Resizing a Vintage Pattern - Butterick 8083

As part of my goal to sew a vintage pattern a month, this dress was chosen.

  

(This is a image of the pattern I pulled from the web.)

I got this pattern from the owner of the store that I purchased my Bernina from (She knows I LOVE me some vintage patterns!).  I immediately fell in love with the back neck line. The copy I received was for a 34 bust, so I needed to increase it to a 36 bust. I use the process that I learned months ago, from the link in the side margins.

This meant I had to add 1" to both front and back.  I split this to approximately 3/8" and added them in 3 locations.  Below is a picture of the altered front and back bodice pieces: 

I've got instructions for Vintage Pattern Alterations methods linked to my "pinterest" account here:

Vintage Pattern Sewing.  I did the same alteration to the front midriff piece.  

Here is the finished dress.

Sorry for the blurry pictures, my husband is trying to learn to take the photos; He's used to an Smart Phone; but hasn't mastered my Nikon.

Pattern Review:

Pattern Description: Butterick 8083, View A

Pattern Sizing: Size 14/ bust 34, Altered up to a bust 36

Did it look like the photo/drawing on pattern once you were done sewing? Yes

Were the instructions easy to follow?
Yes at least for me, I am used to sewing vintage patterns.  So someone that is not familiar with the instructions in a vintage pattern might have some difficulty.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
I love the look and feel of this pattern; specifically the scoop neckline in the back and the full skirt.

Fabric Used:  A cotton border print that I found at MetroTextiles in New York

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: 
 -- upsized pattern to a 36" bust
 -- changed skirt bottom to a gathered skirt, because I wanted to make use of the border print
    The fullness of the skirt was based on the width of the lower part of the original skirt pattern
-- I underlined the entire dress, since my fabric was light weight.
-- Added grossgrain ribbon under the zipper (I've pinched myself one time to many zipping fitted bodices!).

Would you sew it again?
Yes, now that I have this sized correctly I will be making a version with short sleeves and the straight skirt out of a light weight wool.

Happy Sewing . . .

McCall 6713, the Re-do

As I said in my previous post, I fell in love with McCall 6713:
McCall 6713 - Mock Wrap Dress

This time I made it from a fabric from my stash (Sorry I can't recall where I got it from).  But this time I had plenty of fabric to do both sides of the mock wrap.

I think I may have to do this one more time with the full skirt.

Happy Sewing . . .

Vintage Pattern Revisited . . . (Simplicity 5185)

Back in January I modified a vintage Simplicity turtleneck top into a knee length dress.

At that time I mentioned that I was going to use some cable knit that I had purchased from Mood fabrics into a maxi dress.

Well I finally got around to doing it (just never got around to posting it).  I wore it to church on Sunday because it was a little cool.  So this was comfortable and warm.  To see the original review go to: Vintage Simplicity 5185

McCall 6713, The Mock Wrap

I've been sewing, just haven't been sewing.  Over the next couple of weeks, I'll be catching up on my posting.

So here is McCall 6713:

I chose to make view D with the sleeves, shortened to 3/4 length.

I also chose to underline the dress with some knit tricot that I bought months ago by the bolt from Fabric.com when it was 50% off.  So of course I bought an two bolts one in black and in ivory.

Last year my husband and I went to LA, and of course I made a stop at Michael Levin's  by the Pound store, and found this amazing fabric to make the dress from:

 

Since this was from the bargain bin, I had to work with what I had, so there wasn't quite enough for

me to to two layers to the mock-wrap piece, so I used some of the black tricot for the backside of the mock-wrap.

So here is the final dress: 

Pattern Review:

Pattern Description:  McCall 6713, View D

Pattern Sizing: Size 14/ bust 36

Did it look like the photo/drawing on pattern once you were done sewing: Yes

Were the instructions easy to follow? Yes

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? 

  I love this pattern, and the fit is awesome.

Fabric Used:  tricot for underlining from Fabric.com, spandex knit from Michael Levine's Loft

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: 

  -- One thing I did do was add some tricot fusible interfacing around the neckline, to keep if from 

       stretching when the underlining was sewn around the neckline and front opening.

  -- Also added width in the hip area to accommodate my hips/rear.

  -- Added 6 inches to length.

  

  -- Did back layer of mock wrap piece in black tricot (ran out of fabric).

Would you sew it again?   YES!, I've already done so, and will be posting it to blog.

Happy Sewing . . . .