Butterick 5079, A Twist on the Twist with Twists

Here is a random project from my backlog, Butterick 5079. Because what better time to review a summer dress than when I've had to pull out the wool knickers? Perhaps it will do our Australian/New Zealander friends some good!

I liked the design of this dress in concept, but I have to say, it's kind of a lackluster result.

Rather than the twist being at the neckline, the bodice is cut with an overlay and the twist is several inches below the neck using the overlay. It's an interesting and creative design (that looks fab on this 3.1 Phillip Lim top)...but in real life it just makes you look like you have saggy boobs. Or the saggy boob issue could be related to my flat chest--if your bust is large enough to be differentiated from the twist it might be flattering and interesting. But on me, where the bust and the twist can't really be distinguished, it looks like saggy boobs.

The pattern envelope photo (though not the line drawing) makes it appear as though there is some gathering on the skirt at center front, or at least plenty of fabric. And there is waistline ruching, which always works for me. But again, once made up, these things don't quite add up. Although the skirt is pleasantly full, it is cut as an A line rather than with any gathering at center front and there is no extra fabric there for tummy camouflage. And although there is ruching, it is fairly high up at an empire line, and also provides no tummy camouflage. So I feel like the ruching merely provides a frame for my belly, rather than disguising it.

My fabric was somewhat sheer and needed to be lined. I did not follow the pattern instructions, which were needlessly complicated and involved (1) woven lining and (2) a zipper, both of which are nonsensical in a knit. I cut the bodice out of a knit lining, and then trimmed away 1/4 inch from the neckline and armscyes of the lining to ensure a good turn of cloth that would not show the lining from the outside. I stitched the shoulder seams of the lining and fashion fabrics. Then I sewed them together at the neckline and armscyes, turning right side out through the strap tunnels. The photo at right shows one half turned right side out, and the other right sides together to show the stitching at neckline and armscye. Then sew the side seams.

I really liked this print and was a little disappointed in the result, although at least I only paid $2.97/yd for the fabric. The dress is wearable, but I don't feel great in it so I only wore it a few times over summer and I don't know how many times it will get worn next summer before it gets the boot.

In general I have found the Maggy London/Suzi Chin line of patterns for Butterick to be excellent, so I think this is just a blip and I will certainly continue buying the line.

All photos are here and the pattern review is here.

Simplicity 2754, Cowl Neck Empire Waist Knit Dress

Thank you for the suggestions on the panties! I make them with black cotton crotches, but that is not enough to contain the unexpected flow I sometimes get. I am intrigued by the idea of building in an extra layer, though. I make my pads of cotton flannel and even one layer of flannel might be enough. The crotch pocket idea is also interesting, but I would have to figure out some sort of closure for it; it would be horrifying if the lining wormed its way out when I was changing clothes at the gym! Will consider these suggestions.

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I will buy pretty much any pattern for a knit dress (as long as it's not a glorified t-shirt), so at some point I picked up Simplicity 2754. I liked the empire waist, cowl neck, and full pleated skirt (so much nicer than a gathered skirt in this style).

When I bought this yellow/gray fans fabric from Jomar in Philly it really said maxi dress to me, but I plan to use my rayon knit from Spain for a maxi-dress (it's too lightweight for a Fall/Winter dress) *and* I need Fall/Winter dresses more than Spring/Summer dresses. So I stuck to my guns and made it for Fall/Winter. With the shorter elbow-length sleeves it will be wearable into Spring.

When I initially put this together I hated it. I thought it looked like a nightgown. I almost wadded it. So I spent some time analyzing it and I realized a big problem was the front bodice. I had cut it without really paying attention and it was pretty much a single big pale yellow fan. I didn't take a photo then, but I pinned it back on and took the photo at left so you can see. I had already serger constructed everything, all that was left was hems. But I knew I would hate the dress if I let it stand.

So I cut out a new bodice, being careful to balance the motifs so that I had three instead of one. Then I carefully cut the old bodice out of the dress, clipping just outside the serger seams (luckily, there was adequate ease, so it was OK to lose some; I do not seam rip serger seams unless it is really, really necessary). It was a little challenging to pin the new bodice into the space, keeping all the seams in the right places, but I managed it in the end. I overlapped the seam allowance on the new bodice so that it extended out beyond the clipped off seam allowances of the other pieces and serger stitched with the new bodice on top, clipping off the seams allowances of the new bodice and just barely catching the edges of the original back and cowl.

It went together pretty well; I lost a bit of the reverse V shape on the empire seam and there is a little seam distortion on the lower right bodice seam (*my* right side, which is on the left in the photo), but in wearing this yesterday I think it has to do with the perpetual problem of my serger not keeping tension on the right needle thread. I have rethreaded, turned the tension dial, and done everything else I can think of the keep that thread from looping and nada. When I went to clip my work badge to the seam I noticed that the seam is almost doing a flatlock thing because of the loopy right needle thread. So I'm going to have to go in and sewing machine stitch that seam to make sure it doesn't pull apart.

The new print motif looks SO MUCH BETTER. The pale colors of the print combined with the relaxed fit do make it look a little nightgown-y in general (had I made a fitted wrap dress it wouldn't have been as much of a problem, I don't think), but I'll just have to live with that.

One of my mom's pet peeves that she passed on to me is that ready-to-wear, even on the high end, often doesn't match the back and front. So the front will have some sort of neckline embellishment, for instance, that should logically go all the way around the neck, but the back neck is plain. I think this looks so cheap! This dress suffered from that syndrome. While the front is designed with the empire waistline and pleated skirt, the back is just a single t-shirty piece. Cheap!

I lined up the front and back pieces and marked the empire waistline on the back. The front skirt is shaped to fit into that upside V waistline, so I just folded it down so that it was flat and even with the side seam and cut the back skirt like that. It looks so much better this way. I didn't make a swayback adjustment because of all the volume, and I think I lucked out here.

There's not much to say about this dress! It's cute, easy, and goes together well. The cowl is supposed to be cut on the bias. Because I had plenty of fabric I went ahead and did it, but honestly as long as you're using a lightweight knit I really don't think you need to. I have been into deep twin-needle hems on knits lately; the skirt on this ended up being really long (didn't want to shorten it in cutting as I keep getting burned by that) so I did the deep hem. It gives a little weight to improve the hang of the dress.

All photos are here and the pattern review is here.

Unmentionables and Stashoholism Confessional

I have been ordering fabric like a mad woman lately! But I have also been sewing like crazy lately and the fabrics have been good stash fabrics (if you accept that there is such a thing)--silk cottons and now wool. I ordered this fabric really just to make it to $35 at Fabric.com for free shipping, but when will I not need a good quality stretch wool? I pre-shrunk it by wetting it in the shower with hot water and hanging it to dry. Cidell and I were talking about how much we love the smell of wool. This smelled so good!

The real reason for my order was the pattern. Fabric.com was having a 20% off sale and I just couldn't hold out any longer for a 2-for-1 deal at HotPatterns. I've never used a HotPatterns before, but I loved this one as soon as it came out and people have been making nice things out of it. My serger is gray right now and I have a list of gray projects to complete (including a dress of the stretch wool), but when I change it to red this pattern is on the list! Probably won't happen until after the holidays, alas.

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I also ordered two sets of a 30 yard stretch lace assortment from SewSassy. That is one set rolled onto cards, and one set loose, to give you an idea. I really don't know why I ordered the bundles. Well, I mean I do know why I ordered the bundles--because I like the surprise element. It's like getting a sewing present. But in reality, I pretty much wear black underwear every day because (tmi) I spot 24/7/365 and anything else gets ruined on the first wear. So I should have just ordered a crapload of black and of course the bundles didn't come with any black at all!

I was pleased with the quality and service, however. I like that you can choose USPS shipping because USPS is the only delivery I can get at my house and I hate sending all my packages to work. The shipping charge was totally reasonable and it came super quickly! I will probably go back and order some black picot lingerie elastic for legs, and can use the light colored laces at the waist.

I had actually made some panties before ordering the lace, if you can believe it! I bought some H&M underwear a few weeks ago when I had forgotten to pack any and ended up really liking the style. I prefer a low waist, full coverage rear, separate crotch piece, and lower cut legs so they don't ride up and they fit the bill perfectly. Of course, the downside of my preference for full coverage is that I cannot really make them out of "scraps." This takes a not insignificant chunk of yardage, around 3/8 yard.

The only thing about the H&M panties was I had bought a size too small. Luckily, I have the technology to correct that! So I laid tracing paper over them and traced them with a pencil (my pattern is not symmetrical, but the resulting panties are fine so I haven't bothered to clean it up), added a bit to the sides, and voila! I have what I hope is a TNT panty pattern. I won't really know if it's TNT until the Spring, though. You can't tell if panties are going to ride up if you're wearing tights over them. So I feel like I shouldn't make *too* many of these until I know for sure!

Anyway, I made the prototypes using clear elastic and a twin needle. They fit well and wear well (although I can't really wear them since they're not black), but the clear elastic feels chintzy. Also, the allowances roll out out and expose the clear elastic, which again is not uncomfortable but just isn't cute. So I decided that I was allowed to order the stretch lace, since I had demonstrated that I actually would sew panties.

So much better, right? They look better at any rate. Can't actually wear them because they're not all black. I switched Pills several months ago and now I have a few days' window where I don't spot so I have to wear all my cute underwear on those days. I just overlapped the lace at the seams, and one leg already had one of those long strings you pull from all the way around the lace, so I'm going to have to figure out how to finish those ends. I guess just zigzag them in place.

Next time my serger is threaded in black (and I have black picot elastic in hand) I'm going to have to do a black panty-sewing extravaganza. They're quick to cut and assemble, but it does take some time to pin the lace/elastic around the legs and waist so each pair takes about 40 minutes. I thought it would be like popcorn, but it's more like gummy worms.

So I guess I'm making my own underwear now. But there's still no way I'm going to attempt a bra.

Vogue 1056, Triple Keyhole Knit Dress

This was a stashbusting project; I felt like I needed to sew something from stash to balance out sewing exclusively with new fabrics, which is always a problem with me! I bought this about a year and a half ago from G Street's $2.97 table. At the time I was seduced by the turquoise in the print, as this is my favorite color. However, I got it home and realized that it was a stealth stripe fabric. For some reason, I often just don't like stripes that much. I like them sometimes, but they are not my favorite. I find stealth stripe prints to be such a nuisance because then you have to think about directionality and which way is more flattering and it is all too much trouble. So this sat in stash and I fell more and more out of love with it, to the point where I thought I might have given it away. But there it was, at the back of the shelf.

I was iffy on the pattern, Vogue 1056, as well. I don't normally wear anything with a high neckline as I have a very low choking feeling threshold, and plus I like my collarbones. But I was really intrigued by the design and it is something a little new and different for a knit. I figured I'd combine the so-so fabric with the so-so pattern and wouldn't be too sad if either turned out to be the wrong decision, and I'd finally get the blasted fabric out of stash.

In the end, I am very happy with the dress! It was quick and easy to put together (I omitted the zipper because it's a knit for crying out loud) and the woven lining (ditto). The neckline is not stretchy because of the facing, but it slips over the head. I did it over my *crazy* I-haven't-sewn-in-forever-so-I-must-do-nothing-but-obsessively-sit-at-my-machine weekend and it took around 4 hours. The only remotely tricky part is the neckline facing, and it's really not that tricky and the pattern directions and illustrations are good.

Although it's evident in the line drawing and should be a logical conclusion based on the design, I was somehow surprised when this turned out to be a triple keyhole. I was focusing on the center keyhole, which the model photo emphasizes, and you can't even see the side keyholes in the pattern photo. When I first put it on, I thought I had done something wrong! The side keyholes were very prominent and the center keyhole completely disappeared. I ended up inelegantly just bunching a couple layers of fabric together on either side of the center keyhole and tacking it down to make sure that it stayed open.

Because of my "striped" fabric, I couldn't follow the cutting layout. The front is kind of crazy as the two halves are cut as one at the neck, and then has a center seam below the keyhole (so the final cut out front is sort of a butterfly-shape variant; I feel like I'm not explaining this well) so you have to cut it out single layer and it's on the bias. This would have made my stripes all kinds of crazy, so I put a seam at the center neck joining spot and laid the front out on grain. This knit is thin (not to say cheap) and I used serger construction so that front seam neck isn't *too* bulky, but I would not recommend adding that seam rather than cutting as one in anything but a thin, drapey knit.

I ended up loving the way the stripes fall on the front--their subtle curve makes my bust look big and my waist look skinny! Perhaps I should give stripes more credit in the future.

As with the Butterick 5130 Muse dress I was a little too enthusiastic about how much I needed to shorten the skirt in cutting. Oops. So, as I did for that dress, I added a band at the hem. Here I actually thought this was a very fortuitous accident, because the horizontal striped band at the hem I felt really added something to the design (and helped balance the play of stripes at the back neck yoke) and made the dress look more finished than it had with just a normal hem rather than just being necessary to cover a mistake! Wearing this yesterday, however, I still felt like this dress was a skootch too short for work. But since it's for Fall/Winter I'll always be wearing it with tights, so I guess it's ok.

I clearly felt I needed to review this soon because I took pictures of it both times I've worn it. I totally forgot I'd done the first set of photos! So you can see it with different legwear in the photos. The review is here.

BWOF 06-2009-101, Pleat Front Knit Dress

You couldn't see a thing of this dress in the magazine, what with the dark blue color and the scrunched down loungey pose, but I loved the line drawing and this has been a very popular dress/top pattern with lots of cute examples of it made up.

I decided to go with the tweed-ish, metallic-ish cotton/poly (based on a burn test) knit from Jomar in Philly. I totally fell in love with the fabric even though it's slightly weird, but having now made it up I think I was totally justified! This was one of my projects on my happy sewing day.

I wanted this to be for Fall/Winter, so I lengthened the sleeves, as several people have also done. Luckily, Burda's directions explicitly tell you that the drafted cap sleeves are joined at the bottom seam, so I didn't have to do anything to the drafting. In my heavy-ish fabric I didn't want the top seam to be weighing down the sleeve so I combined the two pattern pieces, laying them together at the stitching line and marking the resulting dart where they diverged.



I stitched the dart and then clipped it open to reduce the bulk. This knit fabric, unlike some, takes a press to some degree so I pressed it as flat as possible, and I think the end result is nice--it sits well at the shoulders and there is no noticeable bulk.

Burda claims that leaving the pleats unsewn will enhance a small bust. Have they ever met anyone with a small bust? Because nothing looks worse on a flat chest than an empty, billowy, echo chamber of fabric. I did not take this particular suggestion, and instead stitched the pleats down from the inside all the way along the bodice. I put in the full width pleats at top and bottom and sewed them about half-width along the length. However, after the dress was put together I went in and sewed the pleats even deeper, almost to the full width for the top and bottom. I think with the pleats sewn down it is flattering for a small bust. I also narrowed the bust dart drafted into the bodice front and lining.

I followed the instructions for the front lining, even stitching the darts together, which is really kind of silly and unnecessary because the "lining" is really just an underlining, so it's anchored at all the the seams and not going to shift around. I used the rayon(?) jersey I bought in Hong Kong and man, is it good stuff! I can't wait to sew it into something, but now that I know how fab it is it has, of course, become Too Good To Use for any old project.

I used *gasp* facings, which I generally hate and never use. But here I was able to hand stitch them down in the front to the underlining, and then stitch in the ditch at the raglan sleeve seams and center back, so there is no chance of it flipping out. I used self-fabric for the facings and because my fabric is a fairly thick knit I think there is a little too much bulk going around the back neck, but I can live with it.

When I put this together it just wasn't looking great. It took me a little bit of playing but I finally figured out the midriff was just way too wide for me. I've made plenty of projects with wide midriffs, so it's not that the style doesn't work for me, it was just something about this dress. I narrowed it to about half the drafted width and it made a huge difference in the look of the dress.

I also had to take it in about two inches at the midriff/waist. I think it probably had to do with my fabric, which doesn't have great recovery. Burda doesn't usually draft with too much ease and I cut my normal size (though I think maybe I should do a 35 at the waist, instead of a 36, if there is such a size), so I'm not sure what was going on there.





I did my usual swayback adjustment, although I see I could have taken a little more. But it's not a swayback that makes the back look so bad, I don't think. Man, it looks awful! I had no idea this was my rear view until taking the photo. I don't think I have those teardrop dewlaps under my shoulder blades yet, I think it's just something horrible about the way this sits on me. I hope. I have no idea how to fix this.







But at least it looks cute from the front! It's really fun to wear, although now I'm going to be totally paranoid about how I look from behind. I will be walking around backwards to prevent anyone from seeing it.

All photos are here and the pattern review is here.