Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Butterick 5814: Construction and Fabric Details

As I mentioned yesterday, the construction of this dress is more complex than meets the eye. To give the bodice structure, it's boned along the darts and sides (on the lining). There's a waist stay (a grosgrain ribbon fitted snugly around the waist) to keep the bodice where it's supposed to be, and to support the weight of the skirt drape as well. Because the dress sits slightly off the shoulders, the waist stay also helps anchor the bodice so the sleeves don't slip off or ride up. The boning and the waist stay work together to these effects.

The pattern envelope calls for fabric for lining/underlining. What does that mean, you may ask? Great question. The bodice is lined traditionally. However, the skirt is underlined with lining fabric, meaning the fashion fabric and the lining fabric are hand basted together and treated as one. The underlining helps give body to the skirt pleats (underneath the drape), and also hides the hemming stitches. The fabric I used in the sample is a hot pink silk crepe-back satin, and it's almost impossible to hide hemming stitches without an underlining.

Speaking of fabric! The fabric used for this dress needs to have the right combination of drape and body. A draping fabric is important to accentuate the folds and drapes of the design. However, you don't want something too limp, as it will hang kind of sadly on the skirt drape. A crepe-back satin turned out to be perfect for the sample--drapey enough to showcase the design but beefy enough to make the skirt drape look full and dramatic.

The envelope calls for these fabrics: faille, crepe de chine, taffeta, and cotton damask. Butterick has experts who suggest the fabrics, and I trust them implicitly, but I admit I would have listed more fluid fabrics. Crepe de chine is in line with what I had in mind, as long as it has enough body for the skirt drape. Taffeta and faille are both more crisp than I had imagined. I don't think I've ever sewn with cotton damask, so I can't comment on that. If I had written the suggested fabrics, I think they would have been along these lines: crepe-back satin, 4-ply silk crepe, wool crepe, rayon crepe, lightweight wool gabardine. I hope I'm not being a jerk by contradicting the pattern envelope! As you know, these things can be very subjective. Butterick's fabric suggestions would certainly work; fabrics like faille and taffeta would just create a crisper look.

For my version, I'll be using a wool satin gabardine (like this one) for the fashion fabric and silk crepe de chine (like this) for the lining/underlining. The wool satin is a lovely deep wine/ruby color. It's fluid, but has a certain amount of body. But it's definitely not a crisp body, like taffeta.

As you're gathering supplies for this dress, I would recommend purchasing (I'm including links to some online suppliers I like as well):

  • 1/4" twill tape for stabilizing the neckline (a fusible stay tape would work as well)
  • Spiral steel boning (the envelope calls for plastic feather boning, but I prefer steel for its flexibility and strength). I keep a variety of lengths on hand, and cut them down to custom lengths. You'll also need boning tips for this purpose. Note: I cut my boning last night, and I ended up needing four 4" bones, and two 8-1/4" bones. This will vary by size however. I wear a size 14.
  • 1/2" Boning casing
  • Petersham ribbon for the waist stay, the rayon/cotton blends are more comfortable around the waist than poly grosgrain. 
  • Hooks and eyes for the waist stay and the back zipper.
  • A 20" zipper. I used invisible on the sample for a smooth look on the crepe, but a more vintage approach would be a regular zipper with a lapped application. The choice is yours!
Upcoming posts: I'll write about fitting my muslin this week. I'm also planning a tutorial on how to extend the raglan sleeves into 3/4 length for those who like a little more coverage!

21 comments:

  1. Great! Thanks for the suggestions. I find "taffeta" tends to be a "go to" for Butterick on most of their party dress patterns..

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  2. Yay! Love the coat, made your bombshell dress, am looking forward to making this one as well!

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  3. I wasn't going to buy this as I have so many patterns already, but as soon as you mentioned 'bodice structure', in the basket it went! Can't wait for it to arrive so I can try my hand at boning, etc.

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  4. I picked up this pattern and am wondering what level of ability you would rate this. I think it's stunning and would love to wear it out with my husband, but don't have a lot of experience sewing clothing. Do you think this would be overwhelming for someone fairly new to clothing construction?

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    1. I would call it intermediate. Take a look through the pattern instructions and see if they look do-able to you!

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  5. Hi there, love this dress and can't wait to sew it up one day soon - thanks for adding your helpful hints, especially the longer sleeves! I too am keen on learning the bodice structure elements. Given the shoulders are so wide, is the bodice structured enough to not need a bra (for the mediumly endowed - C cup)? or is a strapless bra probably going to be necessary still? thanks x.

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  6. Would you suggest sewing your Bombshell dress or this pattern first for someone on the newer edge of sewing? I was thinking I would start with the video tutorials of the Bombshell 1st.

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  7. Really appreciate this post, very helpful info, thanks!

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  8. Can't wait to make this!

    Could you use a cotton, like with your bombshell dress? Or would that not have enough drape?

    Thanks!

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  9. Gertie, I emailed you, but I am bot sure if you got it, and it's a timed sort of thing. McCall is having a 1.99 sale on vintage, out of print Vogue, Butterick, and McCall patterns. Can you reccomend any, preferably a blouse, vest or pants? Thanks, the sale is only until next week.

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    1. Have a think about what type of garments you wear in your current wardrobe, then translate that to the vintage patterns. e.g. If you wear trousers a lot more than skirts, get a trouser pattern and maybe a blouse to match or mix with your other clothes. That way you are most likely to get wear out of what you make.

      Also, if the patterns are only 1.99, you could probably get one of each type that takes your fancy...

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    2. Oh so mysterious...what is the web link for this sale? I don't see it on McCall/Vogue's website. Many thanks!!

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    3. Nevermind...found it! Top of the left side, haha.

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    4. Jocelyn, haha, I made this account when I was very little, have no idea how to change to my real name.
      -melissa

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  10. I was thinking of using a dupioni for this dress, but now I think a silk faille in my stash will work better. Dupioni and taffeta may be too crisp and liable to hold a crease, but I think crepe de chine may be too limp and lightweight, even when underlined. Mid-weight silk faille will have the right combination of body and drape, I'm thinking. Will have to test this idea!

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  11. If it's for a winter party dress it would look lovely in velvet - silk (v. expensive) or cotton.
    And with longer sleeves.
    I made a similar dress years ago, with red cotton velvet.

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  12. I prefer underlining to lining for any skirt that has structural details especially pleats.

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  13. How timely! I just finished my first muslin of this dress. I had to do an extensive FBA and am pretty happy with how the first try came out. I look forward to seeing how you construct this dress.

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    1. I'm attempting an FBA on this right now, and wondering how you ended up accomplishing yours! Any tips you have would be greatly appreciated. :)

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  14. Great, I'm looking forward to read your upcoming posts.

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Thanks for your comments; I read each and every one! xo Gertie

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