Butterick 6185 in Blue

This poor Butterick dress has been cut and waiting to made since the beginning of July. Other projects kept leaping ahead of it!

But if I wanted to wear it while the summer weather was still here, I knew I had to get busy. So I sewed it up this week, while listening to an audiobook of Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky. I can't usually stand audiobooks, but this one was good!

I had a length of thrifted mystery fabric in my stash that reminded me of the cover look for this coordinates pattern, so of course I went for the dress view.

It's a loose a-line dress, and the striking feature of it is the double collar. I had to piece the back centre seam of the collar to fit it onto my remnant of fabric, but I don't think it shows too much with the irregular dot pattern. And I had a lovely white linen scrap that worked perfectly for the undercollar.

The only issue I had with the collar is that four layers of collar (and interfacing), one layer of dress and one of facing makes it very bulky at that neckline seam. And with the light weight of the fabric, the collar feels a little bit heavy. I think if I made it again, I'd experiment with making the collars both one piece and just hemming them neatly, to reduce two layers and interfacing. You can see that my collar isn't perfectly even, but I thought it was good enough not to redo!

I'm not 100% sure of this one. It feels a little housedressy to me, really loose and casual. Maybe with a belt or sash it would feel a tiny bit more structured. But it is awfully good for a hot day without any waist constriction! 

Of course there are side seam pockets, even there weren't any in the pattern I'd have added them. I did extend the length slightly -- and I am short. If I'd had a bit more fabric I would have added another inch, but it's wearable. I just like my knees covered, it feels more secure to me with my short legs!

 It's a loose fit but not super baggy. Here I am twirling, and you can see that there is not an excess of fabric in the skirt. It slips on easily over the head. This morning I did take in a 1/2" wedge from under the arm to about the waistline area on each side, because it did feel a little too loose in the bust area - I had cut it at 16/18 according to measurement but should have stuck to my more usual 14/16/18 combo since my shoulder area is narrower. I find that if something fits in the shoulder/bust it can be as loose as you want elsewhere and still look like it fits.

 I think I like this back view best! It really shows off the cute print. I was worried that this dress, with its dots and wide collar, might be *too* cute, but it's growing on me. I have a little navy sweater to wear with it when it's cooler and that also tones it down a little. Still on the fence though. Wear it? Cut it off to blouse length? I'll have to see.

Call it Collars

Last September's challenge over at the Monthly Stitch was "Stick Your Neck Out". Make something with an appealing collar design, whatever you like -- but of course I took this quite literally, and made a few detachable collars! I've had them finished for ages but haven't had the chance to take photos, as I don't have a top with a high enough neckline to work with them. But I wanted to share them so just decided to use the one closest to working, and snapped some quick and silly selfies!

I've been wanting to try out some of these collar patterns for a while -- I've made a Vogue dress with a detachable collar previously, but never just a collar on its own.

I started with Simplicity 1727, intending to try a couple of the views, but only got as far as View A. You can see that this one would require a neckline that fits quite snugly in order to work properly. This dress with a fairly high scoop neck isn't high enough. But you get the idea...

The pattern is quite nice, although I did find that it's quite small in circumference, suited for a narrow neck or a really high collar. It's a bit too tight for me; I'll be adding 1/2" to the centre back the next go round so that it fits a little more evenly. I used a hook and eye closure instead of ties, but they aren't quite even so I have to reattach the eye properly so the collar front lays smoothly. There are a number of other views to be tried as well.

However, the pattern instructions are useful, giving assistance in some techniques that will keep a flat collar like this rolled to the underside, including understitching the facing as far as you can, and I used these techniques on the next collar, which was a better pattern for me but with hardly any instructions -- typical Burda! Here it is tied loosely to match with the edges of the neckline of this dress.

I found this pattern in the September 2017 Burda magazine. When I saw this I knew I'd have to try it, even if I didn't like the way it was styled in the magazine, over another frilly neckline. Too much going on! I'd like to try a velvety black collar using this pattern though.

This one was a better fit for my neck; it's the right circumference and I like the design. The only thing I realized after I'd finished was that once again I forgot to add seam allowances to my Burda pattern! Thankfully it still works on a project like this, it just made a skinny collar. I have retraced it and have plans to make another Burda shortly to test that out.

Tied tightly, pretending I have a full black background there....

The final one that I tried out was the free, downloadable Alva Collar from Named Patterns. I don't have any Named patterns yet (not even the Alva), but thought I'd try out this free addition. It's a different style of collar, as instead of tying or clipping at front centre, it has a button closure at the back. Imagine the ways you could personalize this shape.

 I laid the tissue around my neck first to test it out and determined that I needed more length. I added in 3/4" at each side, at around the shoulder, and I like it -- but I've reduced the extra length to 1/2" at each side for future attempts. It is just a smidge too long. But I really like this style and can see it done up again in many different ways. I was pleased with the design & the back closure; it works best of all of the designs so far.

These will be handy to add some spark to a bland tee or shift dress, for sure! I also have a very vintage pattern with some pretty wild collars to test out in future.

Have you ever made accessories like this?