Vogue 8799 - Dress Pattern Alterations

Even though this pattern is graded up to a 22, I knew that I would have to do some alterations to the pattern to get it to fit me.  Because don't we all have to tweak patterns to get them to fit our bodies?  So I started with the dress front alterations.

Dress Front Alterations ~
First I placed the front dress piece of my TNT dress pattern on my cutting table.

Then I added the dress front pieces to one side of the full pattern pieces, pinning the center front of the V8799 center front piece to the center front of my TNT dress pattern. Making sure to match the pattern piece at the TNT dress pattern's neckline.  Next I added the side front top and bottom pieces, matching the notches and circles on the pattern pieces to get the right pattern placement.

After the pieces were added I realized that they were a few inches discrepancy at the waistline and hip areas. I simply drew in the additional space by following the cutting/sewing line on my TNT pattern.  I also added 2" to the hemline.  I'm not sure I will need it and it can always be removed later.

I added an extra line seam line in the top front piece by adding a line through the center of the mid-bustline notch to the end of the pattern piece...matching the seamline of the bottom dress front piece.  This seam line will be used to add additional piping to simulate the inspiration garment.

Original pattern piece 

Pattern piece with additional seam placed & cut

5/8" seam allowances added to new seam lines

to form two new pattern pieces

Dress Back Alterations ~
I followed the same process for the dress back as the front by laying the V8799 back pieces onto my TNT dress back piece.  I added additional inches to the side back piece to make the V8799 pattern pieces match my TNT dress back piece.

Center back piece pinned to dress back

All pieces pinned to the back with seams added

Sleeve Alterations ~
Of course it was necessary to alter the sleeve pattern to fit my bodacious biceps. This was accomplished by laying the TNT sleeve pattern down and then adding the V8799 sleeve pattern on top. I sliced the V8799 sleeve pattern from the center of the pattern bottom to within a 1/2 inch at the top of the sleeve cap. Then I spread the two sides of the pattern until they matched the sides of the TNT sleeve.  This will not change the width of the sleeve cap.  I added some pattern paper to the center and taped it flat. Finally I adjusted the hemline of the sleeve so that it would be similar to the TNT sleeve pattern.

Next up is cutting out the fabric and assembling the dress.  Unless something unusual and different comes up during the construction, the next post about this dress will be the reveal.

...as always more later!