Review for the Little Black Dress -- Butterick 5664

I apologize in advance for the bad pictures.  It's so hard to take good pictures of black clothes.  And I kept getting this weird halo near the bottoms of the pics.  Probably has something to do with the less than ideal lighting in my sewing room.

This is a basic, fitted and lined sheath type dress with cap sleeves.  It has front and back darts and a center back zipper.  The hemline falls above the knee and it has a wide V neckline.

The pattern is See & Sew Butterick 5664.  It's says "Yes, it's easy!" on the cover.

No, it's not.  At least, not using the instructions.

 I made this in a size 6, grading to an 8 at the waist.  I've made some Buttericks that fit me right out of the envelope, but this one wasn't one of them.

I bought the fabric online and it was listed as a suiting.  It has a slight nappiness, which led to my confusion about whether it is a gabardine or a flannel, but after working with it, I'm now pretty certain it's a flannel.  It has a nice twill weave and a beautifully drapey hand.  The lining is a plain black acetate.

I love the shape of it's neckline, and several people have told me how flattering it looks.  At last!  I've finally found a neckline that looks good on me.  It's not exactly suitable for every day wear, but it's nice to know that I've found the neckline of my dreams for formal wear.  One step at a time.

I had to take in the side seams about 5/8 of an inch to get the dress to do that form fitting thing properly.  And I had to take the side seam in another 3/4 of an inch from the underarm to the waist to get rid of the wrinkles that kept forming between the two front darts. 

I also had to take the shoulder seam in about 5/8 of an inch at the neckline, tapering to nothing halfway along the seam.  This makes the sleeve a little tighter than it should be, but I don't think I'm supposed to be lifting anything above my head when I'm wearing a dress like this, so I think it's okay.

And I lengthened the bust darts by nearly 2 inches.  The back darts extend a little too far down, but as it's not really noticeable, I left them as they are.

I also used an invisible zipper instead of a centered one.  I've only done one other invisible zip and I couldn't believe how easy it was.  I am now a concealed zipper believer.

As for the instructions, they were pretty terrible.  After sewing the sleeves to the fronts and backs of the fabric and the lining, Butterick has you attach the front lining to the front, then attach the back lining to the back.  Only then do you sew them together.  Are you confused yet?  I was.  It seemed so...irrational.

I thought perhaps it was because of the cap sleeves, (having never made anything with cap sleeves before) but after struggling with it, now I think it's just bad instructions. 

I tried to follow them.  I really did.  But I ended up with this lumpy mess at the shoulder seams that I just could not get rid of.  I finally ripped apart the shoulders, and the understitching and everything, machine stitched the shoulder seams (per the instructions, they were supposed to be handsewn last), and handstitched the lining to the fabric at the sleeve and neck edges.  Not an ideal solution and I am not happy with it.  It is, however, invisible when I'm wearing the dress, so I guess I'll get over it eventually.

The hem is stitched with orange lace hem tape.  Just for a little something interesting on the inside. 

And I didn't finish the seams, since this was a lined dress.  With all the adjusting I had to do, it was a good thing I hadn't.

So, will I make this dress again?  Absolutely!  I'd have to lower the armholes a bit for comfort, but all the other alterations have already been transferred to the pattern in preparation for the next one.  Green?  Brown?  A tweed, maybe?  Not sure. I already have a bunch of other projects already lined up, so I won't get to it for a while.  And I want to work on the instructions and find a better and easier way of assembling this.  One that doesn't make me want to pull my hair out.

So, while it wasn't exactly easy, it was well worth the effort.

Peasant Top Finished!

I spent most of yesterday working on this peasant top and I think I really like it.  The fabric is really lightweight and airy --way more so than I expected.  I haven't worked with a fabric like this before, but it was a real pleasure--except for the part where it was amazingly difficult to keep the pieces from sliding off grain while I was cutting out.

The pattern is See & Sew B5480--I never was very favorably impressed with what they had to offer in the past, but lately they've had a few really nifty designs that are fun to make and turn out very nice.  I'll probably be making their cape again this winter--I made one last year and I loved it, too bad the wool I used wasn't as good a quality as it could have been :-(

The recommended fabrics for this top are georgette and voile. I used a cotton/silk blend voile in a hazelnut color that I picked up on clearance from Fabric.com.  It's a lot more sheer than I first thought (in fact, I somehow had the impression that it was opaque, even -- silliness, I presume, since voiles are supposed to be sheer) but it still makes a lovely peasant top, especially if you intend to wear it over or under something.  In the pic, I'm wearing a knit camisole top from OldNavy, but my ultimate plan is to wear this with the Shining Star Vest from HotPatterns.

The instructions for this pattern are easy, peasy--way great for beginners--and a good introduction to French seams.  One of my biggest gripes with Big4 patterns is that they never seem to give any really good instructions for how or when to finish seam allowances.  Imagine my surprise when the first instruction for this pattern was to sew the front and back together at the side seams using a French seam.  Wowsy.

 I usually march to my own drum, but I pretty much followed the directions on this one with three exceptions. 1) I sewed the sleeve hems before I sewed the sleeve seam, simply because I was using my 6mm hemming foot and it's easier to do that flat, and

2) I stitched 1/8" from the edge of the neckline just to make a little ruffly looking edge that I thought was prettier, and




3) I attached the sleeves to the body of the top using a French seam.  This worked only because of how thin my fabric was--I don't think I would have done it in another fabric.

I did, however, fold about 1 1/2 inches out of the sleeve cap since the sleeves were very full and I was thinking the sleeves might end up wearing me rather than the other way around if I left them as they were.

I wasn't sure I was going to like the neckline on this top--it's a lot wider than anything I have owned up to date, but I think that I am pleased the way this looks on me.  This wasn't as quick a project as I was anticipating, either.  Some of that has to do with the fabric I chose--I had to be very careful with it as it seam allowances tended to fray if over-handled.  My hemmer foot didn't like it much either, most of the hems were taken out at least once or twice and redone.  I used alot of spray starch to get those pesky hems to submit, and in the end I prevailed. ;-)

I doubt I'll make any more of these, though.  One top of this style is probably about all my wardrobe can handle.  I am looking forward to getting started on it's companion vest.  I'm already thinking of other things I can make that will go with it (the vest, I mean, not the peasant top).  Like a merino wool turtleneck, or a fitted button down shirt, or a scoopneck fitted tee...the list is endless  :-)

Progress on the Peasant Top and Shining Star Vest

Well, I've definitely decided on the Shining Star Vest, though mine will definitely be sans ruffles.  I looked at the actual pattern for the first time and it was pretty cool to note that it's got a couple more pattern pieces than I expected--there are separate pattern pieces for the lining because the pattern includes a fashion fabric facing--something that's been missing with the other vest patterns I've sewn.

Suede cloths on the left, linings on the right

I'm going to make it in this tan colored embroidered suede cloth--very rustic and classy at the same time.  Do those two adjectives go together? Not sure. :-) I'm also not sure there's enough of the tan to make the whole vest--I may have to make the back out of the green suede cloth.  That's not my first design choice, but I'm willing to go with it.


I haven't picked a lining yet, but it's going to be one of those in the pic--they're all crinkly, shimmery polyester stuff that will make the perfect lining.  I'm leaning heavily on the spruce, but I haven't made a commitment yet.  The red or the brown actually matches better, but  I used the green to line a pair of wool pants last winter and it handled beautifully and is surprisingly comfortable to wear.

I've got the pattern scotch taped together and cut out in the size 6--I've only got to finish its companion peasant top before I'm ready to begin.  I fully intend to make a muslin of this one first, though.  I usually have to do a bit a fitting adjustments to anything with a princess seam.  I haven't saved this fabric all this time just to mess it up.  :-o

Speaking of the peasant top, I've decided to use the hazelnut cotton/silk voile.  This stuff feels like heaven against your skin, it's so airy and smooth.  It was a little tricky cutting the pattern pieces out--the fabric wanted to really slide around and go off-grain on the table.  I considered starching it to make it a little more easy to handle, but since there's only 3 pattern pieces and they're pretty basic, I just decided to use a bright light (sunlight, actually, yesterday morning) and keep a close eye on the grainline.  It all went swimmingly until the sun went behind a cloud--my artificial lighting wasn't nearly as good--but I got the job done and the pieces are laid out, all ready to sew.

Progress on the Peasant Top

Well, I've got the pattern traced and cut out, but when I went to pull out the fabric, I discovered that my two voiles were not really as opaque as I remembered them.  And the hazelnut had not yet been prewashed. I've gotten a bit lazy lately and I haven't been prewashing my fabrics as soon as I bring them home like I usually do.  So while the pattern is all ready, the fabric is currently swishing away in the washing machine, along with a really pretty piece of rayon challis that is perfect for a fall wardrobe addition--not sure what that will be yet. Once the fabric is washed, dried, and ironed (all 6 yards of it) I'll be ready to go.

But since the fabric is more transparent than I thought, I really need to pick a vest to go with it.  My current runners up are:

The Shining Star Vest from HotPatterns

or

McCalls 5186 View C or D

They're all somewhat similar (of course there's only so many ways to design a vest) --they all have princess seams for shaping but the HotPatterns vest has an edge-to-edge closure instead of the standard button and buttonhole deal.  View D has a more open neckline, which I really like, but I'm wondering if it might gape open funny as open necklines have a tendency to do on my rather slight frame.

I'm leaning towards the HotPattern--mostly because I have these really neat closures from Home Sew that I've been saving for years just waiting for the perfect project. It's also another free Download from Fabric.com and I've already got it printed out.  It's not assembled yet since I've haven't been inspired to crawl around on the living room floor armed with my imagination and a roll of scotch tape lately, but it shouldn't take long to get the job done.

Next Up--Butterick See & Sew B5480 Peasant Top

A nice, simple project.  That's what I need next.  I've always loved peasant tops--especially paired up with a vest.  It makes such a cool, medieval look.  I've always loved the Renaissance Faire type garb, but I don't have the patience to wear all those skirts--or a corset, for that matter.  I wore a dress with a corset once, and truth to tell, I thought I looked awesome.  A few hours later, I decided I'd rather breathe than look good. Maybe I tied it too tight or something. :-)

But a peasant top?  That'll work for me.  I have some very pretty cotton/silk voile that I bought because it was on sale.  I have it in two colors--one is a coppery rust  and the other the manufacturer called hazelnut--it's a really pretty rosy tan that will look great with my skin tone.  They're both thin but not transparent. In fact, it's about as thin as a fabric can get and still be opaque.  So, I'm looking forward to this particular top.

I picked this pattern chiefly because it was simple and at $2.99 fairly inexpensive.  I suppose I could have drafted one myself (peasant tops are fairly easy and I have drafted my own in toddlers' sizes) but I am sometimes an impatient soul.  I want to trace, cut and sew without the fuss of making a muslin first.  That may turn out to be famous last words, but I'm thinking I can safely cut this out of my voile and have something wearable in a couple of hours at most.  I'm planning to make the sleeved version with the elastic around the neckline.  I may add a line of elastic beneath the bust as well, since tops that hang straight from the shoulders usually don't flatter my figure.

I think I'd like to pair it with a vest and jeans and probably heels.  I have a pair of platform clogs that will be just perfect.  I don't have a vest, though I do have some pretty embroidered suede cloth that I've been saving for a special project.  Hmmm.  Might have to make a vest to go with it, too.