Fitted Dress - Butterick 5382

I finished this dress at 3:00 a.m. Sunday morning. I was in the Women’s Day Choir on Sunday and everyone was supposed to wear brown. Staying true to myself (In other words, waiting until the last minute) I began cutting out the dress at around 10:00 p.m. To further complicate matters I couldn’t get my dark fabric marking pen to work, so I had to use the one for light colored clothes. Needless to say, it was hard for me to find the markings for the darts and pleats so it took me a little longer than I anticipated. Anyway…here’s my review.

Rating: Intermediate Beginner

Description: Straight, fitted dress, mid-knee, has front pleats, raised waist seam, self-faced cap sleeves and back zipper.
Did it look like the photo/drawing once you were done? Yes. However, the fabric that I used, (stretch suede) did not have as much stretch as I thought it did so the dress was a bit more “fitted” than I would have liked.  (Click here for the pattern photo.)
Were the instructions easy to follow? The instructions were very easy to follow. Although the pleats look difficult to make they are actually very simple!
What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I loved the shape of the dress and the empire waist styling.

Alterations/Design Changes? No alterations, but hindsight (literally) is 20/20! I should have reduced the seams to ¼ inch to give myself a bit more room, but hey, I was in a hurry and I was VERY sleepy.

Would you make it again? I will probably make this dress again, in another color and fabric for winter. I like the style and could easily pair it with a jacket.

Would you recommend it to others? If they like fitted dresses I suggest they give it a try!

Conclusion: This was an easy, last minute sewing project!

Continue reading →

Jacket and Skirt Combo

I finished this jacket and skirt about three weeks ago, but it took me a while to download the picture and sit down to write a post about it.

Jacket - Rating: Intermediate Beginner

Description: The jacket is semi-fitted with a mandarin collar, inverted pleats on the sleeve and bodice and a single snap closure. Inspired by Project Runway.

Did it look like the photo/drawing once you were done? Yep, it looked pretty darn close.  (Check out the pattern photo here.)

Were the instructions easy to follow? The instructions were easy to follow, but the steps took longer than I anticipated. This was my first time doing inverted pleats and on top of that each one of the pleats had top-stitching details on them. Combine that with encasing each seam in bias binding and the finish time got longer and longer.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I loved the instant shaping that the inverted pleats gave the jacket and I liked how the pleats gave the sleeves a slight “pouf”. I had a little trouble with the collar, but that is probably due to my own impatience and not the pattern.

Alterations/Design Changes? No alterations.

Would you make it again? I will probably not make this particular jacket, but I will make a variation of it with the additional pattern pieces provided in the envelope.

Would you recommend it to others? If they like the look of this jacket, I suggest they give it a try. If nothing else, it will be a good way to sharpen their top-stitching skills!

Conclusion: This was a fun jacket to make and although a bit time consuming it was still a pretty easy project.

Skirt - Rating: Beginner

Description: Straight, knee length skirt with front and back darts, back zipper and ribbon facing with a back slit.

Material: Stretch Poplin

Did it look like the photo/drawing once you were done? Yep!  (Check out the pattern photo here.)

Were the instructions easy to follow? Very easy

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I loved the fact that I only had to cut out two pattern pieces.



Alterations/Design Changes? Since I am 5’4 I shorted it by about 4 inches and I put bias binding on the bottom hem so that I would not have to worry about fraying.


Would you make it again? Yes, this was a really quick pattern, definitely one I that I will turn to when time is of the essence.


Would you recommend it to others? Yes, especially for beginners who are comfortable inserting zippers.


Conclusion: Easy, quick and a good fit…a must sew!

Continue reading →