased with the way these rather un-mathematical modifications have ended up working on my body!

I also changed the shape of the pocket pieces, vastly increasing the size of the actual “pocket” part of the pocket piece. I find that the pockets which come with the vogue 9253 pattern have a very long, thin shape and, most significantly, they are extremely shallow from the pocket opening downwards.

Rendering them, in my humble opinion, pretty useless as pockets!

You can see below just how much I increased their size!

To paraphrase a fellow Australian, whose misogyny I intentionally co-opt by applying it to sewing, on this one “that’s not a pocket. That’s a pocket!”

And, well, change-wise, that’s about it for me!

The one further change I will make in future versions of Vogue 9253 is to increase the length of the waist ties. My preferred way to wear the ties is tied all the way around the waist and then tied at the back, rather than the front. Cuz, I don’t know, I generally prefer not to be wrapped up like a gift…

But the ties in the pattern are designed to be tied at the front and aren’t quite long enough for a double wrap and tie – you can see this more clearly on the back shot below.

Sewing Vogue 9253

This Vogue 9253 was a pretty uneventful sew. I didn’t really follow the instructions, since I’d sewn it before and it’s pretty straightforward.

It only took me a couple of nights to sew this one up.

Like in my previous version, I simply chose to bias bind the entire neckline for a simple and clean finish.

I contemplated stripe matching properly but I didn’t really have enough fabric. This fabric is 135cm wide and I had 3.5 metres, but the skirt on vogue 9253 is pretty fabric guzzling. I had to cut my ties in two pieces because I couldn’t fit them as one.

My bodice pieces, which had been slightly widened due to my creation of an overlap also barely fit onto the fabric.

That lack of spare fabric made stripe matching challenging, as did the features of Vogue 9253. The skirt is a-lined, so none of the side or centre seams are straight. In addition, there are both pleats and darts to contend with on both the skirt and bodice.

So frankly, it seemed like the kind of effort that wouldn’t really pay dividends in a project of this nature.

Plus, a tie belt hides all kind of stripe matching sins, especially when cut in a contrasting direction.

Making this dress made me wonder why it has taken me so long to return to Vogue 9253. The grown-on sleeve, the distinctive neckline, the shape of the skirt. It really has a whole lot that I love in it and this may not be my last foray yet!

Oh and, finally, a little P.S! If you like to get your blog hits through Bloglovin’, feel free to follow me over there: you can find me here. And you can find me on Instagram here.