For the 22nd post in my  series, the letter V, I chose to sew Vogue 1247. This pattern is a Rachel Comey design that had tons of favorable reviews in 2011 when the pattern was first issued. The pattern is a skirt and top, and the skirt,  “a semi-fitted A-line with front in-seam pockets” quickly became a favorite with the blogosphere sewing community.

However, Vogue 1247 was not my first V choice. Vogue 1120 was and I dutifully worked on it for what seemed like forever. 1120 is rated easy by Vogue standards. Who knew easy could involve 37 steps of sewing instructions? Definitely not me! I completed approximately 34 of those steps before I had to admit I couldn’t save 1120. Although this dress turned out unwearable, I did gain some valuable sewing knowledge by attempting it.

On PatternReview the reviewers were stymied by 1120s pockets with French seams. I was able to figure out this construction technique and was super proud of myself until I tried on the dress. Great seams, but it had a gaping front which was impossible to fix due to all the pleats around the neckline. Since we all know what a talented bunch the PatternReview contributors are, I should add here that following the pattern instructions makes it is literally impossible to sew the pockets correctly on this dress. Perhaps Vogue realized 37 steps was excessive for a dress they rated easy and purposely left out the 3 additional steps needed in order to French seam the pockets on 1120. The pocket pattern has misplaced notches, drawn 2 inches too high on the pocket, which effectively eliminate any chance of sewing the pockets correctly. This is a discontinued pattern for good reason!

My second (and third) choice project for my V post was Vogue 8405. A hat pattern! What a poor choice on my part. Out of 20 hats I consider myself lucky if even one looks good on me. I constructed view D and then view B, but neither hat turned out to be that one-in-a-million flattering style on me. So 2 more wadders for the garbage bin. But both Vogue 8405 and 1120 were from my pattern stash – 8405 cost just a quarter at a thrift store. And the fabric I used for all 3 failed projects cost a total of about $8.00. So not a lot was lost except for my time. I guess this explains why I love thrift store patterns and fabric – I have a lot of failures but at least I never feel bad about the amount of money I’ve wasted.

Hoping the 4th time would be the charm, I moved on to Vogue 1247. 45 favorable reviews on PatternReview bolstered my confidence even though I’m sure I must have some kind of curse when it comes to Vogue patterns. I can’t think of a single Vogue pattern that has ever turned out well for me. To quote Jamie: “Vogue is like a boyfriend who is always a jerk to you but you just keep going back… I don’t know why I still find their patterns so attractive?!!” Well said Jamie!

But except for originally cutting and sewing 1247 in too large a size and struggling with how those in-seam pockets are constructed, this Vogue pattern worked out well for me. Of course I dumbed it down quite a bit. I didn’t have enough fabric (another thrift store find, of course) to do the self-bound seams so I just serged them all instead. And I didn’t have an invisible zipper so I just did a lapped one. So is my Vogue curse broken? I wouldn’t bet on it, but stay tuned to DenverSews to find out!