Zimmerman Inspired Dress Vogue Pattern V1934

When this pattern came out, so many had to have it. Its really gorgeous but oh wow, it takes a bit of work! https://simplicity.com/vogue-patterns/v1934

I made a size 18, which had to be adjusted because the waist is very very tight.

I also changed some things about the pattern, mainly I added lace to the arms, waist, and skirt.

My fabric for this dress, something I bought on Etsy, is a blue and white embroidered cotton. I bought it nearly 2 years before this pattern for another project, didn't use it, so I stuck it in a bin and didn't think about it. Once I had the pattern in my hands it was game on, I just knew it would be perfect.

So the changes:

I added lace, i.e., negative space to the arms, waist and skirt. For the arms I used the lengthen lines to know where to add the lace so that it matched perfect to the waist. And because the skirt is rectangular (thankfully) I added 2 strips of lace at specific intervals. There's a facing for the buttons, so that also had to be taken into account.

The pattern has working buttons and a zipper. I decided to go with working buttons (if I go through all that trouble why am I doing a zipper again?) and nixed the zipper completely. Next go round I will do a zipper and faux button placket.

Because of the lace I added an additional privacy placket for the front of the dress. Also added some high end hook/eye enclosures that I purchased from Pacific Trimming.

A few things I learned:

Take your time and dry fit. It really became worth it because of the gathering that needed to be done and there is A LOT of it.

Pace yourself. Its not something I could have ever created in a day, so I didn't even try...lol Lots of pieces, especially when you go off script like I did.

Sometimes the instructions are suggestions. OK so I used them for the order because it was necessary but yeah, if you know you can do it without a set, then do it.

In all, I'm happy with the dress. I learned a lot when I made it. I have it on tap to make again, of course in a fabric thats not on the suggested list...lol