Butterick 5951 finished

I posted the other day asking for some advice on moving forward with this dress, but everyone it seems was too reticent to advise! So I had to decide myself, with the help of DH and after trying on. Overall, it was fine.

 

I decided to go ahead to the next stage with the dress and cut out the bodice lining. I didn’t use the fine cotton lining I had previously chosen - rather I decided on a rather classy silky lining which I thought would make the dress easier to care for and less likely to crush. This fabric was part of my haul from a fabric sale last year; a pretty high class garment manufacturer shut down a few years ago and the employees took over the stock, selling it off gradually until they had to get rid of it all as the storage space they used was needed for something else. So I don't know what this lining material is - it could even be silk, for all I know. It feels really lovely, much nicer than the lining material available to me in local fabric stores.

 

I had a decision to make about what  pattern version to use for the lining as I had modified the fabric after it was cut out (this was the biggest issue - in retrospect,  I'd have been better redoing). I cut out the lining and made up to the same stage as the bodice. I finished off the darts as instructed on both bodice and lining. The lining sewed together perfectly,  unlike the bodice fabric.

The dress, inside out, showing the lining from the front

 

The next stage was sewing lining to bodice, right sides together, at armholes and neck and understitching. Then turning through the shoulders (the sides are open at this stage). Then I pressed and felt everything was looking rather nice - at least as far as the workmanship is concerned. There's no doubt that a lined armhole looks better than one finished with bias tape, which I had briefly considered.

 

Then I sewed up the side seams, lining and bodice separately, and pressed. When I turned it back to the right side, it looked very nice.

 

However, on trying on, the side seams under the arm were still too floppy and large. I took the side seams out and re-did with a larger seam allowance tapering from under the arm to midway down the seam back to the normal seam allowance.

 

Then I had to sew the bodice to the skirt. Here I ran into my problem again. Because I altered the dress after it was cut out rather than altering the pattern properly and then cutting out,  I created a problem. There was excess fabric between the front dart and the side seam - it came together nicely elsewhere.  This excess meant that the folds running from the dart sloped down rather than lying horizontal. I couldn't take the dart out again as it had already been trimmed very close to the stitching.

 

Rather late in the day,  I also decided to add a skirt lining. I see from PR reviews of this pattern that many have.  The advantages are that waist seam is easier to cover and the skirt will hang better. It wasn't difficult to add.

 

I went to a summer sewing bee yesterday with my college tutors, who work together in a studio closer to my home than the college. R had helped me modify the pattern previously. She remembered it - a simple spread,  as she put it. It would have been simple if I had redone - the bodice and skirt linings came together beautifully - but it wasn't and I hadn't.

 

R got me to try the dress on. She thought it looked rather nice.  She recommended an increased gather into the dart but as mentioned earlier,  I couldn't do that. I spent most of the class trying to alter.  I took out the side seams and waist seams again and pulled the front across to the side seams and beyond and down to the waist seam and beyond. Eventually I cut off the excess fabric and sewed up the seams again. This makes the dress a little tighter at the waist. It could be taken in even more, as it is still rather loose. This sounds easy but it took me a few attempts. I did succeed in the end,  though.  The lining looks better - it was too late to wish I had recut the pattern.  

 

I then inserted an invisible zipper, without too much difficulty. The biggest issue was that I couldn't get a 24" invisible zip or a 22" ordinary zip from the shop I went to,  adjacent to the sewing bee.  I ended up salvaging the lovely 24" invisible zip I used on an earlier sheath dress that doesn't fit now (it shrunk and I didn't). The zip was a touch wavy and R advised me to steam it, which worked beautifully. 

 

At this stage,  I just had hand stitching left to do.  I pinned the lining over the zip ready to stitch and tacked up the hem ready to hand sew. I put it aside as it was late,  ready to pick up today.

My husband asked me to try it on to let him see it. This I did,  despite all the pins present from the pinning of lining to zip tape. Like me,  he doesn't like the fabric for me (it's too green,  not my colour and too  Liberty,  not surprising since it is Liberty,  but I've never been attracted to these prints,  though the feel of the fabric is lovely) and realised that I was continuing because of the techniques I was practising. I was attracted to this dress in the first place by the gathered darts. He thought it looked better on me than he had expected (I agreed)  but picked up that my waist seam wasn't level across the zip. I had noticed that after I had tacked the lining - despite pinning,  hand tacking then machine tacking, it had still slipped slightly - fortunately not obvious because of the pattern in the fabric! I make DH sound very critical - he isn't. He's very supportive of my sewing and will happily measure me,  pin me into things and take photos - and I have asked him to be brutally honest about what he sees.

 

I had no intentions of redoing the zip. So I decided I would try to sew the lining to the zipper tape by machine,  making sure I was far enough away from the teeth to allow free movement of the zip. I managed this with less difficulty than I expected and it was definitely faster than hand sewing and arguably stronger. I hadn't finished the edges of my fabrics, so hopefully this will also make frayed ends less likely to poke out. I think I could be a touch closer to the teeth - I sewed it at an offset from centre of '4' rather than the maximum possible '5' which would have brought it closer. It's fine,  though.

showing properly finished zip top

showing distance of folded lining, machine stitched to tape, from teeth

 

I then decided to topstitch the hem rather than hand sew. By now,  I just wanted the dress finished and it would have taken a while to do all that hand hemming. I had decided to continue with the dress but only give it a limited time,  then stop.

 

A few minor elements sorted and the dress was finished! A quick press, removal of missed threads and,  more seriously,  taking out part of the waist stitching and redoing as I had caught the seam allowance the wrong way,  twisting it so it wouldn't have been able to lie completely flat.

 

DH had also noticed that the lining was showing at the armhole on both sides. I previously thought my understitching was good,  now I'm not so sure!  I think part of the problem was that I had taken in that area further and resewn and the two sides were no longer in perfect alignment. I pressed again and put in a few hand stitches in the hope that will sort things out.

 

The dress isn't the most flattering I've tried -.the colour is wrong and the style not ideal. However,  it is wearable and I will wear it if we get any summer!

 

I learned a few new techniques:

• Gathered darts (not sure what to call them)
• Machine sewing lining to zipper in lined dress
• Properly finishing the top of the zip

 

Practised some I've done before:

• Insert invisible zip
• Understitch
• Attach lining to bodice
• Insert a lining
• And learned that I wasn't quite as proficient at them as I'd thought

 

Developed my pattern cutting techniques:

• Learned how to alter gathered dart - a pity the fabric was cut and I couldn't apply what I'd learned to the bodice

 

Learned a few miscellaneous things:

• It's important to perfect the toile before moving on - otherwise a lot of time will be wasted and the garment may still not be a good as it could be
• I sewed and unpicked so many times here and learned that fabric is just fabric.
• I learned I can give up before I reach 'perfection' and that things can be good enough.
• I should sew with fabrics I like. This fabric was beautiful to sew with but as I just don't like the small floral too green pattern, I know I won't wear the dress as much as I might have in a different fabric.
• Although I was advised not to finish the fabric edges as that adds bulk, and everything is concealed by the lining,  I wish I had, especially for the lining which frays quite a lot.

So that's it. What do you think?  

Butterick 5951. Do I finish or abandon? And shingles disrupts both sewing and celebrations.

With my classes finished, I decided to get on with a dress I was making - Butterick 5951. This is a retro styled dress. I'm not keen on the gathered sleeve version as shown in the photo below, view B, but really like the long sleeved version, view C, for cooler days. However,  I decided to make the sleeveless version, view A,  in the first place. I thought this would be great for summer.

 

The bodice is lined, using the same pieces as the bodice. Bust shaping is created by gathering at the shoulder and a shaped waist dart with the fabric at the side gathered into a virtually separate front piece - the front dart is cut open.

Shape of front bodice

In fact, when I started this dress I intended to enter it into Pattern Review's plus size contest (the deadlines can be helpful for me,  though not in this case). I had never,  to be honest,  thought of myself as really plus sized before, even though I have to make some of the larger sizes in patterns. At 5'11" and a UK RTW size 16, most people don't think I look plus sized other than in height. Clearly, though, I am, certainly according to PR's criteria - and this has needed a shift in perception. My self view has changed. I've found that I'm unclear about suitable styles, though previously I really wasn't as my problem was that I couldn't  buy well fitting clothes, not deciding on style. Anyway, I was so busy with course work and family things that when I ran into early problems,  I didn't have time to address them. The dress was abandoned.

Showing the fabric

I had decided to use a lovely Liberty cotton that I bought for one of my daughters - who didn't like it. First, I made a toile, as I usually do.  

Toile with neckline changes marked

In the actual garment,  the bodice and lining get sewn together before the side seams are sewn. In the toile, I basted the side seams to test for fit. I found that the bust shaping was too high and the front bodice was too short. The neck was too high and the sides too loose. All these changes were made to the fabric.
I increased the length between shoulder and bust on front bodice and increased by the same amount on the back. I have a sloping back to front waist and don't need additional length in the back but do need a lot extra in the front. I tried to work out how to increase the front without increasing the back when there was the shaped dart at the front. Obviously,  front and back need to be the same length at the side seam. I asked some questions and got some answers but was still not clear how to proceed. However my pattern cutting tutor was able to point me in the right direction.

Tutor's drawing that helped me on my way

This dress, though, wasn't part of my pattern fitting classes and I made many mistakes on my own!

My block

I could now see the way forward. I used my bodice block to draw out and test the technique and was happy with it. I then moved back to the pattern and increased the length of the centre of the front bodice by more than the sides.

Here I made a big mistake!   Still trying to finish the dress in a short period,  I cut out the bodice and skirt pattern in the Liberty cotton, but not the lining fabric (fine cotton) I had chosen for the bodice, as it was still not ready after prewashing. I made up the bodice and skirt.

You guessed,  of course,  that the bodice didn't fit! My adjustments had been overdone. My pattern cutting tutor felt that I could salvage the fabric but felt I had to shorten considerably - by more than I had adjusted in the first place, though the bust shaping placement was better. She pinned the length adjustment necessary.

At this stage I abandoned the dress until I picked it up again earlier this week. I had to think whether I wanted to finish or move on with some potentially more useful work. I decided to give the dress a chance - a time limited chance.

I asked DH to fit the bodice on me as I felt the pinned length was too short. I decided to try out a length longer than that pinned by my tutor mainly because I would have been removing nearly all of the dart and gathered shaping if I had gone that route.

The pin marks where the tutor pinned it but I have cut to point showing

I have since cut off 7.5cms at the front and 10cms at the back. I have re-gathered the dart. The neckline was quite a bit too high and I adjusted that and the side seams needed taking in.

I haven't dared try it again as yet!

What next? (Yes,  I know I'll have to bite the bullet and try it on!) Do I go ahead with this - and make up the lining?  Is there a way I can get it to look reasonable and feel okay without a lining  - perhaps by using bias binding,  though I'm not sure that topstitching would look good. Hand stitching?  Not my favourite. I don't think I need a lining from the see through point of view.

DH doesn't think this is a suitable style for me, as I have less space between bust and waist.  Me?  I'm not sure. I agree with what he's saying about length but does this exclude this style? What do you think?  I'd really welcome feedback.

I'm paralysed by indecision.

My mother was staying with us for a few days, from Wednesday,  to rest and recuperate after a nasty bout of shingles affecting her chest wall. She hadn't been out and about for a while because of feeling really ill and the possibility of transmitting chicken pox to vulnerable people but that risk was now over. She's pretty frail, in a lot of pain and had been losing a lot of weight - at least partly due to being disinclined to choose what to eat, to cook. We let her rest and looked after her; she enjoyed eating meals which she hadn't had to choose or prepare and ate well. Yesterday, we took her home. It was our wedding anniversary but we decided to postpone it by 24 hours  - what's 24 hours after 38 years?

When my husband showed me a lump in his hairline on Wednesday, present for a couple of days he thought, I assumed the red and inflamed area was possibly a midge bite as he had been working in the garden. It wasn't bothering him. Then,  yesterday, on our way back from Scotland,  I noticed a couple of additional red and inflamed areas on his eyelid. He hadn't noticed them while shaving that morning. The red areas on his hairline were a little more extensive. We considered the possibility of shingles but the story and timeline didn't seem to match that and it seemed too much of a coincidence. DH had shingles on his chest wall 40 odd years ago and wasn't bothered by it then. Anyway, today we went to the NHS walk-in centre and they did feel this was (probably) shingles so DH is now taking acyclovir; they didn't feel the eye itself was affected. I had shingles affecting the left side of my face a few years ago;  fortunately, though I had lesions in my eye, these were treated and my sight wasn't affected. I still have itch and paraesthesia over my forehead, eye, nose and upper lip. Strangely, this has flared up a bit at the moment. It does that periodically though 'it shouldn't happen'.

Although my mother clearly didn't transmit this to DH,  I won't tell her in case she blames herself,  anyway.

We're still having a special meal tonight. M&S only does their dine in for two every second week, not this weekend. I went,  anyway.  It's amazing how good the value is for the dine in for two - I spent the £10 easily, without the wine. We're having a bottle of German 'champagne' - cremant d'Alsace - that we bought direct from the winery when we went on a German river cruise. We've been saving this bottle for a special occasion. Just so long as DH still feels okay.

So no sewing tonight but I'd love to hear your views and I can decide what to do tomorrow.

On Second Thoughts... I see the problem but not the solution. Can you offer me any advice, please?

I posted earlier today how bad my second attempt at the bodice of Butterick 5951 view A was. It looked really awful (no - I'm NOT going to post a picture of me in it) - very baggy at the front and my husband said it didn't meet at the back as it was much too small. I was puzzled by that. After all, although my first muslin/toile was very short, it wasn't too tight. So I tried it on my dummy, Bertha. She's not fully tuned to my size as I just haven't had the time. Same thing - too big at front and too small at the back.

Why? I wondered.

I then tried on the first muslin on myself and on Bertha. Short, yes, but not too tight.

Then I had that Eureka! moment. You may remember that I said I didn't get the chance to check the toile with my tutor - but relied, instead, on a co-pupil. You may also know that I have a relatively short back length in comparison to my very long front length. I say relatively as I'm tall so most patterns are too short even at the back, or certainly don't need shortened, though I generally have to lengthen the front bodice.

So I reckon that my fellow pupil overestimated the required addition to the pattern length, basing it on the large patch of visible flesh at the front! As I have very high hips and hips that are rather large in comparison to the rest of me, I guessed that the toile was pooling on the top of my hip and that it couldn't meet there as it was designed to my waist measurements at that point, at least 10 inches less than my hip measurement. Another reminder of how stupid I was to go ahead with the fashion fabric when I hadn't retested the changes I made to the pattern!

I wasn't able to see the back of the toile, where it fastens. I didn't want to ask DH to take a photo as he's very busy trying to get his course portfolio in for tomorrow but he confirmed what I was thinking when I asked - he had pinned me in, earlier.

So my next step was to pin my first bodice toile to the skirt, which was made up in fashion fabric. I(very carefully!) tried this on and found that it really wasn't too bad. I felt the side seams were more or less okay, just a fraction short and probably so with the back. The front was most definitely short.
So it seems to me that I need to UNDO the changes I had made to the original pattern pieces; these were, fortunately, traced. DH thinks I could get away with a 1 inch addition. Originally, front and back had a FOIUR INCH addition - the back in one whole chunk and the front in a 2" section below the armhole but above the dart and the other 2" insert increasing the dart by that amount.

I think I need to add most of the extra above the bust apex. I don't know how to add more at the front than the side fronts as these are very much involved in the dart. I previously lengthened the dart. I could perhaps have some additional gathering right over to the side seam so that I could keep that at the same length as the back? I've made the line diagram extra large to show the front darts which have the side front gathered into them. That part is the same in all the views; I'm doing view A.

I've reposted my altered pattern piece for the front, below. The side front is very much longer than the centre front in order to accommodate the gathering. I'm significantly longer in centre front and less so at the sides - I can usually make a wedge alteration, adding more to the front and tapering out to zero or nearly so at the sides. But can I do that here? I don't see how to. Currently, the skirt is being pulled up at the centre front.

Centre front (cut on fold) to right of picture, longer side front which will be gathered to fit, on left.

When I'm suggesting undoing my alterations, this doesn't include the armhole which is much too low.

As always, I'd appreciate any advice and constructive criticism.