Burda Style For people who sew
Description
Butterick 5556: MISSES’ DRESS AND BELT. Lined dresses A, B, mid-calf, have semi-fitted bodice and gathered, flared skirt, winged or stand-up collar, below elbow kimono sleeves, side zipper and side front pockets. B: sleeve cuffs with slit. Self-fabric belt has purchased buckle. Purchased petticoat.
I love the 1950s style lines on this pattern – here is a big thanks to Butterick for adding to their vintage reproduction pattern line. I was very excited to see their latest catalogue also includes two new vintage reproductions, especially since there are no new Vintage Vogues.
The instructions are very easy to follow. In fact, I would disagree with the “Average” rating on the pattern. A beginner could definitely tackle this pattern with a little patience. That being said, there are more than a couple of pieces involved, and a ton of darts to tie off!
My fabric choice is a wool suiting from Fashion Fabrics Club in purple and navy diamond pattern with bits of fuchsia thrown in for extra texture. Unfortunately, I only had about 4 yards of 52" fabric, and there was absolutely no way to get all those full skirt pieces cut out. It would seem that the 4 1/4 yard requirement for 60" fabric is a bit of a stretch.
My alterations include:
I added a grograin waist stay (not suggested in the pattern but a good idea for any dress if you want to add stability). I bound the wool edges with Hug Snug rayon seam binding from fabric.com. This stuff is fantastic and such a deal (well, if you know you will eventually use 100 yards of it in any one color!). Instead of interfacing, I used some blue cotton from my stash.
I added 3/4" to the torso length, which is my standard adjustment. I also shortened the arm length by 1". Because of my limited yardage, I removed 1" from the skirt length (and 1/2" from the skirt lining length). I also knew that it would be necessary to remove some volume from the skirt in order to make everything fit. This was accomplished by folding out 3" at the waist end of the skirt side pattern piece and increasing that fold to 11" at the hem edge.
Because I wanted to use a 1 1/4" buckle, I changed my seam allowance on the belt pattern piece to make the belt fit the buckle.
I used french seams on my skirt lining, and added thread tacks at the two side and two front seams to keep the lining in place. (It would be very easy to make this dress without the skirt lining, and save on fabric, but I was concerned that my wool would “stick” to my petticoat.)
I love my new wool dress. I even had someone at work tell me that I looked like Grace Kelly!
Material Notes
Wool suiting from Fashion Fabrics Bemberg rayon lining Invisible zipper (substituted for regular zipper) Hug Snug Seam binding in fuchsia from fabric.com
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14 Comments
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May 24, 2011, 09.19 AMby tirrs
cute
Feb 6, 2011, 08.45 PMby jhurienesling
Beautiful dress!
Feb 6, 2011, 01.49 PMby elegantmusings
Absolutely stunning—bravo! Thank you for all the construction details too; it’s always neat to know how someone approached a vintage-reissue pattern like this. :)
Feb 5, 2011, 09.05 PMby Dupioni
Great job!
Feb 5, 2011, 07.10 PMby thistletoo
Beautiful! The color is perfect and it sounds as though the construction was meticulously done.
Feb 5, 2011, 03.12 PMby Ywea
wow. nice:)
Feb 5, 2011, 03.11 PMby frkbustad
It’s gorgeous! And the details you’ve worked on is such a great job.
Feb 5, 2011, 11.13 AMby katexxxxxx
This is lovely.
Feb 5, 2011, 06.25 AMby dstasko
Good on the bound seams, they look sharp.
Feb 5, 2011, 06.24 AMby juebejue
i must say that i LOVE it! it looks very very nice. love the weave of the wool.
Feb 5, 2011, 03.37 AMby SimplyTuTuSweet
Very vintage and very lovely! Fantastic job.
Feb 5, 2011, 02.44 AMby strawberrypancakesbykim
Feb 5, 2011, 01.23 AMby mellow1
Coool!
Feb 5, 2011, 01.11 AMby allygally
Cool dress! What is a waist stay?
1 Reply
Feb 5, 2011, 11.12 AMby katexxxxxx
It’s a tape or ribbon round the waist inside, to teke the strain off the zipper and stop the dress shifting about on you. Very nifty trick, yer waist stay.