Thursday, September 20, 2018

Keeping Cool in Butterick 6451 - Last Dog Days of Summer




Ohwee!  The intense heat encouraged me to put on my new maxi-dress.  At first, I was only going to  take a few pictures in it; then put it away for my vacation.  NOT!  Too HOT!  Fall is literally around the corner, but typical Illinois September weather today it is in the 90's with 90% humidity, tomorrow it is in the 60's.   I stepped outside my door and it felt like I stepped into a spa sauna.  My face went flesh before I could walk on the driveway. 


That being said, it's clear that this dress is very appropriate for today's steamy temps.  I used Butterick 6451 for my lovely dress.  At least I think so.

The dress is described as: very loose-fitting pullover dress has elastic at neckline, and/hem variations.  A, B:  Elastic at waist.  My favorite view is view B the one that I made.  It was super easy and only took a few hours to make.  It's certainly a summertime wardrobe piece.  The dress is comfortable and effortless to wear.  I chose to wear mine with a wide belt partly to help define my waist and to break up the print of the dress.




The sizing comes in groupings (XS, S, M) (L, XL, XXL)  I purchased the second grouping.  It was the only size left.  Normally I would have purchased the first size. On the website the size groupings are different than what is actually printed on the pattern envelope.  Using the large, I just scaled it down a little.  Remarkably, not my usual adjustments to fit it.  The neckline and the back were my fit concerns to which I made very little change.  I cut the elastic for the neck and waist just a little smaller.  My other changes were to use self bias tape for the armhole facing and the casing for the waist elastic.  This was really easy to do with a bias tape maker and a few stripes of fabric cut of the bias to fit those areas.


My dress does look like the one pictured on the model. Cute..,

   
Likes:

  • Flounce neckline with option to pull it around the shoulders.
  • Floaty affects of the challis fabric
  • Comfort of wearing the dress.
  • My change to use self bias tape for the facing and casing.
  
Dislike:
  • Instructed use of stiff packaged bias tape.  The application areas look better with self bias tape.

My fabric was purchased at Vogue Fabrics in Evanston, rayon challis print.

I see a few more of these dresses in my future.  The next time I make it, I'll bring the armhole up a little bit (1").  This is a dress, I think, all level sewists can make with no problems.

Parting Shot:  Me starting to sweat after only a few minutes in the sun.



Happy Sewing!
C

10 comments:

  1. Nice floral prints.
    we have wide range of floral prints fabrics visit us on https://www.reynafabrics.com/

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great style on you! Love the print, too!

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is such a wonderful summer dress! Also, do tell about Vogue Fabrics! I wish I could go there.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Vanessa. Vogue Fabrics used to have three stores. But they closed two. The flagship store is located in Evanston, Illinois

      Delete
  4. Lovely dress! Just my style! I’m in the Deep South, so if you get cool temps, feel free to send the dress my way. 90+ and no end in sight!

    ReplyDelete

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