Vintage Butterick 9566: Cotton + Steel Picnic Dress

AHH! This dress came out better than I expected, don't you love when that happens?  I have been dreaming of this dress for months waiting for the Cotton + Steel fabric to arrive at Fabricland (we had to wait for the second printing!). I just love the vintage vibe to it, I mean it has Pyrex on it! When it finally arrived the print was a lot bigger than I was imagining, so I was stumped of what dress to make with it. Finally I remembered Butterick 9566.

This is my second version of Vintage Butterick 9566. The first one is my Christmas dress, which is one of my favorite dresses, so I thought another one was in order! The bodice was already fitted, I did an FBA, and made the sleeves bigger than the original pattern. I also angled the bust dart more like a french dart, which I think gives it such a good fit. There is only thing I need to change about the pattern if I make it again, the sleeve has too much ease, it's hard to get it to fit without any blips. 

 What I like most about the pattern, is the opportunity to add my favorite thing: RICK RACK.  I think I bought 6 yards of this rick rack which is woven in different pastel colors, and that still wasn't enough. I was planning on doing another row at the hem so I might go and buy some more for that. The rick rack is all around the neckline, down the front of the buttonhole side bodice, around the sleeves and all around the hem. 

The buttons are adorable and very special. They are from the world famous sewing cave of Diary of a Sewing Fanatic! Thanks Carolyn! I had these in my stash and they are the perfect thing, so lucky!

Needless to say, I am very happy with the dress and thinking of more versions of it! 

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Butterick 5814: Complete!

Ok, I'm in love. THIS DRESS IS LIKE MY DREAM. The wedding was this Saturday, and I finished the dress Wednesday. Like fully finished, hook and eyes, three narrow hems for outer, interlining and lining, and a waist stay. I usually would leave those kinds of those kinds of things until the the last minute, so progress! 

I am thrilled with how the pattern alterations came out. The bodice fits like a glove, after I fixed some minor problems with the front right drape. There was too much fabric and it was pooling by the waistline and the side seam. I had to take the skirt off and undo the side seam a bit and sew the extra fabric in the seam.

 That was the most stressful part. It was coming out perfectly and then I went to try it on after I put the invisible zipper in and EEK! But with the helping hands of a friend, she was able to pin the excess fabric for me while I was wearing the dress. The problem was solved easily after that. Not sure why it didn't show up in the muslin stage, must be the difference in the drape of the fabric. 

The fabric for this dress is a Liberty of London silk, fully underlined and lined. The bodice is underlined with a drapey rayon. It was the only fabric I found that still let the bodice have the drape it needed. The pleated circle skirt is underlined with a silk faille. It gives it body like a taffeta would but without all that taffeta noise. The dress is fully lined with rayon bemberg in a coordinating blue. 

The skirt is my first official pattern draft! Its a basic circle skirt and then you make the waist bigger so it can be pleated. And of course it has pockets! I will do do another post on this if you guys are interested.

The wedding was really fun, my hubby was an usher in it, and we accidentally matched! His tie was the perfect match to the blue in the fabric. I can't wait for another chance to wear this dress! 

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