I had a maxi wrap dress in my head… and here it is… Vogue 9251.

This is a maxi length version of Vogue 9251 with flutter sleeves.

The rayon fabric has lots of drape and is very fluid, even in a strong late afternoon breeze, it is a delight to wear.

I finished this dress length midway between the midi and the maxi length on the Vogue pattern… I’m 5 foot 4 for reference.

I underlined the bodice in white lawn. I d cured to do this after an Instagram comment from AnnaKatherine who has also sewn a dress in this fabric. It is a fine lightweight rayon and it is bearing a lot of weight in that long, long skirt and the fabric is slightly sheer.

I used my Bernina rolled hem foot to hem the sleeves. I hand basted the bodice and underlining together and then used this fabulous technique to baste my bodice darts. This kept the fabrics together beautifully. Try it, it’s easy & very neat!

I found this dress a little too roomy… I tried stitching elastic to the inside of bias tape finish on the neckline (I had to get creative as I’d trimmed the seams). This is a technique I picked up in a Claire Shaeffer couture book. I used it successfully on my Flora dress.  Even with a tiniest bit of tension I didn’t like it. There’s a millions reasons this was a bad idea BUT it was fun trying it. I didn’t like it. So I unpicked it and tried something else. I strangely enjoy experimenting and trying new things, even when they don’t work.

I unpicked the neckline again and then placed two small back neck darts in the neckline and this improved the fit. Thanks to the print you can’t really see those darts at all. I do wish that this pattern went down to a size 6.

I love this dress and worn it a few times already. Yes, it’s a bright burst of colour… but it’s a dress that makes me feel happy and noone can argue with the virtue of happy wardrobe choices.

Life: still fairly restricted activity wise but hanging in there… less than two weeks until my MRI and CT scans in Sydney. Hooray. Staying positive.Pattern: Vogue 9251. Size 8.
Fabric: Rayon from Spotlight Australia. I bought the last of the roll at my store, last year. Sorry!