I’ve said it in my YouTube sewing video and I’ll say it again, Vogue patterns are my favorite patterns to sew. This Very Easy Vogue pattern 8615 was pretty fast to sew, and it will be easy for you if you’re a beginner. If you’re an experienced sewer looking for new sewing patterns, it may only take you a day or two to finish making this.
Vogue Pattern 8615 Review
Some good things to note before we get into the cutting and sewing changes. Here are some recommendations about fabric print, fit and lining material.
Fabric – I used this bright red plaid and checkered fabric print for two reasons. The first is because I’m trying to use up what I already have in my apartment here in NY, because of obvious space issues. I mean I literally live in a room…as is one room with my kitchen closet and everything else in it too. The other reason, is because I had a super cute housewarming party to go to in Brooklyn, and this bright seasonal fabric print was perfect for the season. In other words, I have no regrets! BUT if you are going to sew with stripes, prints, or checkers, make sure to allow extra fabric so that you can at least try to match up lines. If you watch the above video, you can see where I tried in the front two pieces to match up lines as best I could. If I wasn’t reviewing the pattern, I probably would’ve eliminated that front seam all together. I wanted my review to be accurate from the instructions provided, so I didn’t do that.
Fit – Vogue sewing patterns are my absolute favorite patterns to sew, even if in general they are a bit expensive now, because they fit when they’re finished. Of all of the pattern companies whose patterns I sew with, I have to make the least amount of alterations to Vogue patterns. Woohoo! That’s why even though I grumble at how much more expensive they are, I still pay for them. That’s the price you pay for spot-on accuracy I guess. Hey, if it saves me hours of fitting and refitting, dressing and undressing, I’ll pay the more expensive price.
Lining – This is undoubtedly the one mistake I made, and I actually knew I was making a mistake during the process of making this design. If I knew it could’ve been better, then why didn’t I adapt? Well it comes back to that space issue I talked about earlier. A lot of the linings you’ll buy in the store, whether online or at your local sewing store, they’ll list the fabric linings all together in an easy to find section. However most of those linings are made in polyester. Polyester does not feel good on the skin, and what’s worse is, it doesn’t breathe at all. I made the active choice to use this white polyester lining simply because I had some left over, and I wanted to use it up. Most good seamstresses will skip the “lining” section all together and immediately go to the 100% cotton fabric bolt sections for their lining. I suggest that you do this too. If cotton is a few dollars more than you want to pay, then make your skirt lining in polyester, and your top shirt lining in cotton. You won’t have to buy as much fabric that way. The skirt cut in polyester fabric won’t be rubbing your skin all day, and when you get hot, the cotton in your top will allow your skin to breathe.
Cutting The Pattern Out
This pattern is best cut out on a large flat surface. Ideally if you have a good space, you can always cut your patterns out in that kind of area, but I live in a studio apartment, so I have to get creative. I find that anytime I’m working with a pattern that has a full skirt, being able to lay that piece out completely flat before cutting is pretty important. With a-line designs, fitted dress patterns, and tops, I can use my bed or fold out sewing table as a cutting area. Since this pattern does have a big full skirt for the right side of the fabric and the lining both, I decided to cut mine out on the floor. Note that if you need to do this too, be sure to mop first and make sure there aren’t any stray pins. The last thing you want is to stain your fabric, or put a snag or tear in your fabric from loose pins. I’m the worst for not finding all the pins I drop, which is why I use a magnetic pincushion holder. I just quickly wave it around the area, and voila, pin free.
Sewing Very Easy Vogue Pattern 8615
It was very easy to sew this Vogue dress pattern. It took me about 2 days of sewing in the evening after work to complete my project. The only thing that may frustrate you, but not because it’s hard, is finding a large enough area to cut out those full skirt pieces. Don’t get lazy with that, or you’re going to have a wonky hem. For the top pieces for both the right sided fabric and lining fabrics, I simply cut them out on my bed or my small sewing table that folds out. Once all of my pieces were cut out, I went ahead and sewed all of the bodice darts and pressed them, and then started sewing my pieces together. As I said in the sewing video above, there was one part of sewing the sleeve that I do not agree with.
This easy sewing pattern has you sew the bottom sleeve hem by sewing the linings and right sided fabric together. Unless your a beginning sewer or seamstress, do not do that. It’s fine if you’re new to sewing and need to just follow the instructions. By all means, go right ahead. If you ARE an intermediate or experienced sewer, go ahead and sew the lining sleeve pieces together, and the right sided pieces together separately, and then just place the lining inside as per usual and hand hem the sleeves. I was really unhappy with the finished look of the sleeves the way they had me do it. It just didn’t look professional, and if you plan to sew your own dress, you want it to look nice right? Of course we all do! It may take you a bit longer, but it’ll be worth it when you see your beautiful dress sleeve! 😀
For an added touch of elegance, you can always sew the skirt section by hand. I wanted to wear my red plaid dress to a party on saturday, so I used the blind foot on my Babylock serger to make a nice super fast hem.
Where to get supplies and materials
I get most of my sewing fabrics from Fabric.com, this one included. The sewing pattern you can purchase the most cheaply at Ebay online or you can go to one of their stores and pick one up in person.
Sewing Fabric purchased from Fabric.com.
Sewing pattern purchased from Ebay which is almost always cheaper than other pattern stores.
Sunglasses I bought from a street vender in New York for $5. 😉
The red bottomed stilettos are from Aliexpress.
