I am certainly getting my monies worth from the Vogue 8577 pattern. Hot on the heals of the previous incarnation I used the last of the three Superking Duvet covers purchased recently at Dunelm Mill to make yet another version. This duvet set was the ‘best’ of the three in that the front of the cover has many embroidered floral posies. Something that had I completed the embroidery myself using my Brother 4000D sewing/embroidery machine would have taken a very long time.

I used the same ‘hack’ as previously by omitting the midriff band and extending the bodice down to the waist seam. I also omitted the giant pockets and instead kept to my TNT concealed inseam pockets. The bodice was lined with White cotton, the yoke lining was cut from the gingham fabric and the front bodice button facing was extended to join with the yoke lining.

Initially I was not very pleased with the placement of the embroideries but in the final garment I believe that they are acceptable.

I have now made this pattern (and its hacks) up four times and each time I am able to complete the construction a little more quickly. Whilst I am very pleased with this dress, with my self-imposed limit of 5 versions of a pattern it is getting very close to the time to move on to a different style.

Having paid full price for the Vogue 8577 dress pattern, I was determined to get my money’s worth! However, by way of something a little different, I decided to ‘hack it’!

Whilst I like the neckline and gathered bodice into yoke, for a change I wanted to remove the midriff band and extend the bodice to the waistline seam.

I had won a voucher for fabric at the SEW SOUTHAMPTON event in August and having browsed the website of the vendor selected this pretty multi-coloured floral cotton.

At 60″ wide this 100% cotton is ideal for dressmaking. This is a cotton poplin meaning that it’s not as light or smooth as a lawn but still ideal to make shirts, dresses, tops and accessories. This cotton is very stable so it would be ideal for a beginner project.

I thought that I had ordered 4 metres but received only 3 which meant I needed to change the skirt design. The Vogue 8577 is very fabric-hungry when cutting out the skirt and so I substituted the ½ circle skirt pattern from the ‘Penny’ dress by Sew Over It.

Another change that I wanted to make was to extend the front facing all the way up to the yoke facing and thus avoid any raw edge at the neckline seam.

Having cut out the main fabric I selected some plain Sky Blue cotton from my stash for the bodice lining. I also had sufficient of the outer fabric to make the yoke lining in the print. I added a small loop at the centre of the back lining as an additional decorative feature.

Another very small change was to round off the leading edge of the front at the base of the V-neckline.

I completed the dress quite quickly and also managed to include some in-seam pockets. The pretty Purple buttons came from my stash. All seams were worked as French Seams as demonstrated by Sian of Kittenish Behaviour and the skirt hem was double folded before being machined in place.

I am delighted with this dress which co-ordinates well with many of the shrugs that I have in my wardrobe – Mustard, Cerise, Purple, Burgundy and Blue. This is certainly a hack that will be repeated when I do not have sufficient fabric for the original pattern.