Blue and Black Side Pleat Dress – Vogue 1329

Dress V1329 in ponte knit
Shoes Black strappy sandals Mossimo (ie target) – gifted

I have been afraid to try a Vogue pattern. I’ve had luck with McCalls, Simplicity and Butterick, but I’ve read on various blog and in sewing groups that Vogue patterns could be tricky. Still Vogue has quite a few patterns, mainly dresses, that were gorgeous and I wanted to try. So I decided to challenge myself and attempt a Vogue patterns. I chose V1329 for a few reasons:

1. I really liked the dress (duh!)
2. I love colorblocking.
3. It only had 8 pieces (not including the lining-didn’t think of that)
4. Vogue gave it an “Easy” rating.

Thankfully ‘easy’ really did mean ‘easy’  this time. I had opened this pattern once before about a month ago and gave up after seeing the pleating instructions. This is also why I still haven’t made M6706. I guess I was a little intimidated because I’ve never done pleats before. I’m sad now that I’ve been putting them off as they were super simple (just like darts).

I feel like the dress came out beautifully and think it might be my best piece yet! I love the bright blue with the black for fall and winter. I will pair it with a cardigan, tights and knee boots once the temp drops.  I really want to make a white one with black contrast for the summer but I’ll wait on that. The only change I made was making the back side pieces the contrast black instead of make the body all blue. I thought it would make a more slimming silhouette after reading Myra’s post on her Simple Inspirations’ blog.

Work in progress –
Close up of pleating pinned

Vogue 1329 Pattern Review

Pattern Description: Close-fitting, lined dress (fitted through hips) has yokes, right front with pleats, back princess seams, and invisible zipper.

Pattern Sizing: 8-16, 16-24

Difficulty: 2.5/ Beginner-Intermediate

 Fabric Used: Electric blue (sold out) and black ponte from Fabric Mart (similar blue and black)

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes from the front, similar from the back. Explained below

Were the instructions easy to follow? Yes. I didn’t really follow them after the pleating but they were clearly illustrated.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I just loved the dress on the envelope. It was fairly simple. No dislikes.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: I attached my lining differently to avoid hand sewing. In short I sewed together the front piece and back to pieces of both the dress and the lining. Attached at the shoulders for the dress the lining. Then sewed the dress and lining together around the neck and armholes right side together. After that you can pull the dress through the lining. I’ll do a separate post on that one day

I also changed the back side panels to the contrast color, black. I felt this would be a little more flattering (ie slimming) and add some interest to the back.

Oh and lastly I did a blind hem on my serger.

Top row. Outside close-up of blind hem
Bottom row. Inside close-up of blind hem

Would you sew it again? Yes definitely. I will probably try to bold colors and one in white with black contrast for summer.

Would you recommend it to others? Yes. I think it’s a good beginner Vogue pattern if you are a little intimidated like I was.

Conclusion: I loved it.

Total cost*: $15.18

Pattern                              $4.99
Blue Ponte             1yd @ $5.20
Black Ponte           1yd @ $3.99
Invisible Zipper                 $1.00

* Both pontes were purchased from fabricmartfabrics.com. The blue ponte was 35% off of $7.99/yd when I purchased it. I later purchased the black ponte when it was the crazy priced fabric of the day for $3.99/yd.