Told ya I sewed -or- Vogue 8553 pattern review

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I really *do* know how to sew. And to prove it, I revved up the machine and took it for a short little drive this weekend.

The end result is a little something I like to call a knit dress (Vogue 8553. )

The pattern was only available in the 14-20 range and I typically begin with a 12. Having tried twice previously to purchase the pattern, and twice finding it sold out completely, I took the 14 home with me. Well, I didn't actually *take* it home...I paid for it :-) A bit of altering and the pattern was now a 12.

The dress itself, while a bit time consuming, is easy to construct. The neck and front band facings are hand stitched in place...that's the time consuming part. Normally I would have set the dress aside with the plan of completing the hand stitching another day. However, I know I'm predisposed to never finishing those projects so I forced myself to do the hand stitching before I even tried the dress on.

You don't notice this on my dress or on the pattern drawing, but the fullness of the skirt is controlled with pleats. Four in the front and four in the back.

The fabric is a super soft and super stretchy knit - and I'm not sure if it is rayon lycra or cotton lycra. I'm guessing rayon lycra. The hand it great, but it is a bit hard to predict when sewing with it as it wants to grow.

• The waistline needed to be taken in 1" on each side after the dress was completed. It actually could be taken in more to get the close-fit (as described on the pattern envelope) but it will be worn with the sash which will take care of the bagginess at the waist.
• The sash is incredilby long. It streches and stretches and stretches when it's tied (again, thank you super soft super stretchy knit fabric) so it will need to be make shorter.
  

A full review is available on PatternReview here.