Christmas Dress Complete - Butterick 4919

All I have is cell phone photos but here it is:



(Above with Tammy.)

Here's a full length:



And here's a photo that shows the silk's beautiful sheen:



My prior post on this dress is here.  Some final notes on this dress:

1)  As previously noted in my prior post, I did not enjoy making this dress.  I do not know why.  It was one of those dresses that was a real pain to sew, but I loved wearing, unlike Vogue 8648 which I loved making, but wore only once.  The last step for this party dress was sewing the hooks and eyes on the back bodice, and I delayed until 4:00 pm on the day of the party.  Definite procrastination.  

2)  The color ended up being wonderful.  I really loved it when all was said and done.  The color changed with the light and ranged from blue/turquoise to green depending on where I was standing.  

3)  The money I spent on the 6 yards of silk for this dress was totally worth it.  The fabric made the dress; I had perused the "fancy fabrics" aisle of my local Hancock's while I was in the planning stages, wondering if I could get away with a cheaper synthetic material given the cost involved with silk, but decided no.  Real silk was necessary.  There is nothing like the rustle of a full length silk skirt for a party.  

4)  The neckline was low.  Real low.  But there was still sufficient coverage in the bodice that I didn't feel exposed or inappropriate.  But I mention it in case you would want the neckline raised an inch (or two!).

5) I ended up hemming the dress according to the instructions, and the length of the skirt was perfect.  (Hem was 5/8 inch.)  But I am 5'5", and most patterns are drafted for women who are 5'6".  If you are shorter or taller you made need to adjust your skirt length accordingly.

6)  I thought about wearing the crinoline under this dress that I wore with my wedding dress, but in the end I decided the crinoline would make it a little too costumey.  The lack of crinoline made the circle skirt less full looking, but it resulted in a more modern silhouette.

I went to my hairdresser for an "up-do" for the party and I really loved the result:



I've decided if I ever get rich, I'll get my hair done more often!  What fun!

Next:  I was in NYC this week and went to Mood Fabrics.  Next blog post will be all about my haul!

Christmas Dress - Butterick 4919

My employer has a large Christmas party every year at The Jefferson Hotel and it is a stunning venue.  Very festive.  I usually make my dress each year, but have very little time to make it, much less blog about it.  This year is no exception, but I knew early on that I wanted to make Butterick's re-issue of 4919.  (For the life of me, I can't find my pattern envelope, so you'll have click on the link to see the pattern.)

The pattern appeared to fit my requirements of a Christmas dress:  simple lines but a full circle skirt for maximum impact.  My go-to choice of fabric for a party dress is shantung silk.  It is the easiest of the silk weaves to work with.  Shantung is a lot like dupioni silk, but it has a smoother, more refine weave; that is, the slubs aren't as noticeable. And it has a lovely sheen.  

Here's the weird thing about shantung silk:  unwashed it is lightweight but it has a nice crisp body and keeps a crease incredibly well.  But if you wash it, all the body goes with it, becoming a mere wisp of its former self.  It reminds me of cotton candy - it looks substantial, but once you apply moisture, it is reduced to nothing.  

I sew my shantungs unwashed, and dry clean them as the garment warrants later.  I had some dark red, nearly burgundy, colored shantung in my stash, but it was only 45 inches wide, and I really wanted to make the long skirted version of this dress, which requires the wider 60 inch fabric.  I thought about black as this dress would have really been dramatic in black, but I get tired of seeing everyone in black, especially at a party.

I decided on a color at NY Fashion Center Fabrics website (where I also bought my wedding dress silk shantung fabric) that was described as "turquoise".  In incandescent yellow light it looks more teal, and I don't like teal, and I should have gotten a swatch first, but I didn't have time.  So I'm stuck with it and here is the color outdoors: 

( See that great sheen?  I'm counting on that sheen for dramatic effect!)  

As with past Christmas dresses, I give myself permission to do a half-assed job.  That means no finishing of seam allowances or too much fiddling with zippers, or re-doing, etc.  My reasoning is that this dress will be worn once, maybe twice, so there's no point in spending the time on quality construction on a dress that doesn't have to survive the washing machine or repeated wearings.  Also, the party is dark, filled with people full of holiday cheer (i.e. alcohol), and no one is going to notice the details.  And after I'm done wearing it, I'll cannibalize it for other projects.

What they will notice is the color and the sheen and the big skirt - my sewing approach is like costuming, which I learned about at the Hollywood Costume exhibit at the VMFA.  I'm going for an illusion here, folks, not an award for Best Dress Construction.  A case in point, the front v-neck:

 As you can see, it's my usual, not-so-great job in precision sewing.  But its fine, because it is going to be covered by a beautiful gold and diamond brooch my father gave me many Christmases ago.

The hand and smell of this fabric brought back memories of making my wedding dress, and I was reminded of something else from making my wedding dress experience too:  I ended up not having enough fabric to cut out my dress.  When I was making my wedding dress, I just figured my layout wasn't in accordance with to the pattern instructions and I just ordered more.  But this time, I laid out the pattern pieces exactly as illustrated, and I ended up short.  I think the reason is that this silk is 54 inches wide (or maybe shorter) than the 60 inch layout.

I didn't have the time or the money or the motivation to order more "turquoise" fabric.  I just cut out the front bodice lining piece from some hot pink shantung I had in the stash, which I think is a complementary color to the turquoise:

 (If it ends up showing a little bit while wearing the dress, I hope people believe it was a deliberate design feature rather than having insufficient fabric!)

A few words about this pattern.  It is weird.  The wrap bodice has a new-to-me construction that was difficult to picture in my mind, and I just had to take one step at a time and see how it went.  Also, this dress can't really be tried on as you sew, making alterations-as-you-go damn near impossible.  And there are no shortening or lengthening lines on the bodice, so if you don't have a fairly standard figure, I haven't got the slightest clue how you would fit this thing to your body.

And for whatever reason, I haven't enjoyed making this dress.  I cut it out before I went to Italy, I constructed the bodice the weekend I got back, and this weekend I constructed the skirt, attached it to the bodice, and put in an invisible zipper.  It's coming along but I'm not enjoying it.  Here's my zipper with no finishing of the bodice edges:

 I thought such quick sewing would be fun and freeing after the slow-sewing Butterick Gertie coat, but no dice.  I think, deep down, I want to be working with wool/cashmere tweed I got in Italy, but I have to finish this dress first.  

Here's a photo of the gathered shoulders which I'm not entirely happy with - this silk is thick and didn't gather very well, unlike the pink lining which was thinner and gathered beautifully:

I tried it on this morning and the good news is that the dramatic effect I was going for was all there.  Also, the length is good - all I'll have to do it turn the skirt up 5/8 inch and topstitch it down and call it a day.  I do need to sew on some hooks and eyes, and handstitch the bodice lining, so I'm in the home stretch.

More photos to come when I'm done, and hopefully made up for the party!