Retro Butterick B5813
Sun is shining and it feels like spring, today. So finally there was enough light for me to take pictures of my winter makes. The first item that I will post is Retro Butterick pattern B5813.
This pattern was amazing! I made the version C with the large flared skirt and a belt. According to my measurements, I would be size 12 but after checking the actual size of the garment (which was thankfully written on the pattern sheet) I made size 10 which fitted me perfectly.
My fabric was lightweight viscose with tiny red and white flowers on dark blue background. Unfortunately the pattern of the dress required some really painstaking pattern aligning but finally I was happy with the results. The dress is fully lined and there is an invisible zipper hidden in the side seam. The belt buckle is an actual vintage buckle I bought from ebay.
The sewing of the dress was easy but very slow with all the small pattern pieces and a huge amount of darts in the sleeves. (Three per each sleeve and lining makes 12 sleeve darts!)
Since making this dress I have been planning to make another using the same pattern. For anyone not afraid of a larger sewing project here is a perfect vintage dress pattern!
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5 Comments
Veronica Nichols
I love that!
kk
Thanks, Veronica!
SABINE FRANCKE
Thanks for sharing your experience with this pattern; could you post your measures to correlate sizing?
Could you comment further on the pattern alignment?
Sabine
kk
Thank you for the comment! Unfortunately I made the dress so long ago that my measurements have changed considerably. Nowadays that dress is quite tight on me if it even fits! I usually don’t allow much ease at bust. Perhaps an inch. I recommend comparing the measurements to a garment that you already own to estimate the fit.
I like aligning fabric pattern at the seams so that the seams do not show. Think about a check fabric and how awful it would look if the check pattern didn’t align over the seam. In this dress there’s a seam at the centre front so any misalignment would show. With careful pinning I managed to make the seam almost disappear.
I hope this helps!
Katja
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