A Frankenpattern Work Dress

With the long dry continuing, I figured I had time for just one more summerish dress.  This particular one does have sleeves so could be justified as an early autumn dress.   I was going through my stash last week and was wondering just what to do with the pieces of linen I had amassed in my collection, when I had a bright idea.   I really liked the Vogue colour blocked dress but really couldn't justify another pattern and knew I had just the colour combination for a lovely colour blocked linen dress.

My epiphany came in the form of Butterick 6933 which has been in my stash since before my blog.  It is a preloved beauty that found itself in my collection for less than a cup of coffee.  I used it way back when for this dress.  I wanted my new dress to be spliced but also wanted the neckline to be higher and the dress to be A line.  

The first thing I did was to redraft the pattern.  I used Vogue 1247, my favourite skirt pattern, for the A line shape of the skirt.  I really liked the neckline on my peplum top, so copied the neckline on Vogue 8815.  I spliced the dress reasonably evenly but unlike the Vogue original dress, I incorporated the top splice into the bust darts which totally illuminated them.  I then measured the skirt into two even sized pieces and this became my bottom two tiers.  The back was then drafted so that the blocks measured up.  I re cut the sleeve top because the original pattern had too much fullness and was actually more gathered than the pattern showed.  The sleeves actually turned out to be more labour intensive than I had anticipated and even though I am happy with how they turned out, if I was to use the pattern again, I would definitely redraft them yet again.

This dress tuned out to be quite the fabric hog.  I only had a small piece of the pink linen but two large pieces of the black and blue.  I still have heaps of both of these left so this dress was probably not the best use of fabric.

I decided not to line the dress, simply because I didn't have any suitable lining in my stash and I really couldn't be bothered making a special trip to the fabric shop.  I know it is a bit lazy but this week with the new job, this is exactly where my head is at.  I also reasoned that if I didn't line it, I could wear it on a summers day without feeling uncomfortable and through the autumn I would just need to wear a slip.

This photo was taken today, after a full day at work.  There are a few wrinkles in the seat which is consistent with linen but all in all it held up well.  It is comfortable to wear but still fitting; everything you need in an office appropriate dress.