my dear sister's birthday was in august and i decided to sew something for her. she's tall and has a slim physique and each time i saw the vogue 8241 pattern, i always think of how great she'll look in it. so, i secretly sewed and surprised her on our trip home. i'm so bad at keeping secrets. i think her birthday wasn't until the next week and i spilled the beans the next day we got home. in my defense, the dress had been in the works for a while before we travelled so i did good. a bit. i made the "slit" longer in the upper back of the dress. it actually goes all the way down to the belt but we had to improvise since i couldn't get the right bra "attachment" in time.

update: i did not include the elastic casing at the waist and drafted the pattern as one long piece (1 front + 2 back) instead of with a seam at the waist (2 front pieces + 4 back pieces). i bought black satin ribbon to use as the belt. it was hard getting the chain stitch for the button loop to the correct length. so i just cut up one of my thin elastic hairbands and used that as a loop. works perfectly because you can stretch it to accomodate the button. now, i'm hooked!!!

funny side story: some older lady ran up to my sister to tell her that her dress was open! lol. yeah. patches of skin showing in unexpected places is not the norm back home. you have to cover up when you wear a thin strapped dress. basically, over-revealing clothes are frowned upon. not to say that the kids don't wear them. it's a cultural, generational thing, i guess.