Saturday, June 16, 2012

One Hit Wonder # 1, Butterick 4978 Dress

Yep, I more of these in my closet than I would care to admit. Are you familiar with this phrase? A "one hit wonder" is a musical group or artist that had one hit song and were never heard from again.  The dressmaking equivalent is a garment I made, wore once, liked enough to keep, and then have never worn again. When Karen was here, we did a tour of my closet and she was a bit shocked when I showed her so many items that had seen the light of day only one time.  So at her urging, I am revisiting some of these items, posting about them, and will try to put them back in the wearing rotation.  


First up is a dress I really liked, and have thought about remaking in a less eye-searing fabric.  I think the reason some of my "one hit wonders" get a single wearing is because they are such memorable prints and I don't want to wear again if I see the same people. Which can happen, since it seems I make these type of dresses to wear to a wedding, often family, and of course I will see them again!  OK, a little bit of vanity but that is a great part of sewing, always having something new.  Plus there is always a new dress pattern I want to try.


print dress 1

I think this dress is about 4 or 5 years old.  I wore it to my cousin's wedding in downtown San Francisco. A lovely church ceremony, a great party with dinner, live music, fun! Now she is a mama so time flies. 
Here is the pattern, Butterick 4978, probably out of print. It was quite easy to make, had a bit of hand stitching on the inside, to finish off the binding. I bought this fabric at Stone Mountain, it is 100% silk, not sure exactly what type.  It is very lightweight, but not sheer, presses beautifully but doesn't wrinkle.  It would make a great blouse, maybe it is a silk twill?  I seem to recall that the skirt is cut on the bias which makes it fall nicely.  I saw it reviewed the other day on Pattern Review, which made me remember this one.  Since then I have been looking in my pattern boxes, and I can't find the paper pattern. I keep all my patterns, unless they are dogs - then they go in the trash. But otherwise it should be somewhere. . . still searching. 
B4878 pattern image

Bright silk dressfront1
A look at the neckline, which is very pretty.  This dress has the slightly cut-in armholes which I really like, plus that little v-opening in the center front is a nice touch. The amount of gathering was just right and the pattern went together very well. The only part that is interfaced is the midriff section. The lining is sewn around the armholes and turned to enclose, then the neckline is closed with the binding.

Brightsilkdressfrontclose2
Here is a look at the inside, I lined it with white poly since there was white in the print. The lining fit beautifully, you can see it is smooth so it supports the gathers on the silk fabric.

Bright silkdressinside

Rather bright colors, don't you think?  Even for me this is kind of electric, which is unfortunate as the dress is super comfortable since the fabric is so light and floaty. 
I think I will try to find some occasion to wear this again, it might brighten up someone's day (ha ha).

Sadly, I have more where this came from, so you will see a few more of my one hit wonders this summer.  Some analysis is in order - I need to review which items get worn a lot and which don't.  However that sounds like a lot of brainwork - and it is too hot this weekend for any deep thinking.  

Next weekend is our bay area sewing meetup at the Gaultier exhibit at the De Young Museum, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco.  Sat. June 23, 10:00 am. Here is the blog post for more details - no limit on numbers, please join in if you are in the area and want to meet some fellow seamsters.

Today's SunnyGal garden photo - this little birdhouse has been hanging in the apple tree the whole time I have been here - who knows which previous owner put it there. Each year I hope to see some occupants. Finally this spring, a tiny bird family took up residence, so cute. I have been watching them from afar for a few weeks, and today I got this picture. 

Happy Summer Sewing,  Beth

Litle bird in birdhouse, apple tree

23 comments:

  1. This dress is a knock out! I love it and it looks so great on you. You should just wear it to coffee and the shops just to wear it and wow people. I really love it!

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  2. That is a beautiful dress. It definitely deserves some more face time in the public!

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  3. Your dress is stunning. It deserves to be worn more often.

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  4. Absolutely beautiful dress! I can definitely relate to what you are saying about so many dresses and so few opportunities to wear them over and over again, but this stunner definitely deserves more outings! :)

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  5. This dress is gorgeous. You definitely should pull it out of the closet more often. :]

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  6. That dress is lovely, not understanding why you had it as a one hit wonder. I would wear it every so often, so people would say I love you in that.

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  7. This is so pretty, and I can just imagine how comfortable it is. I can't wait to see the other treasures you have hidden in your closet!

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  8. This is gorgeous on you Beth - very flattering and a perfect fit. Even though the fabric is dressy the style is quite relaxed - you could wear this anywhere and everywhere!

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  9. Very pretty dress. It definitely needs more outings. So say I, who has a similar problem. Dress gets made for an occasion. Gets worn once and heaven forbid should it be seen again. Good thing I don't have too many "occasions".

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  10. I think this is lovely I think you need to plan fancy evenings out to showcase your growing museum pieces.

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  11. This dress is wonderful and fits you like a dream. I love the silk!

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  12. Dating myself here, but this dress reminds me of a Hawaiian designer who was big in the seventies--Malia. Love it.

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  13. I'm drooling! Both the fabric and pattern are my cup of tea - the dress is beautiful and looks so nice on you!

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  14. Beautiful dress. Fresh and cool for a hot summer day.

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  15. Love this dress on you, Beth. The print is really cool for summer!

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  16. That is so pretty! I have some one hit wonders, too.

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  17. Thanks for stopping by my blog! You are so correct...we do have similar taste in patterns! I made this same dress years ago before I started blogging! I made mine in a black & whit polka dot liked the one on the cover....unfortunately, I can no longer fit into mine! LOL! Yours is beautiful in this bright color! And I only wore mine once too..it was made for attending the yearly fashion show for the International Academy of Art & design and that was it! Too funny! I've been sewing lately but not posting (lazy), shame on me! I'll get better, promise!

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  18. I love this dress. It just lovely and works so well.

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  19. I think the colors are very pretty. I understand your one-hit wonder issue and it's not vanity at all. LOL. I think a lot of us are very similar. The drawback to a smashing print is the fact that it is so memorable.

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  20. What a beautiful dress! I think you need to move this dress from the "fancy" category in your mind to the "everyday" category. It can definitely be a wear about town sundress. I am completely guilty of using expensive fabric and beautiful technique on one-wear dresses, which is totally backwards! I'm working on it...

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  21. It is bright, but those colours really suit you! I vote for more outings for this dress too!

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  22. Wow! What a great fit and color! And the bird...is it a chickadee?

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  23. I love everything you make and as someone who adores bright colours, this is just lovely - (I'm British so excuse the spelling)

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