B4919 modeled

So here is the dress on me:

This reinforces the idea that a defined waist style is not the most flattering on my figure. Also, that I need to be more careful about not creating boob flowers (though they are much more prominent in the photo than IRL, for some reason). But making this was an interesting project.

I had 5 yards of this 50-inch wide cotton lawn, which wasn't enough to make this dress. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I did not use the skirt pieces in this pattern because I didn't have enough fabric for the circle skirt; instead I used a different 6-gore skirt pattern.  For the same reason, I cut the bodice facing (really a full lining) out of black broadcloth, and I pieced the ties, which take a lot of fabric because they are cut on the bias. Joining the skirt to the bodice was a little fiddly, and I ended up hand stitching the edges in place to cover raw edges. However, the attached ties cover the waist up completely anyway.

The pattern provides no alteration lines on the bodice, but I  made many: an FBA, added side darts, added several inches in length. I made no adjustments to the back except that I didn't sew the waist darts. I added about 6 inches to the waist. I also sewed the center front seam a bit higher, and I curved it in so that it wouldn't gape open.

I don't know if I'll ever wear this dress, but it might be appealing on a hot summer day. The fabric feels very nice.

 Envelope art:

B4919 almost done

Here it is on the dress form (sorry the picture is so blurry):

I still need to sew on the hooks and eyes and hem it.

I have not dropped out

I'm hoping to finish my dress this week. I have sewn together the bodice, bodice facing, and skirt. What's left to do: sew bodice and facing together and turn; sew skirt to bodice; sew in zipper and hooks/eyes; hem.

I got stuck last week when I started thinking I should finish the seams, something I have never done (learned to sew at my mother's knee, and she never bothered with seam finishing). I'm still on the fence about it; I'll see how I feel when I next sit down at the machine.

Progress (Butterick 4919)

I finally decided to cut out my fashion fabric -- and realized I didn't have enough! Five yards @ 50" wide just doesn't work with this pattern's full circle skirt.

I thought about using some other fabric, but I really wanted to use my cotton lawn print for a number of reasons. So I'm going to combine the bodice of 4919 with Butterick 4136 (which I've made before, so I know it fits):

I'll put use View A (a length somewhere between A and B) and cut the back piece in two pieces with a seam allowance so it will match up with the back seam of the bodice. I do have enough fabric for this, and I think it will give the same effect, especially in this soft fabric.

I will need to use some other fabric for the facings (they are really full linings of front and back bodice) -- maybe just some black broadcloth that I have on hand. It may actually look better than using the print as facings because there will be no show-through.

So I just cut out the bodice front and back using my altered pattern. I also decided to piece the ties rather than cut them in one piece with the back, as in the pattern, because it would have really used up a lot of fabric if I hadn't, and I don't think it will be obvious in the finished dress.

I suspect that home sewers in 1952 who made this dress may have economized on fabric in the same way (especially considering that wide fabric widths were not easily available then), so I don't feel too bad about it.

Butterick 4919: altered bodice + fabric choices

I added some side darts to the bodice and made a tuck on each side of the neckline, which I have just stitched as darts for now to get the idea. I then turned under and stitched down the seam allowance along the neckline (in the actual dress, the edges are finished by a facing piece that is sewn like a lining). I threw a couple of hooks on the back so I could get it to stay on. I think the fit is much better now. I might also add a little more length to the shoulder seams so my bra straps don't show.

I'm sorry this picture is so blurry, but it's the best I could get by myself. You can kind of see the tucks I made at the neckline near the center front. (Any advice on how to alter the pattern for this?)

(If I had more shame, I would not post this  picture of me in my baggy pants and messy living room on the internet, but I guess I don't.)

Here are the two fabrics I'm thinking about. The top one is a cotton voile with a black background; the bottom a black woven polyester. The coin on the black fabric is a quarter.

Second bodice muslin - Butterick 4919

 I cut out a new front bodice muslin. I adjusted the front bodice piece by

-adding a side dart, then cutting it out and rotating the fullness to the shoulder gathers
-slashing the pattern from mid-shoulder to bottom through the apex and spreading 1/2 inch
-adding 2 inches of length to the entire front piece

I also pinned the front center together about an inch (to avoid my bra showing at center front). I'm not sure if this is a huge improvement, though the extra length helps. The bust apex is still too high per the mark on the pattern -- I wasn't sure how to fix this, and I'm not sure it matters given the shape of the pattern piece (note: the triangular bit on the lower right is extra paper that I didn't cut off because I laid the piece on the fold and then cut the center front apart):

The bodice still gaps out at center front rather than lying flat, and there is still gapping around the arm. What do you think?

Front:

Back:

 Side (my waist isn't quite this trim!). You can see how there is still extra fabric that gapes at the side. I'm thinking maybe I should just give up and add a dart there.

Butterick 4919: bodice muslin

I purchased this retro reissue pattern last year in the first flush of enthusiasm of buying 99-cent sale patterns when I was getting back into sewing. I don't know if this will look good on me or not, but I thought it would be fun to sew. It's a simple pattern with only four pieces (front and back bodice, bodice back facing, and skirt).

I cut and sewed a bodice muslin this week. One feature of this pattern is the long ties that are part of the back bodice piece that tie from back to front and then back again; being a cheapskate, I pieced these and sewed them together rather than cutting them on the back piece because I figured I could still get the idea of how this would fit. I needed to enlarge the waist, but because this dress has no side seams I couldn't figure out how to do this other than adding onto the ties (back piece) and the ends of the front pieces that wrap around to the back and attach with hooks. Also, I didn't sew the waist darts on the back. I think this worked, judging from how this fits onto my dress form. However, I know I need to do an FBA, but I'm trying to figure out how to do this with a pattern with no darts and no side seams. The dart control is in the gathered front shoulders.

Here's the front on the dress form. You can see how it pulls and gaps across the bustline; it also looks like it gaps out at the underarm area.

Any advice is welcome!