Pattern Fantastique Vali Dress and Top

The Vali Dress has been on my list for ages - Anything that says “70s glam” always has a permanent place on my sewing mood board, and this design is a dream. I like how the fitted yoke balances out the gathered skirt and sleeves, and the shape gives it a glamorous easy-breezy wearability that can be dressed up or down depending on the occasion and your fabric choice!
I wanted to pick a fabric that would really let the yoke and drop neck design details sing, so I opted for a hot pink cotton voile that is so bright it makes all other colours pale in comparison! This fabric is lightweight, so I ended up lining the yoke for a bit more opacity instead of using the facing pieces. If you're wanting to to try this as well, the steps I followed are:

,Cut 2 of each bodice yoke piece (so you'll have 2 backs and 4 fronts in total). Decide which pieces are going to be your lining, and stay stitch and fold up 1/4” at the bottom of the two front yoke lining pieces only.
,Assemble each yoke so that you have 2 yokes in total - your outer yoke, and your lining yoke. Attach the tie straps to the right side of each front yoke (lining our outer, it doesnt matter) 3/8” down from the neckline edge (instead of dealing with unpicking!)
,Pin the outer yoke and lining right sides together and sew down vertical neckline yoke seam (NOT around the neckline yet), then understitch. Then sew around the neckline and do the same. I do this in two steps to make it easier to understitch vs trying to take the full neckline and dealing with the curves.

After that, you can continue to construct the dress following the instructions. If you make the drop neck version, attach the drop neck facing to the lining per the instructions, and then fold the lining under and slipstitch it to the seam where the front skirt attaches to the front yoke.

It's worth noting that many sewists who’ve made this pattern before have mentioned that the instructions can be a bit tricky. I found this in places as well, and there are some great YouTube tutorials online from YourSaraK and HouseofMissSew that break each step down as part of a video sew-along that I found really helpful to fill in any gaps. All that said though, it was entirely worth taking the time to get the construction right, as I do really love the finished dress and design, and it’ll be perfect for any scorching summer days ahead! ☀️

I kind of wish I could give this pattern a 3.5 star rating but decided to be generous and round up instead of down. The result of this pattern is stunning, no doubt about that. But certain technical aspects of this dress left me very frustrated and took away the joy of making this dress. Especially the fact that the yoke wasn't cut with a double layer of fabric but instead the neckline was finished with a facing. Said facing was also cut in unnecessarily many pieces. I wrote in much more detail about this in THIS blog post.

The fabric is a viscose/linen blend and works very well for this style.

I always wanted to make the top version of the Vali dress and this handwoven indigo chambray shirting works perfectly for it.
It’s lightweight and drapey, but with enough weight to accentuate the puffy sleeves.
I made a size 8 and shorten the sleeve by 5cm. Also form the neck tie I opted for some tape/ribbon which works perfectly.

A great pattern which I know will get lots of wear.

I am a good seamstress but I found the cutting layout of this pattern unclear and not enough instruction around this.  The lovely team at the Foldline kindly answered an email about this.  I just found the whole thing trickier than expected, not helped by some very narrow seam allowances.  All this said I would recommend it as the finished dress is lovely and looks just as it should!  I may make another, once I’ve gotten over making this one!  Oh!  And it has pockets which is why I gave 4 stars not 3!!!

The Vali Dress & reconnecting with my Joy Of Sewing!
A few years ago, I became under pressure to sew for other people, brands and magazines. I ended up burning myself out. During the last few years I have rarely sewn. Until that is the sun came out and Lockdown happened all at the same time. My love for sewing has been rekindled with this gorgeous pattern . . .

Fabric:

used a tablecloth bought from H&M home! At over 3 m long it was perfect for this project plus. the quality is beautiful. I will be checking the Winter sale again this year and I suggest you do the same and add the fabric to your stash. You can always use it as a table cloth whilst you are waiting to decide on a project!

Pattern Notes and Changes:

As a size 12, I cut between a size 12/14 as a like a little room around my arms. The size was perfect. I ignored the instructions about facing the bodice and instead cut two and used one as a lining. I shorten the sleeves slightly, as this is a summer dress. the biggest change was that I cut the sides straight instead of the curved hem, I flared the edges into more of an ‘A’ line shape and I love the result. Iused the stripes in the most inventive way I could to be able to use up the fabric and not have too much waste.

See my Blog Post for more 

lots more projects on my instagram account too!

[gallery size="large" ids="445369,445368,445367,445366,445365" orderby="rand"]