Vogue 9022

When I first saw this pattern, I thought great. Something other than the Kristin knit dress for me to make.

It's fine to have a go-to, but after a while you just wonder if you should also be going to somewhere else.

A few things you should know about this pattern before I get into what I did with it:

• it is one of those odd ball patterns that says it is OK for both knits and wovens. Translated this means you probably won't need the back walking slit or the keyhole opening at the back if you are working in a knit. I just zipped up my centre back seam and that was fine, although I still liked a seam there so I could do a little shaping for my forward neck and my prominent behind.
• the pockets are a cool idea. You will note that even in the picture there isn't any top stitching, in fact there is no real stitching at all. The side panels are long and you make a fold in them that creates the pocket and the sides of this pocket bag are captured in the side seams and the seams where the front panel is attached.
• that's the good news. To make the side panel long enough for all this folding business you have an extra piece you stitch on, nothing more than an rectangle,and this seam is then hidden by the face of the pocket after you have done the fold up. This extra seam you sew to created this extra length doesn't make any sense to me, except for the probably reasonable desire to save on fabric in the layout. In a knit this seam makes kind a ridge that shows through and I will just tape this all together and cut the side panels and one long piece in the next knit version.

Now here are my pictures. One taken today by my long suffering friend at work in my natural habitat with my natural at work teaching expression on my face. Gives you an idea...

A close-up in case you can't believe your eyes, also lightened with my superior photo editing skills to help you see the detail, which it doesn't at all.

For that reason when I sent home to let the dogs out and have lunch I did something no one should ever do.

I took a selfie of my stomach.

Here it is with the note that the pockets are actually not crooked, my arm was up dealing with the camera:

This will give you an idea how the pockets are formed.

All in all I am really pleased with this dress, although I think the colour might be a bit dull. That's why I have the bright scarf with it and am considering also wearing it with a big turquoise "statement necklace" I bought in Florida where things like that look normal, as opposed to here in Nova Scotia where they do not.

The next time I make this pattern, which will be soon, I am going to work in a ponte.

I have to tell you about this fabric I used here, a so-called "scuba knit."

Let's not let the wool be pulled over our eyes folks - this is really heavy old polyester that we would have said "eeww" to before they renamed it and tried to talk us into believing it was anything but.

IMO this fabric should stay with wet suits or form fitting dresses that are more or less urban wetsuits and taken out of the hands of your average person making dresses like say me. I mean this stuff will outlast me, stand up in the corner by itself, but it sort of feels like it was manufactured from recycled tires.

My grandmother wore this stuff and had hot flashes in it at teas in church basements for the rest of her life.

I myself taught in it yesterday and noticed fog on my glasses.

Not to mention the stitching issues.

I have used this fabric before to make a straight skirt and had some trouble with skipped stitches that I eventually worked out.

This time, in a heavier version, no such luck. I tried every needle in my arsenal and in the end the only thing that did sew through it OK was my serger so this is a totally serged dress. Not ideal when the seams should be pressed open but best I could do.

So final verdict. Good pattern with potential, kind of knuckle head fabric.

On to the next thing.