Vogue 8392

Does this remind you of THE Seinfeld Puffy Shirt?



I really hope not. I was strangely attracted to this pattern, View C. I couldn't figure out why as I certainly don't want to show up at work looking like a Flamenco dancer, nevertheless, Joann's was having a Vogue Pattern sale so it jumped, literally I tell you, into my bag and came home with me. After looking at it every night for what must have been a week, I realized what I wanted to make with it: An understated feminine, frilly shirt. I hope I achieved that.

Pattern: Vogue 8392, modified View C.
Fabric: Bamboo Jersey in Natural from Wazoodle. The bamboo was very easy to sew up and washes and dries well but it is definitely not a fabric that likes to have it's seams ripped. Due to fitting errors I had to undo many seams and as a result there are some small holes near the neckline.
Pattern Alterations: Since I used a jersey and the pattern was drafted for non-stretch fabrics I had to make quite a few fitting alterations. I will discuss those later for anyone interested. With respect to design alterations I obviously also made quite a few. First, for me, placing a ruffle at my upper arm is probably the most unflattering location to add the extra bulk. I liked the frilliness of the three ruffles so I decided to keep them all and just move the top two flounces down the sleeve. To do this I extended the sleeve pattern so that it was 9 inches long. I omitted the upper flounce and cut 6 of the lower flounce pattern. I also didn't want so much ruffle-ing going on, as I was going for a more subtle look, so I cut the flounces so that they would only be 2 inches long.
Things to watch for: I think the neck opening might be drafted a bit too wide. It's hard for me to tell because I definitely had that problem but it might have due to the fabric I chose. The pleats, sewn as is, are also very short and do not really look like the front picture. In my version I extended the pleats down by 1.5 inches.
Fabric Alterations: My measurements put me at a size 12, but I cut out the size 10. Reading the measurements on the tissue paper made me want to cut out a size 8 but I wasn't looking for a repeat of Simplicity 4111 so I convinced myself just to go down one size. Still I found that it was way too wide for me so I ended up taking 2 inches off the back and widening each of the pleats by 6/8 of an inch to reduce the neck width. Is this a common problem? Do I need to be making some sort of back adjustment?
Overall: I wore it all today (with jeans, outfit posted below) as I did my weekend wanderings and it held up very well. The bamboo is super soft and comfy and I'll definitely be making something out of it again.