Vogue 1189 Rebecca Taylor Braided Front Dress

Here's another Out of Print Vogue pattern for your consideration:  Vogue 1189.  This is a designer dress by Rebecca Taylor.  (I actually have had this one for a while, and the Vogue patterns sale reminded me of it.)  What I liked about it was the braided front, and I was curious as to how it was constructed. 

 It reminds me of the 70's in a good, Cheryl Tiegs-ish way.  I love the feminine soft flowiness. 

Cheryl Tiegs from the Conde Nast achives

I've been waiting on the right fabric for it, and I finally found this plum-brown rayon challis that called my name.  Actually, everyone that I showed this fabric to thought it looked "old".  My daughter said it looked like "grandma" and the pattern looked like a robe.

So, my challenge was to overcome both of those adjectives.  No one wants to look like a Grandma in a robe, right?

Tada!  Here is my version.  The braid itself is made of three bias tubes of fabric.  The instructions ask you to make a continuous bias strip and then cut it into three pieces.  I didn't have quite enough fabric to do this, so I just cut three separate piece about 25% longer than the distance around the neckline.  It worked fine.  In fact, I think that had I used the continuous bias piece, I would have had quite a bit of extra left over.

At first, I used the self fabric alone for the braid, but from even a few yards away, you couldn't see that it was a braid.  So, I searched my stash and found this tie-dye chiffon print that had some of the same shades in it.  I made another tube from it, and substituted it for one of the tubes.

To bring in the chiffon even more, I used it for the cuffs, and then added a 3" band at the hemline.

The instructions tell you to stitch the tubes together at one end, and then hang from a doorknob and braid.  Since I have a dress form, I decided to stitch them together in the center back, then I braided around the neckline in each direction.  This helped me to judge how tightly to make the braids.

Then you just slipstitch the braid along both sides to the dress.  The front has a hook and thread eye to keep it closed.

Here's the back.  You can see that the skirt has some fullness to it.  What you can't see is that there is some elastic in the waist seam to give it a little shaping before you wrap the belt.  There is also a partially elasticized cuff to reign in the sleeve fullness, yet, still be able to pull over your hands without buttons.

Here it is on me.  I think I probably could have made it a size smaller, but it's a loose fitting style, so I don't think that makes much difference.  Mine is 3" longer than the original because of the band that I added at the bottom.

So, is it Grandma in a robe, or is it modern 70's Cheryl Tiegs-ish?  Or somewhere in between?  (Don't worry- you won't hurt my feelings- I had fun making it no matter what!)

Let me know what you think!

Happy Sewing!

Ann