Simplicity 3833: 1960's retro

Well it wasn't quite a dress in a day (but it was in two days), but this was the theme for an Adult Education course I signed up for, which was great value at only £35 for the day.  Six of us took part and the finished results were amazingly different (sorry not to have got photos of other dresses - hope that doesn't make me seem too selfish but I felt a bit awkward asking to photograph others).  I wasn't sure about the pattern initially because I sometimes find shift dresses a little shapeless, but as shifts go I have ended up being pretty pleased with this. (Sorry about the blurry photos, I think my camera was struggling to focus duck-egg blue against a duck-egg blue wall).

I coloured-blocked the front yoke and sleeves.  The fabric is a Robert Kaufman polyester linen which I bought mainly for the colours, however, there is a lot I don't like about it.  It is quite thin, difficult to press with a slightly plastic-type quality (yes that does sound awful).  It's wearable but I wouldn't buy it again, though the duck-egg blue is lovely and of course no wrinkles.

The most unusual thing about the pattern is the dart.

 

You can see what an unusual shape the dart makes, and it was actually much easier than it looks.  Infact I would say this is a good pattern for beginners.  Four of the ladies on the course had hardly done any sewing and went from cutting out to getting the zip in all in 5 hours.  You can see in this photo one of the problems with the fabric is bulge at the nipple which just won't press out!  I don't think it looks quite as obvious in the flesh  (hope not anyway).

 

 
I added an inch to the bottom of the sleeve for some extra room, sleeves often seem tight on me.

 
You can see duck-egg blue top-stitching under the bust and down the centre seam which is a nice feature (first time for me top-stitching in such a contrasting thread).

 

I cut a size 14 grading to a 12 at the waist, but did a full-bust adjustment of an inch, you can see from the photo below where I slashed and added to.  I also took my usual 5/6" from the shoulder width.  Very importantly I dropped the neckline by 3/4" and even with this the neck is still quite high.  I just can't stand having things really tight at the neck and this would have been unwearable for me without the adjustment.  I also added 1" to the longest length (although I am only 5'4" because I just can't rock a mini any more.  I think the dress would look better shorter and also without the sleeves (I just don't do bare arms, not my best feature).  So what I'm saying is this is an easy, wearable and quite flattering pattern, especially if you can keep it short and sleeveless.  Have a go!

 

Butterick 5880 a bit of '51 retro

I absolutely love this dress.  It's one of the favourite things I have ever made.  The pattern is Butterick 5880 which is one of their retro reproductions.  I loved Oona's version and despite her description of how time consuming it was,  couldn't wait to have a go myself.

The pattern illustrations are pretty gorgeous too.  Can you spot my deliberate mistake?  Yes I cut the overskirt the wrong way up and had to put the frill (would you call it a frill?) on the wrong side.    I don't think it really matters and in some ways its easier to have the gathers away from the zip.  Speaking of zips this was the hardest zip insertion I have ever had (which included fitting one side 3 times).  Do you think this is because the fabric, though woven is stretchy?  Should I have used some fusible interfacing to stabilize it?

I think its challenging a bit of my inner-bombshell (if I have one).  What you can see from this photo is that the fabric has a the ability to stretch quite a bit, which means that it is really comfortable.  It also meant that I ended up taking about 2 inches from the width of the skirt, but because the top is lined with non-stretch fabric I didn't reduce the width of the top.  That gave me a bit of a challenge in fitting the skirt to the bodice, but with some stretching as I sewed it made it work.  Other changes were my usual inch taken from the bodice length, 1/2 taken from the neck edge both at the front and the back and moving the notches in correspondingly.  I cut my usual size 14.  You can't see from the photos but there are two parallel bust darts which are interesting.

 

 

You can get a better idea of the fabric here.  It is a stretch imitation lace and I love it.  It sewed well but was difficult to press, and that's where a clapper is indispensable.  There is an over-skirt, which is makes a fan at the waist.  I am worried slightly that over time the weight of the frill might pull on the skirt in which case I could add a waist stay.

I lined the overskirt and bodice in bemsilk lining rather than using a self-lining because I think it would be too thick.  I love the neckline and managed the notches better than I thought I would.

I would definitely recommend this pattern, and if you are thinking of having a go can I also recommend this you tube tutorial which I found very useful with the difficult bits.  I'm wearing this on Wednesday night to my college's end of year show, the Adams' family, and looking forward to it.  Work has been pretty full on recently, so my sewing time and down time is particularly appreciated.  Have you made something you are particularly proud of recently?