Playing with Print

 I wore this dress to work today and realized I had never shared it on the blog. 

It's another version of the Butterick 5454 wrap dress.  I cut this dress with the grain going all over the place.  I placed the fronts along the cross-grain so that the border was on the running along that diagonal edge.  Then I cut the skirt so the border was at the bottom.  The sleeves were cut with the border along the hem edge as well. 

Rather than put the pleats that the pattern calls for - I gathered the fronts into the shoulder seam and also gathered the skirt onto the bodice. 

Because of the way the pattern feel on the fabric there is a small edge of the border on the back right above the waist seam. 






After all of that - I cut a piece of the border print and appliqued it to the front overlap portion of the skirt.  I made sure to match the print up and miter the corner. 




It's an interesting dress - but it's not my favorite. 

I love the print, I love the colors in it.  It's comfortable but . .  .

there is something about it that I can't explain.  I think I've only worn it twice since I made it back in October. 

What is it that makes a garment something you reach for again and again?

#6

While The Princess was visiting, I made her some new clothes.  She just got a job in a professional environment designing bathrooms and needed a few new skirts.  Plus - I had asked if she would wear a pencil skirt from some left over fabric I had.  I was going to use the magic pencil skirt and before cutting into the left over fabric, I find a piece of knit to muslin the pattern for her. 

I found a length of knit that had different patterns running across the yardage.  I cut her skirt out and I kept looking at the fabric thinking - I don't remember buying this.  It's really pretty.  Hmmm - wonder if there's enough left to make a dress. 

 

As you can see - not only was there enough left, but I was able to match the pattern across the seamlines.  At one point while I was laying out the tissue, The Princess walked in and said - turn that piece over it's going the wrong way.  DOH!  All pieces but the sleeves were cut going the same direction, but the only way to get sleeves was to turn them the wrong way. 

 

This is the sixth time I have made this wrap dress pattern.  It's quick to make, takes between 2-3 yards (for me) and I always feel good when wearing these dresses.  But I think it's time to find a new pattern for a knit dress - 6 is probably enough - don't you think?

It's a Wrap!

 There really is nothing more to say about this dress.

I can buy fabric, pretreat, cut, sew and wear in close to the same day.   With the exception of my tendency to thrust my stomach forward, the dress is flattering. 

As I was cutting this version - I decided I wanted long sleeves and thought I had enough fabric to make LONG sleeves, but I didn't.  So I cut them as long as I could and make a pleat at the bottom of the sleeve to mimic the pleats going on elsewhere in the dress - at the shoulders, and the waist. 

Even though this is a very thin knit (bought at Hobby Lobby) I was plenty warm all day and never put on the cardigan I brought with me just in case.

I also finally remembered to shorten the ties and while I could wrap them around to the front and tie them, I just tied them in the back in a bow.  Maybe a bit too twee - but I got a ton of compliments on the dress and hubby thought it came from Nordstroms - even though he got the straight from the sewing room preview when I finished it last Thursday - Men! 

Anyway - as the title says - I think it's time to put this pattern aside for awhile.  This is the 4th make from this pattern and while they all look different, I think I'm ready to try another pattern for a minute. 

Zig Zag Wrap Dress

It was a long day and honestly, I was ready to change and eat.

I was tired of waiting for JB and he decided that's when he'd start taking photos.

But this is how I wore the dress all day - with a red cardi.

I wore a black slip under the dress and grey tights and pumps.  Can you believe I don't own a pair of black pumps?  I know - me either.  Must be time to go shopping. 

Looking at the photos - I can see that the cheater step I took to hem this dress isn't holding and I need to add some stitches. 

This is the 3rd version of B5454 and with the exception of the ties - they are way too long, I love this dress.  It's comfortable,
easy to wear, and I feel cute and stylish.  There will definitely be more versions of this dress.

While I did an okay job matching the print across the waist seam and shoulders - I did a really crappy job matching the print at the side seams.  Don't believe me?  See below.

The Border Print Wrap

There's not a lot to say about this dress. It's another version of B5454. .

The fabric came from Girl Charlee and it's thinner than I expected,

but still worked great for this dress

 

Photos taken in our hotel room while we were in Vegas.

 

JB is getting better - but um, hon?  Could you tell me when I'm all wrinkled across the back?

I'm sure he didn't even notice.

 

Border matching at the side seam.  This side is better than the other.

The border print is a wave - so matching was difficult.

But I didn't too horrible of a job.

In Vegas I threw on sandals and went out with bare legs.

At home, tights, boots, and a cardi.

 

I love this dress and am wondering how many wrap dresses is too many.

Butterick 5454 - Thanks Elizabeth!

Butterick 5454 is another dress that I saw on a blogger (Elizabeth of Sewn!)  And thought - Oh, I love that dress and I have a ton of dress lengths of knits - wonder if I can wear that. 

The weekend before retreat I had run to Hancocks to looks for some ponte knits and came home with 2 knits.  They both took a trip through the washer and dryer and then one of them got cut out as 'fake fabric' for the Butterick dress.

Just like the other dress - I worked on faith.  I made very few adjustments  mostly to the back .  I adjusted the sleeves to be short.  These days I prefer short sleeves or sleeveless - because honestly - long sleeves are just too hot.  I raised the front by half and inch.  And I cut the skirt at the biggest size on the pattern - trusting the finished garment measurements printed on it that it would in fact fit my hips without adding more room.   Oh - but I did add length - 6 inches!

This is such a quick dress to make and I sewed it completely on my sewing machine!  Yes - it would have been much, much quicker with the serger and maybe on the 3rd version I'll use the serger. 

After sewing it up - the only changes I had to make were to unpick the back pleats in the skirt by an inch and half - they weren't falling nicely and needed to be shortened.

I think because of how I raised the front neckline, the hem didn't fall evenly at the bottom and I had to have a friend mark the hem - which is why the border print isn't hemmed yet.  I'm going to attempt to figure that out on version #3 - because there will be many, many more.

This dress was comfortable and easy to wear.  It stays overlapped with no fear of anything horrible happening - even when the wind blows. 

One of the best parts of sew camp?  Besides coming home with 2 patterns I feel comfortable sewing over and over?  I gained confidence in my skills and came home feeling pretty and not nearly as big as I thought I was!  Win / Win / Win!