Butterick 5953 In Progress

First of all, thanks for the great response to yesterday's post about a potential Hudson Valley sewing retreat! There was tons of interest, so I'm going to start getting price quotes and such. (Actually, Jeff is going to do that. He's an event planning wizard!) I will keep you updated as we go along.

I also wanted to share with you my progress on Butterick 5953, one of my latest designs in my pattern line.

I had hoped to finish it to wear to ASE (I love to set myself needless deadlines in the middle of stressful times for some reason) but that didn't happen. Now it will probably hang out mid-process while I do the sewing for my book.

It was actually a good thing I didn't finish it for the expo, because I found the perfect buttons there! 1960s carved pearl, in excellent condition.

Anyone else working on this pattern?

Fabric Options for Butterick 5953

When my Butterick pattern designs are released, I'm excited as anyone--mostly because I can finally sew the garments for myself instead of a model! I don't have a lot of free sewing time these days with those 35 garments for the book, but I'm determined to make Butterick 5953 soon. So I thought I'd let you in on my fabric selection process.

The pattern envelope recommends "woolens, crepe, taffeta, linen, broadcloth." For the sample garment in the photos, I used a thin stretch wool gingham suiting for the body and a light weight black wool gabardine for the contrast fabric.

The two most important fabric issues to consider for this design are comfort and thickness. The dress is unlined, so you'll want something that feels nice against the skin. And because there are two layers of garment wrapping over each other in the front (plus facings), you'll want to avoid anything too bulky.

I came up with two options. The first is a wonderful Marc Jacobs blue wool crepe with sparkly black polka dots from Mood.

I would use black cotton sateen for the contrast and shiny black buttons.

The second option is a purple doubleknit. I love the color!

I would pair it with an ivory contrast fabric and vintage-y ivory buttons. I love this color combo; the ivory is much softer than black contrast.

I'm leaning toward the purple since it has better drape and is thinner and softer against the skin. Of course, the sparkly dot wool crepe would need to be made into something else, soon!

My New Fall/Winter Butterick Designs!

Butterick 5953 and 5962

Readers, I have two new patterns released from Butterick! 

The first is B5962, and it's directly inspired by Dior's iconic Bar Suit of 1947.

I've spent many an hour on the internet looking for a pattern that would replicate the structure of the Bar Suit, to no avail. So I decided it would be the perfect starting point for one of my Butterick patterns!

The jacket is silk faille, underlined in silk gazaar (a heavy organza) for body). It has hair canvas structure inside, as well as a horsehair stabilizer at the hem. It features bound buttonholes, a notched lapel, and cuffed sleeves.

HUGE applause to the stylist of these Butterick photos!

The hourglass shaping is achieved through side panels and darts.

The skirt is made of lace. It's lined in taffeta for body, and has a wide horsehair braid hem facing for body. The waistband is made from grosgrain ribbon.

The pattern difficulty rating is average.

Next up is B5953, a simple wrap dress with lots of vintage flair.

The star detail of this dress is the structured bands over the bust, in contrast fabric.

The dress has elbow-length sleeves, dart shaping, and a side button closure.

There's a back godet for walking ease, done in contrast fabric.

I made the sample in wool gingham, with black gabardine contrast. The edges are finished with facings, and the pattern rating is Easy.

These designs were both very challenging and satisfying to design--I hope you enjoy them!