Vogue 8952 and the Day and Night Dress Challenge

Published on by ellegeemakes

img_0890Hi all! It’s 20 degrees here in Portland, indoor photo weather of course, but also the perfect weather for sewing. There’s nothing like a cold day to drive you to your sewing room.

Sometimes, after the intensity of the holiday season, I find it challenging to re-focus my energies and to get my sew-jo going. But this year, The Day and Night Dress Challenge, hosted by Elizabeth Made This, has given my sewing a ‘jump-start’. The challenge is to sew two dresses; a day dress and a Little Black Dress for evening wear. There’s a blog tour, (I’ll be hosting here on Wednesday January 11), and a community challenge with prizes and cool sponsers.

This lace top is the first stage of my ‘night dress’ planning.

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My concept for my night dress is an a-line ‘swing’ dress of black velvet and lace, using this pattern as the base by lengthening it to dress length.

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Vogue 8952 is a fun easy sew, with ragan sleeves, my favorite. For this trial version, I used  white lacey knit from Joann’s. I think the shape will be fine for my dress, so I’ll lengthen the bodice by about eight inches before cutting my velvet, then I’ll use black lace for the sleeves and at the hem.

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My day dress will be more fitted, but casual, sewn out of cotton and ponte knit. img_0855I’m making McCalls 7464, using a large plaid for the body of the dress, accenting the sides and sleeves with solid knit.  Both dresses will be finished and posted on Wednesday (fingers crossed). I haven’t tried my ‘day dress’ pattern before, so I hope it will work! Nothing like living dangerously.

The Day and Night Dress Challenge is a great way to start the new year. The community challenge has prizes and cool sponsors too. Come join us! There’s a fun group of bloggers participating in the blog tour, so check them out. The fun starts on Saturday, January 8th and I’ll be posting Wednesday, January 11th, here. For more details on how you can participate, check out the Elizabeth’s fabulous blog, Elizabeth Made This. She’s the brains behind this fun event, and her makes are always a source of inspiration for me.

I hope your new year is off to a great start with lots of sewing time. Will you be making dresses with us this January? I’d love to hear your plans!

Happy sewing and thanks for stopping by!

9 thoughts on “Vogue 8952 and the Day and Night Dress Challenge”

    1. It is too cold for dresses! You must be suffering under the same cold front we are:) I’ll wear long underwear under mine. Jungle January is on my list for this month too. Can’t wait to see what you whip up!

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  2. I just did my first indoor photo shoot. The photos were easier to edit than when I take them outside, so that was cool. I love this white winter sweater. It’s super chic. You’re so good at adding lace details to your projects. I don’t know if I’ll get to a dress this month. The Petite Passions has started a monthly sewing collective and January is for sweaters so I’m thinking my next project will be a big cozy sweater with some knits I picked up in Minneapolis.

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    1. Thanks! I’m almost as obsessed with lace as I am with blue. You know how I love sweater knits so I can’t wait to see what you do with your stash from Minnesota. They’ve gotta be great because it seems like sweater knits would be all the rage in such a cold place. I didn’t realize the Petite Passions had a sewing collective. I’ll have to check it out!

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