New Shelf Bust Variation In Progress--Plus New Fabrics for Sale

I am so excited about this new dress that I'm working on that I can't even wait to finish it before I show it to you! It's a variation on my pattern B5882, which just happens to be on sale for $2.88, with a gathered inset replacing the pleated bust pieces. I also changed the bias strap to bias tubing with thick cable cord inside for stability.

I'm planning on this being a more everyday sundress version, and am attempting to leave out the boning (I'll let you know how that goes).

The top of the inset has elastic in a catch-stitch casing so it can be adjusted during construction. It keeps the neckline close to the body.

The fabric is an amazing Japanese double gauze from Gorgeous Fabrics.

I'll keep you updated as I progress!

I also have new fabrics for sale in my Etsy shop, since this week's earlier sale went so well. I'm doing a little experiment on turning the shop into a niche fabric store for retro seamstresses (i.e., seeing exactly how many rose prints I can stock!). So we'll see how this new round goes. I have more to list tomorrow, so stay tuned.

Everyday cottons:

Purple Rose Border Cotton

Black Ascher Studio Floral Cotton

And some top-quality items from Italy and Liberty of London:

Horrockses-esque Floral Stripe Silk Twill

Silk/Cotton Rose Print Voile

Liberty "Dr. Tulloch" Book Print, Discontinued Seasonal Print

Hope you enjoy!

FBA for Butterick 5882, the Shelf Bust Pattern

All right, my pretties! Here it is, at long long last: a tutorial for doing a full bust adjustment for my pattern Butterick 5882, otherwise known as a shelf bust dress. This is going to be a long post, so hang in there.

As I wrote in this post, I think this style could work for a larger bust since the mid-bust seaming minimizes the overall appearance of the bust (as well as making things look perky!).

Here's my version, see how the shelf bust starts at mid-bust?

Okay, on to the tutorial! Let me start by saying that there is no "one size fits all" approach to this since this dress requires a very precise fit. I'll take you through the process of how I fit the muslin on a padded dress form (I would estimate her bra size at a D cup or a bit more).

Here's the size 14 muslin, pre-FBA, pre-padded dress form so you can see the fit.

Now here it is with the bust padded out.

 You can see a myriad of problems: the dress is not covering the bust, the side seams are pulled forward, and the back zipper won't close. 

First, I measured the distance needed at the bust. The back gap was my indicator here, though you could go by pattern measurements compared to your own. 

My mannequin needs two inches added. Obviously, we need to add this at the bust, not at the back or side seams. 

These next pictures are meant to give you a visual of the changes needed. I opened up the underbust seam and then ripped out the stitches in the front princess seams. 

The princess gaps are 1" each, which together adds up to the 2" we need to gain. 

Now the upper bust pieces need to be made bigger to match. To demo this, I cut into the pleated inset section and the bias band below it.

Besides the extra room at the princess seams, this FBA also requires extra length in the bust. See how the midbust seam is spreading open in the photo above? I decided to also add 1" of length (see changes below.)

Okay, let's translate this to the flat pattern. 

1. First, I added 1/2" to the center front bodice (which is one half of the princess seam). 

2. Next, I added that extra length to the top of the pattern piece, tapering down to the original center front. 

3. Repeat on the bodice side front. 

4. Now, get out the "stay" piece. Slash and down the center, leaving a hinge at the top. Spread the pieces apart 1".

Add 1/2" to the bottom of this piece for extra length in the bust.

I also moved the dart back to its original position.

5. Now for the most complicated piece, the "bra." It has a ton of pleats and looks scary, but it isn't too bad to adjust. Slash and spread as you did for the stay piece.

Always re-draw the grain line and smooth out and rough edges caused in the process.

Adding length is the tricky part. You need to fold and pin all those pleats as they'll be sewn, after taping the pattern piece to a larger clean sheet of paper.

Add 1/2" to the bottom of the piece, tapering up to nothing at the right side.

Cut out the pattern piece with the pleats still folded.

Unfold and your new cutting lines are magically revealed!

Note: if you have to add a lot of length to the bottom of the pleated piece, I would recommend adding another pleat on each side (by slashing and spreading) to continue the pleats down to the bottom of the piece.

6. The last piece to adjust is the strap, which is the bias inset below the pleats. It needs to gain 1" at each princess seam to fit the adjusted pattern pieces. Between center front and the pattern notches, slash and spread the pattern 1" on each side, adding new tissue paper behing the slash.

7. Now it's time to test in muslin. I sewed up the lower bodice and did a quick fitting. There was a lot of bagginess below the bust.

I pinned this excess into the princess seams, contouring the seams below the bust.

This resulted in a new seamline, shown in pink below.

The muslin fit much better with that adjustment.

8. Construct the shelf inset portion of the bust, as well as the bias strap. Assemble everything together, sewing it to the bodice back and basting in a long zipper for fitting. Add boning for the fitting (see my tips here!).

Well, the great news is that the bodice now fits overall, closing perfectly in the back. I did notice some excess bunching in the lower part of the pleated bra part, however. So I ripped that portion out, and scooted it slightly down into the bodice. Much better!

 There you have it, readers. I hope you've found this helpful!

Finished! Butterick 5882, the Shelf Bust Dress

Whew! That was a whirlwind. I made this dress over the course of a week, flew out to Dallas to wear it to a wedding, and flew back home the next day.

To catch you up, this pattern is part of my line of retro designs for Butterick Patterns, "Patterns by Gertie." (And they are all currently on sale for $1.88!) This particular design is number B5882 and was inspired by a 50s style called the "shelf bust."

Here's how my process works: I make the pattern and sample garment (all in a size 10), send it in to Butterick for grading and photographing and all that stuff. When the pattern is officially released, then I get a copy and can make it for myself in my own size (which is a 14, for reference).

Here's the model-y version.

And the Gertie version.

I added pockets!

And just happened to have the perfect shoes in my closet, never worn.

They're by Poetic Licence (the style is called "Faithfully"), and they are black on the outside and white on the inside of foot! Perfect for my black and white dress.

It was unseasonably cold in Dallas (I spent the outdoor reception huddled in Jeff's jacket) and crazy windy. Hair at the beginning of the day:

Hair one hour later:

Yikes!

Anyway, back to the dress, with a few construction details.

I added 3" wide horsehair braid to the hem. I bought this horsehair from Steinlauf and Stoller by the 36 yard roll. That's how much I love it. It's the best quality horsehair I've come across, very firm with a strong cord for pulling to shape the braid. (If you're curious how to use horsehair braid, here's tutorial to help you! I also have a segment from It's Sew Easy if you're more of a video person.)

The unmentionables! I added bra cups to the bodice. I just tacked them in by hand.

The waist stay is a wide petersham ribbon from a millinery supply store. The bodice is steel-boned all the way around. I made the boning channels by cutting two bodice linings, sewing them together wrong sides together, and then stitching lines to make pockets for the boning. (I detailed this method on my yellow dress from 2010, the days of yore. Thankfully I've figured out a better way to cut steel boning since then, which I will share one of these days.)

I borrowed a pocket pattern from a skirt pattern I own and sewed them into the side seams.

The fashion fabric is a silk and cotton brocade with flocked velvet polka dots from New York Elegant Fabrics. AMAZING. The contrast is a silk satin shantung from Paron Fabrics. I lined the whole thing in a lightweight cotton-poly blend from Metro Textiles, and finished the hem on the lining in black contrast narrow hemming on my serger.

Lapped zipper.

Okay, about the straps. I wrote a post about how I originally intended them to be worn, which is with the band flipped down under the bust and then twisting at the upper edge of the bodice.

And after all that, I ended up sewing mine differently. I kept my band flipped down all the way around the bust, no twist. I just liked how it looked on me when I tried it on.

I tacked the band down just where it turns into the strap, to keep it in place.

Whew! I think that's it! Overall, I'm really happy with the dress. It's a special kind of thrill being able to make my own pattern design. Here's a couple shot to end with.