Vintage Style Dress Pattern – Butterick 6380

I made this fabulous vintage style dress pattern from Butterick 6380 which has a sweetheart neckline created by the tabs on either side. A nifty idea!

Checking sizing

I made up the pattern to check the fit and finish for this design for McCalls. Something I do occasionally as their Brand Ambassador.

Usually I have to do a full-bust adjustment before I can cut into fabric. But first, I always check what the finished garment measurements say (on the pattern envelope) and what the garment measurements say on the pattern tissue. Doing this can save time and effort in making adjustments.

Noting that on this Vintage style dress pattern there was a generous extra five inches between actual bust and finished garment measurement, I didn’t think I’d need to do the full bust adjustment.  However I did double check by doing a tissue fit – pinning together the front and back pieces, gathering the fabric below the bust as shown on the tissue etc. It was fine without the FBA so I launched into the fabric!

Fabric Choice

I’ve used a red cotton print with white spot that I’ve had in my stash for some time. It is  a lovely medium weight cotton fabric so holds the shape of the skirt well. I also lined it with a poly/cotton which I prefer, particularly in the summer. I find a polyester lining can get hot and sticky, and a cotton lining helps hold the shape better I feel.

 

Zip Insertion

I also decided to use the Surface Mounted zip insertion method because I had a pretty red zip with lacy edging that fitted the bill perfectly. I’ll share how to do that in another post.

Hemming

To hem the dress, after allowing it to hang for 24 hours, I cut the edge straight, overlocked it and then turned up a narrow hem of just 1cm and top stitched it in place. This is a quick way to deal with a curved hem such as this and avoids having too much excess fabric in the hem allowance. The alternative is to stitch with a long stitch length (4.5-5) about 13mm from the edge. Turn up the hem allowance tucking raw edge under and pin in place, slightly gathering the hem allowance where necessary to ease in the excess. The excess gathers should only be in the hem allowance and invisible from the right side.

I’m pleased with my Vintage style dress pattern by Gertie  and luckily have a pair of red and white spot shoes that match exactly!