Butterick 5846 - The Forties Shirtdress

It's a 1940's shirtdress!  It's no suprise that I love shirtdresses (Crab Dress anyone?), and Butterick came out with this pattern that I bought in December for 99 cents or $ 1.99, I don't remember.  I was in Cotton Creek when I bought it and my mother pronounced the pattern art "ugly".  I can't really argue with her about that:

What is worse is the photo on the Butterick website which shows the dress made up in a cheap rayon of the most unbecoming color.  (I won't link to it here to save your eyes, not to mention your sensibilities.)  But I assured Mother that I would make it look better than the line art.  As I have said before, I love me a shirtdress!  They are just so comfortable, yet put together:  

I used a cotton lawn I bought at my LQS probably 18 months to 2 years ago.  I want to say it is a Kaufman fabric.  It was a pleasure to sew and I think it lent the right mood to this design.  The bust is fashioned by gathers at the yoke and pleats at the waist.  Unfortunately, the back of the dress is fashioned in the same way, so I suppose you could wear it backward if you wanted to:

The design makes the back blousen more than I would like, but it ended up not being as bad I thought it would.  I really liked the waist pleats which were sewn, then top stitched:

And I realized while I was making this dress that this is the first gathered sleeve I have ever done (on purpose!):

 Wow.  What a relief not to have to wory about errant gathers while sewing in a sleeve.  It was a lot of fun.  I did notice one mistake in the instructions. The marks on the collar pattern piece for where you clip to are put in the wrong place.  The illustration even shows the mistake:
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

You can see where you are to clip doesn't match up with the front facing.  If you do it the way the pattern piece and instructions tell you, you will have nowhere to put that collar seam allowance - it either has to go under the front facing or under the clipped top collar.  I figured it out before I sewed everything down and was able to make my collar and my facing match up:

I was pretty pleased that my sewing experience allowed me to figure this out before I blindly followed the instructions!  The other change that I made was to add to the hem to make the skirt a little longer.  I had already cut the skirt out before I figured that the skirt was too short.  So I added a bias band to the lower edge of the skirt.  I simply cut a three inch bias strips from my fabric and sewed them together.  Then I folded the three inch bias strip in half and sewed it to the hem of my dress with a 1/4 inch seam allowance.  I pressed the seam allowance towards the skirt and then edge stitched it.  I'm sorry I didn't get a photo of the hem.  It's a nice finish, and I stole it from Kay Whitt's patterns.  I felt like the design of this dress required a longer skirt.  The bodice is so full with the gathers in the bodice and the sleeves, I think the skirt has to be longer to balance out the top.  Even with lengthening the skirt by an inch or so, I still think it needs to be lengthened by another 2 inchs so that it covers my knee.  If I was going to make it again, I would make this adjustment, but I don't think I will make this pattern again because of 1) my no repeats rule these days, and 2) there are just so many great shirtdress patterns out there.  So many shirtdresses, so little time!

Here is a shot of the buttons the Carpenter helped me pick out.  The obvious choice would have been navy, but that was a little to ready to wear.  We went with a seafoam green that picked up the green in the fabric:



Other than the hem, I made no other alterations and made a size 12 straight up.  It was funny, while I was making this dress I idly thought to myself, "I wonder what I should make as my Easter dress?"  And finally I looked down and realized I was making my Easter dress.  I wore it Sunday morning with a Laura Ashley hat trimmed in a navy ribbon that I bought at least 20 years ago, maybe more.  I love wearing a hat on Easter - very retro and the old men the congregation love it!  They tell me so every year.  : )

Easter Dress

Here's my Easter Dress, which I finished just in time:

These aren't great photos, but here is the back: I used a cotton voile I got from Chadwicks here in town. It's a delicate floral print:

This shirtdress gave me fits. Which I don't understand because I this was the fourth time I had used this pattern, from the 1950s:

I've used it to make the Crab Dress:

And this one:

Clearly, I made some changes: 1) I put a gathered skirt on it instead of a three panel skirt; 2) I made elbow length cuffed sleeves that I borrowed from this pattern; 3) I made a shawl-like collar instead of the notched; and 4) I made the bottom bodice darts to be tucks instead.

Still, this dress shouldn't have been this hard. I couldn't figure out how to get the collar on properly and I had to visit VickiW to get it sorted out. This made no sense, as I have made this dress several times before. While trimming the sleeve allowances, I nicked the front bodice with my sissors, which I repaired with a little fusible interfacing; I don't know how long it will hold. Finally, for whatever reason, the waist ended up too big, so I used a lace scarf as sash. All these issues caused me to wonder if I had used up all my sewing knowledge on my wedding dress, and now I have become a sewing idiot - it was all so frustrating.

I think one of the problems was that I was too ambitious for this fabric. I think this delicate voile wanted to be a summer blouse and I tried too much and made it a dress instead! The fabric wrinkles like crazy, so in retrospect a blouse would have made much more sense. I originally made the skirt ankle length, aiming for a Downtown Abbey sort of look, but I ended up more with a Christian Fundalmentalist Ranch sort of look instead, so I took more than ten inches off the length, hemming it just below the knee so as to diminish dowdy factor.

I love shirtdresses, but I realize this isn't the most chic look, and the gathered skirt makes it less so. Still, I think this will become a good Saturday-running-errands dress - it will be very cool and comfortable. Next time, though, I'll make it more like the Crab Dress!

The Monique Dress

I'm pleased to report that spring has officially arrived! And not only is my Easter dress done - weeks ahead, mind you - the retreat I was directing at my parish is also over. I'm not completely done, of course (you never are), but most of the work with the retreat is finished and hopefully I can spend more of my free time on sewing and maybe I might even quilt something. (Gasp!) I finished the Monique dress this weekend. Based on the muslin I made, I wanted to lower the bodice, so I lengthened the front "straps" of the dress bodice pattern by an inch and a quarter:

You can see where I lengthened the front bodice piece and front neckline pattern piece. Once I got it all together (with the exception of the arm facings), I tried it on and discovered that rather than drop the front bodice down an inch and a quarter, my alterations had pushed the shoulder seam to the back about an inch. I tried it on while Vicki was over, and she suggested that I simply lengthen the bodice about 2 inches at the bottom of the bodice so that the waistband would actually sit at my waist. I agree, and I'll do that next time. The dress as it is, with my experimental alterations, doesn't look bad, so I'll wear for Easter. I made up the dress in a Jane Sassman fabric that I got in Dolyestown, PA.

The light was bad when I photographed the dress, plus the wind wasn't cooperating. This photo doesn't do the fabric justice, so click on the link above to see what it should look like. I'll try to get Aimee to take a photo when I wear it so you can see what it looks like on. I did find a very cute white cardigan sweater to wear with it because at this time of year, it can always be a bit chilly. I'll be wearing this to the Easter Vigil Mass, which won't start until 8:00 pm, so I know I'll need the sweater.

Of course, nothing ever goes smoothly, as I discovered when I attempted to put on the arm facings. While I had altered the front neck facing to reflect my pattern alteration, I had neglected to do the same to the front arm facing. As Vicki would say, "Duh."

Tonight, having a rare evening with nothing planned, I decided to make my silk dress a silk skirt. The bodice was really too tight, and I have been wearing it with a turtleneck sweater over it, so I wouldn't have bust-revealing issues. With spring here, I really wanted to make it an elastic skirt. I love the silk and I love the colors of it.

Normally I avoid refashioning. It seems to be so much more of a PITA than new construction. Probably because I am operating without instructions and there always seems to be unforeseen issues. : )

But I thought this should be fairly straight forward. I cut the bodice off, slipped the skirt over my hips to make sure it would fit, and then put in an elastic waist. But when I tried it on , it wouldn't go over my thighs. Sign. An unforeseen issue. I don't know why this happened and I don't want to find out. There is no way I'm going to take a measuring tape to my backside. Instead, I discovered that it will slide on just fine as long as it goes over my head. Problem solved:

One aggravation: the elastic is twisted inside the casing despite my best efforts. I hate it when the elastic gets twisted. But as bad I hate it, I hate resewing even more, so twisted it shall stay. The twisting will not deter my wearing this skirt all summer - it's light and cool and the silk is already showing signs of wear, so I need to enjoy it now, before the silk breaks down completely. This will be a one season garment.

Parting shot: I've been baking bread like Loy taught me. It has been awesome!

The Liverpool Tunic - Take Two

I finally got photos of my second Liverpool Tunic; my photographer, Aimee graciously took these. I made this one from the Henry Alexander fabric I liked so much:

On this version, I shortened the back ties by five inches, and I like them much better:

I also dispensed with the covered buttons, and just used regular buttons this time. I was able to get the collar oriented correctly so the top collar and outer stand were the ones that were interfaced. And I finally figured out the proper way to do the cuffs which were such a mystery to me last time. Now the sleeves are at the proper length, so ignore everything I said in my first review of this pattern. I omitted the buttons and button loops on the cuffs; I don't think it needs it and they are just a PITA. The one thing I did differently from the directions was to topstich the top of the cuff. Here is a photo in which you can see that I topstiched the bottom of the cuff (nearest to the wrist) as per the instructions, but I just went ahead and topstiched the top of the cuff as well, so as to save ironing time:

I really love this pattern, I have gone ahead and made the short dress version, which I'll post about soon.

Parting Shot: Happy Easter!!! Beautiful tulips sent to me from Eileen for Easter. They made my day!

Looky what I got!

I got a serger!!! This is a big deal; VickiW and Chris B (of my sewing guild) have been after me for a couple of years to get one. I've resisted, mostly because of the cost inasmuch as most of my sewing doesn't require a serger. Of course, I realize if I had one, I'd choose projects that do require a serger. And if I can't think of any, I'm sure Vicki will think some up.
I got this serger, used, from Paula in our sewing guild, the Fashion Focus Group. Paula had already upgraded years ago, but had not yet gotten around to selling this one. It is a Baby Lock, Eclipse, Model BLE1, and it has the all important jet-air threading which makes threading this sucker a whole lot easier. She showed me the basic mechanics and then I came home to play with it. I decided to start with an easy project to become one with my machine, so I made the same thing I start with my sewing students: a pillow case.

I realize this is a Christmas fabric and it is Easter, but it is just so cute I couldn't resist:

It was fun! Here is a shot of one of my first seams on it:

This isn't the first time I have used a serger; I made a knit skirt on Vicki's serger which is pictured here, and I made a bathrobe on Anne's serger a couple of years ago at Craft Week. So I know the basic mechanics. But I don't know yet what it can all do, especially how to sew a 5/8 seam so I can use this for garment sewing. I'll have to spend some quality time with the manual, and maybe an afternoon in Vicki's sewing studio for a lesson in sergering basics.

I don't really have anywhere to put it. My sewing studio is the entire downstairs of my townhouse. The sewing machine is in the living room, the dining room table is used for cutting out, and the ironing board is next to the kitchen counter island. For right now, I've put the serger on the kitchen counter island, and I am using it standing up, which seems to work fine, but I'll figure it out as I go along.

No progress on my bed quilt; the weather continues to be rainy AND windy, so I still haven't been able to lay out the whole thing outside to see how I want the blocks arranged. But until then I have the serger to fascinate me!

I wish everyone a very blessed Easter. May you and your family experience the peace and joy of this holiest of days.