Vogue 9253: A Bold Floral Maxi Dress with a Really Deep V!

First things first.  Why did I wait so long to sew this dress?!?

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I must be the only one in the sewing world who had not sewn this pattern! Vogue 9253 was an almost immediate hit when it was released last year, with dozens of beautiful versions filling my blog feed.

I shied away from sewing it because of that REALLY deep V!  Having been quite - ahem - blessed since my teen years, I don't always like to draw attention to that part of my body. And let's be honest. I KNEW it would require a full bust adjustment (FBA) and I wasn't sure I knew how to alter this bodice correctly. 

So I continued to admire every version I saw, telling myself over and over that my large chest combined with all the weight I've gained would make this a very unflattering look on me.

I finally stopped telling myself how horrible it would look on me, and gave myself permission to sew and wear something OUT OF MY COMFORT ZONE that would make me HAPPY!  So I did :-)

I was able to add more room in the bust by doing an FBA. It may or may not be "correct" but it worked.

The fabric I used is a polyester print purchased at SR Harris. I was looking for solid colored silks (for another project), but fell in love with the colors and floral print on this fabric.

Construction was so simple! I think trying to figure out how to do the FBA was the most time-consuming part of sewing this dress.  With my serger in for repair work I finished all of the seams by wrapping them with Seams Great and stitching it in place.

I missed the step of sewing the tie ends to the center back before inserting the zipper. Instead I created thread loops at the side of the dress to help keep the tie in place.

 Look at the seam matching for the invisible zipper.  Looks pretty good if I do say so myself!

The pattern pieces are so large that I went to the floor to cut this dress out. Fabric and patterns, especially on the floor, are a new experience for my sewing buddy Tandy. She made my task a bit challenging as she really enjoyed flipping the fabric around. I cut her some slack as she's only eight months old.  She's our latest rescue. We adopted her in February, a few months after we had to put my beloved Sophia down. 

I've worn my maxi a few times already, and each time received compliments such as "I love your dress! Where did you get it?"  I smile sweetly and say "Thanks! I made it!"

Oh, did I mention that the V on this dress is REALLY DEEP!!!  I could just carry Tandy with me every time I wear this dress...

On second thought, I think I'll just wear a cami instead.