Saturday, January 14, 2012

The next Butterick 6075 and a case of stegosaurus butt

I hoped I might get it together and get pictures of myself actually wearing my latest Butterick 6075, but two weeks have passed since it was completed, so I give up.  I made a few minor tweaks to this version, including narrowing the front neckline a smidge and adding small darts at the back neckline, both of which improved the fit.   It's still a little on the loose side, and I think I could narrow the front an additional smidge.  I will do that on the next version, which is definitely going to happen: I ordered fabric especially for it to match a cardigan I own.  Unfortunately, with my travel plans, I don't anticipate starting on it for another two weeks.  

So, anyhow, the completed dress -- this time I at least got a good closeup of the neckline!



This wasn't the fabric I intended to use:  after I had already cut out the lining, I realized that the print I had chosen was directional, and I didn't have enough of it to get the print running the right way on both the skirt front and back.  Ditto for my runner-up choice ... so I had to hunt up something else that went with the lining color I had chosen.  I bought this quilting fabric at JoAnn's a few months back.  It's a bit busy, and maybe a little too cute as well, but I'm a sucker for cherries!

Here's a lining shot.  It's cotton batiste, and though the green color is beautiful, it is wrinkly as heck!  The main fabric resists wrinkles pretty well though.  All quilting fabric is not created the same, and I wish I knew how to identify the less wrinkle-prone ones!  Often it's impossible to tell until they've been through the washer and dryer the first time.   It doesn't seem to be tied to whether or not they're the "designer" fabrics or not, or what their weight is.   Anyhow, I did the usual and attached the facings (which are also interfaced) to the lining.


Last weekend, I started a Colette Ginger skirt.  Unfortunately, I think this one is dead in the water, mainly due to bad fabric choice.  I did version 3, the one cut on the bias, and I guess my fabric (a cotton or cotton blend from the clearance aisle at High Fashion Fabrics) wasn't heavy enough, as even with a lining, the drape is drape-y enough to be unflattering.   I also need to do some fit adjustments, ere I attempt this pattern again.   Between the fit issues and the drab color, this skirt was clearly wandering into "dowdy prison matron" territory.   And then I did this:


Look, my butt has humps!  I'm pretty sure this happened because I pulled the bias-cut fabric too taut when inserting the zipper.   I'm not too experienced with sewing fabric cut on the bias, and so I did what I do when normally, which usually ensures I don't get any puckers when I sew in the zip.  However, in this case it gave me the dreaded "stegosaurus ass": the fabric tried to tighten back up but the zipper wasn't having it.  I picked the zipper out, but I think I'm done with this one.   I'll try Ginger again later, with a heavier fabric.

5 comments:

  1. Stegasaurus butt - that is hilarious! At least your dress is really pretty! Gotta look on the bright side. :)

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  2. Dress looks adorable, Texas. Looks as if it could be reversible. Too bad about the skirt. Proves that zippers are evil!

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  3. You're so smart! I've had that happen before and never made the connection w/ bias stretching!

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  4. In the store, try scrunching the fabric with your hand. That will help you tell if it gets wrinkles easily or not.

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  5. You could add a little lightweight interfacing strip around zipper to stop the bias stretching, hope it works for you next time! The dress is stunning!

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