Fall in Corduroy, with Vogue 8805
November 1, 2022
by Melanie for Following The Thread

For this project for the Fabricville blog, after much deliberation I finally chose to use this 21 wale printed corduroy. It was a hard decision with all the new fabric releases! But when I saw the deep red accented with cobalt, green & black motifs I thought it would fit in nicely with my 80s inspired sewing of late. Also it’s quite seasonal, looking a bit like falling leaves.

Woman in red corduroy shift dress smiles outdoors

It’s a lightweight & fine wale corduroy so I thought its characteristics would match up well with a simple shift that doesn’t require any real movement in the fabric. I used Vogue 8805, but combined the middle & bottom panels, to only have one yoke seam left. Fortunately the print matches up well enough that even that topstitched seam doesn’t break up the visual  line. I didn’t shorten it at all so while it’s thigh-high on the model it’s just at the bottom of my knee, my preferred length. (for reference, I am just barely 5’2″)

I added side seam pockets of course; I marked the waistline while I cut it out to give me the pocket placement line, and  just used my standard pocket pattern. Another change I made was to line it with some black bemberg lining. I cut the lining only for the bottom half of the dress, below the yoke. I basted it to the bottom piece & sewed the yoke on, topstitching all 3 layers together. This allows a stiffer fabric, and one that likes to stick to itself as well as any tights, to hang better and not frustrate a wearer. Nothing worse than a dress that tangles up between your knees as you walk!
Woman shows back of red corduroy dress

The back neckline has a slit which closes with a hook & eye, but since it doesn’t want to stay closed I’m going to replace with a button and loop. Anyhow I love this fabric! It’s the perfect weight for this time of year & I really love the print and rich colours in it – the red is really a glowing cherry red in person. Perfect cozy Fall dress that could even make an appearance at Christmas!


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