Part 2: Finished Dress with Ruffles - BurdaStyle 05/2022 # 102

Here's my finished dress and I am really happy with the combination of fabric and pattern. Sometimes that just works out perfectly and this is such a case.  Plus this post is something of a two for the price of one - you get a look at my garden project which has been taking up a lot of my time this year. It might not look all that different but like any project there's a lot going, and I will include more details below. 

But back to sewing - this fabric is a woven rayon challis that I ordered from Fabric-Mart, maybe last year? I really liked the color and was waiting for a suitable pattern to use.  In my last post you can see the pattern details with pictures from the May Burda magazine issue. Also in that post I wrote a bit about doing fit adjustments on this pattern. 

It was all finished and I took a few pictures, then looking at those decided I didn't like the length. In the right style longer skirts and dresses are something that look nice but every time I make one for myself I never feel comfortable. I like dresses to hover around the knee, either just above or below.   So these dress form pictures are the longer length and then above it has been hemmed about 4" shorter.

I have a feeling that some people might prefer it longer but I prefer the shorter. Over the years things I have posted that were longer people seem to like and make comments to that effect which I find interesting - but we have to be comfortable in our clothes and I prefer a different proportion. 

Here's a look at the longer length. 

I also went back and forth on adding the ruffles which is an option in the pattern, but the fabric was so nice and soft so it seemed like it suited the style well, and I'm glad I did. Without the ruffles it's just a basic shirtdress. 

As I mentioned in the previous post, I did cover an existing belt to make the belt for this dress. I didn't have any belt backing in my stash of this width (1.25") which I thought was the right width for this style. So I rummaged in the closet to find a belt that I could use, and found one that I've never worn but it was just right. Well actually just right would have been a lighter color buckle but this worked out well enough. 

I made eyelets on my sewing machine for the holes and then stitched it on by hand starting at that end. Then another eyelet at the end for the tongue of the buckle to fit into, hand stitching it closed along the length of the belt. I made an extra loop and stitched that about 3 inches away from the buckle as belts without that always look messy to me. I know the inside of the belt doesn't look perfect but I don't mind at all if the inside is messy when it looks fine on the outside. 

Another change to the pattern was to add pockets, of course. A shirtdress with no pockets - unthinkable! I like to have slippery lining type fabric for my pockets so I don't usually use the same fabric. If you look at the side seam you can see on the back of the pocket I put a facing using the dress fabric so you don't get a glimpse of the lining when wearing. 

Side by side comparison of the dress at different lengths. I will say that the longer one on the left is not looking too bad in the image but I think the breeze is doing a bit of work there. 

I actually took more photos the first time, prior to shortening. Here's another one. See I think that hem lands at the wrong place, it looks too 1950's for my style plus I prefer the proportion of more leg. Well, that's why we sew  - to get just what we want, right?  Also this is a bit of a blank area in the garden, covered with mulch. I have to resist putting plants everywhere as the ones I've already planted are going to get bigger and take up space, plus this time of year is too hot and dry to start them off. 

Looking at that picture I think I've reached the limit of my home haircutting ability. Yes I'm still doing it myself - some months it comes out better than others. I was just thinking of going back to a hairdresser but then the urge overtook me this morning and I cut it myself with a good result. 

So that's the latest on this rayon shirtdress. Up next - I just started another version of my very modified Myosotis dress so that will be great for hot weather. Looking at that post you can see the garden in the before stage. 

I'm teaching some in person classes here in the east bay and I will write about upcoming ones in my next post. I just got a really cute vintage t-shirt pattern which is perfect for the Color Blocking challenge on IG via @sewover50 so I'd like to get that sewn up this month. 

A few notes about the garden update. My water company offered a rebate for removing lawns, and cutting back on water using landscaping. Being that all the existing irrigation system front and back were very much past their prime it needed to be reworked. After being at home for the last two years I could water as needed but here a timer is essential to water before 6 am and also to be able to go away for longer than a day. So that was the impetus to update everything. The front is still a work in progress but there my lawn area is gone and will be replaced with more succulents, a rock river and a lot of penstemon and salvia for color. In the back we took out the grass completely, made it a bit smaller in area, and replaced the grass with Kurapia which is a low-water use ground-cover. So far it's working out well but I think it takes some getting used to. Also you have to wait a while before mowing it down to be a low ground-cover so it looks a bit unruly or as I call it fluffy, right now. 

The crepe myrtle trees stayed (of course) as well as the roses, hydrangeas and all the existing salvias. I planted quite a few new salvias and penstemon, plus some slightly exotic pelargoniums, some dusty miller to lighten things up, and then a few foxgloves that I had been growing in pots. And a few petunias for instant color. Some daisies in one area and a couple of gardenias which I will call vintage but seem happy enough to put out plenty of flowers. The salvias and penstemon will fill out nicely by next year and be really pretty as well as loved by the hummingbirds. I have three albutilons in the back in different colors and they are lovely as well. Plants are a bit like fabric, it's very challenging to resist buying them when you see them but then when you get home you have to find somewhere to put them! 

"Should I buy more plants or more fabric?" is what I'm thinking in that picture. 

Speaking of finding spots to store fabric, next week I'm going to Britex with my friend Heather - so let the fall sewing planning commence :)

Happy Sewing,

Beth

Here's today's garden pictures, two of them. First is a close up of the Kurapia groundcover which grows laterally once it is mowed and settles in, but until then it's flowering and covered with bees. Which don't bother me at all, I'm so used to them and we ignore each other for the most part. (now wasps - they are the enemy along with gophers, racoons and other burrowing nemeses.)  Second is a look at my newest Albutilon (which is a flowering maple, member of the Mallow family) in a lovely peachy pink. I think it's in a nice spot and should get about 8 feet high in a couple of years. 

A Shirt and a Shirtdress, Butterick 6333 in paisley cotton poplin

Which came first, the shirt or the shirtdress? In fact the fabric came first, and the idea for the shirt, but then I took a detour to sew this shirtdress.



Which is Butterick 6333, a shoulder princess seamed shirt dress pattern with two skirt options.
A really good basic pattern, that I made a little more difficult for myself with some fitting adjustments  that overshot the mark, as well as adding a waistband and zipper. WHAT? a zipper? yep, read on for details.



This is a dress I made for my friend Heather. She has been wanting a shirtdress for a while and we figured it was time to sew up a lightweight cotton one for late summer/fall. I've made a shirtdress style for her previously (probably not blogged) by copying an existing dress she had but for this one we wanted the traditional shirt styling with collar, stand, button band etc. However - and this is a big however, she likes to have a waistband to emphasize the waist, and this pattern didn't have that feature. So I improvised and the waistband you see is actually an applied piece. I sewed the dress as is, but added the waistband overlay on the outside of the bodice front and back, and that worked really well, plus let me do the fitting on the side seams. You know my aversion to sewing the skirt onto the top of a dress in one move, I always do the front, and then the back and sew the side seams near the end.

The second thing that she wanted was not to have the skirt actually unbutton. I can see for wearing that buttons are just a pain, they gape when you sit down and get ruined at the cleaners.



So I sewed the dress as normal, including the buttonholes all the way down the front of the dress. But from the waistband down to about 5 inches above the hem the dress is stitched closed. The topstitching on the button bands allowed me to overlay them as if they were buttoned and then stitch on either edge of the band. You can't even tell that it is sewn shut but no chance of any wardrobe or button malfunction. I sewed the buttons on in that portion right over the buttonholes (which I didn't slice open, no need). But of course what does this rearrangement require - our old friend the side seam zipper. Which means the dress has to fit at the waist just right, and then the zipper is put in next to last. (the sewing the front shut is actually the last). Well hemming is actually the last.

Dress form view. I did cause myself a bit more work as she has gone down a few inches and so I adjusted the pattern and then had to revise after I cut it out. But thankfully those shoulder princess seams allow for plenty of adjustment.



Cute huh? I love this fabric so much. Which is why it made it back with me last November when I shopped at Mood Fabrics.



Heather and I were searching for a stretch cotton in a print, maybe a sateen or a poplin that would work for a shirtdress, and I remembered that I had this fabric from Mood. So I checked on their website and it was still available. They have it still (in 3 color ways) although it says this green/navy is almost sold out. (search stretch cotton poplin).  Soon I plan to use that cotton shirting in the bottom of the photo for another shirt, it goes with so many things in my wardrobe.

Back to fact that I originally bought this cotton for a shirt for me. And here it is, using what else? My trusty Simplicity 2339 shirt pattern. At this point the pattern pieces are getting a bit raggedy, I guess it's time to copy them over onto sturdier paper (maybe 14 versions?)



Nothing much to say about this version other than I love the fabric and can wear this with so many things I have.

For every version I have made in the last couple of years I do the front placket as a continuous piece that gets folded and sewn into a small pleat. I was all set to show how I do it but a search through my old blog posts shows that I already did that :)  Here is the link to how to make this type of shirt front placket.

Which you can see a little better in this picture.



 The sleeves extra long on this version as I like to wear shirts under sweaters when the weather is colder and flip up the cuffs for a little extra peek at the shirt.  Tower plackets on the cuff opening which are hard to see in this busy fabric.



Sewing a button front shirt has turned out to be one of our most popular classes at Hello Stitch Studio in Berkeley where I teach. The next button front shirt class starts Jan 13 as well as some other new classes, including some shorter mini-classes covered one type of techniques. Last week was my first mini class on zippers, and we will be adding more to the 2018 schedule. (including things like buttonholes, welt pockets, facings, linings, popular pattern hacks etc) I'll post when they are available for registration. I think Stacey is in the process of adding them to the website now.

This shirt is a bit longer than other versions, and I changed the shape of the side seam hem edge curve.



That's it for the paisley fabric from Mood. I have a few good size chunks leftover which might get combined with other retainers and turn into a sleeveless top next summer. But for now they go in the scrap box.

Up next, I have a long list of stuff that is either started or on the proverbial drawing board, including some jeans, a custom dress form, and an assortment of knit tops.

Can you believe Thanksgiving is around the corner - it sounds so trite to say it but this year is flying by. Only 8 more months until summer!

Happy fall sewing, Beth

for today's garden photo, some roses that bloomed back in July. This is one of the oldest rose bushes in my garden, way predates me and despite being in a shady spot puts out these lovely pink blooms. 
So many thorns though - and I've snagged my shirt on it numerous times trying to wriggle past to prune one of it's neighbors. I've planted a number of newer roses in the past few years but these older ones are worth keeping, which they bloom well they are showstoppers.