Leap of faith with Vogue 9253

The new Vogue pattern 9253 has done waves this summer. I remember noticing this dress right away on other people reviews. And while admiring their creations I could not help thinking this dress would never work for me. That deep V neck was way to daring and the back zipper didn't look as attractive as the front.

 But as the summer progressed more and more amazing dresses come to life with this pattern so I could not resist the mermaid song any longer and had to try it myself. As I didn't felt this dress would work for me I decided to try an make a muslin first to see where I am standing with this neckline:

Based on the bust finished measurement I cut and sew size XS as a top.  It was quite charming. But as you can see the bust was a bit off , larger cut sizes were needed for sure and it was to tight under the bust. Also the boobs mark was really off  way higher then mine.
    I then just wanted to see what will happen if I pull the shoulders. And it was an awful idea. The V was indeed more stable but I got all kind of ugly drag lines in the front. but the back looked a bit better I think though to tight.

 One other idea I had was to sew in a bra and add a front stripe to cover for it. I think this was my favorite idea from all the ones I tried before cutting but somehow I ended up with adifferent choice in the end.

    One last thing I wanted to try was to shorten the bodice of the marked line and try a different cut in the back. Also changed the front pleat to gathers in one last muslin:

Some of the front drag lines are because I closed the back to tight  but the new back was gaping badly and realized i need to eliminated the back dart before doing any change to the back. And once again it become obvious that the bodice was not shaped on my bust and that I was the one trying to fit its shape.
   So after letting it all stew in for a few days I decided to go the hard way and finally do something I been dreaming of doing for a long long time. Alter the fit... I did all this on a paper piece and then cut directly on my good fabric. I was not going to do a new muslin.
   I started in the back. I first eliminated the dart then cut out some of it. I decided to go the other way with my cutout then my white muslin. Keeping the shoulders intact seamed important. I then drfted a facing pieces for my new back:

Then it come the hard part. I 1st marked a new boob 3,5 cm lower and 1.5 cm to the side. I then transformed the pleats into darts and eliminated them. created a new dart that was ending in my new boob mark and was smaller the theirs. Then transformed that dart into a pleat. To do all this I was following the instructions from Claire Wrap Dress sew along on pattern review. I loved that dress and the gaping was no issue with it so I decided to go further transforming this dress to be more like Claire. So I cut off a band in the front and added a small bust curve in the front that Catina was saying it helps with both shaping and gaping and then used piping and interface on the front bands.

I was simply amazed how much different the dress felt with this changes. It was not actually shaped on my bust and not the other way around. It was a magic moment. All the feeling I had trying this altered dress on it remind me of Erica Hahn glasses speech on Gray's Anatomy...

   The sleeves seemed to big and boxy so I thought that maybe cutting them out would look better for my dress. I am still trying to decide if this is fine or I should cut them even shorter.
   I went with a smaller back tie belt. While I think the front really benefits from the belt definition I am not sure the back does as well... I am thinking of opening the side seams and keep only the front part of the belt and do something else with the back or just leave it simple....
   But even if the dress was going well it took me quite some time to get it to the finish line. The last thing I had to do was a piped tie.

The good part when I finally finished it was that my husband was in a really good mood and agreed to go take pictures right away even if I suggested a park...

Update 28 August : Over the weekend I had to attend a 20s themed wedding and while I struggled a lot with the decisions for my outfit I decided to use my latest vogue dress with a few changes. The 1st one I made was to add a front panel for more modesty. I would be sitting a lot at a round table and I didn't want to worry about revealing to much. It was easy to secure the panel in the front facings. The second thing I did was to give up the tie. I didn't feel the back tie looked elegant enough and the front was getting something new with the extra panel.

The last thing I did was to make a hair bandanna and flower and add a feather to my hear and a feather's shawl.

I was very nervous about it. The dress was exactly 20's but the flapper dresses didn't appeal to me and the drop waist ones I found terribly unflattering. Th dress code was optional so I thought I can wear my new dress... I got so many compliments I didn't expected. The only day when I got more was on my wedding day and then people are supposed to say nice things to you and they were all friends and family. But now I got complete strangers coming up to me to say they liked my outfit and style. To be honest I blocked on the occasion and could not say a word more then thank you! Anyway I thought I should share the look I got with you all:

And here is a picture taken with the groom: