DIY: Vogue V9167 Notch Neck Princess Seam Dress

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I sewed V9167, a notch-neck princess seam dress, for a wedding this spring.

To make V9167, I used a floral yellow and white stretch cotton sateen print from Fabricland. I made view E in size 18 with a D cup, but could probably have just used the C cup. The pattern has multiple cup sizes included, which is very handy. I didn’t make any other alterations, but I could have narrowed the shoulders a bit. Overall, I like the fit of the princess seams, and this allover floral print worked nicely. The fabric was really easy to sew with, and pressed like a dream.

I wanted to wear a yellow dress to the wedding because it reminded me of Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter. During Bill and Fleur’s wedding, Luna says that she believes one must wear ‘sun colours’ to a wedding, for luck. Maybe I should have also worn my deathly hallows necklace?

Unfortunately, once I had made the dress, I thought it might be too casual for a wedding. I definitely think it’s fine to wear for work, though. Instead, I sewed Vogue V9053 out of a pink rayon challis for the wedding.

I used my muslin made from a cotton-polyester broadcloth to line the bodice. The sleeves are also lined, also with the broadcloth. The front and back skirt has pleats to give shape to the V9167 dress. Also, the dress has pockets! I used self-fabric and the broadcloth to make the pocket bags. The dress closes with a centred back zipper with hook and eye closure.

The only problem with this dress is that I need to iron it before wearing! Other than using Ryan’s iron to press during my actual sewing, I rarely iron my clothes. After washing and hanging to dry (I don’t put any of my homemade clothes in the dryer), the cotton sateen shows wrinkles. The ironing helps even out the pleats and makes the bodice sit better.

V9167 is very similar to V9267, which I also own. The overall shape of the dresses is the same, but V9267 has a waistband, topstitching, and Dior darts. Actually, I think I want to use the Dior darts and princess seam shaping in my cup size to make V1499. I love the look of V1499 but I’m not sure how to do an FBA with a Dior dart (yet!).

The V9167 pattern is still available here.