BarbieCore Butterick 6889

My latest project for the Fabricville blog is just squeaking in to the end of summer dress season. But when I saw this combo I knew I had to try it! The pattern, 6889, is a Retro Butterick 50s release, I've had my eye on it for a while and decided to try it now. There were a few interesting fabric choices in the latest Fabricville options, but when I saw this pink printed cotton I suddenly felt that I absolutely needed to make a BarbieCore vintage inspired dress. 

This is a quilting cotton so doesn't have as much flow as the fabrics that are recommended for this pattern, but I thought I'd give it a go anyway. I do think it turned out well, but in a lighter fabric, the gathers at the waist will fall more lightly that they do in my version. 

I made a few adjustments -- mainly in length, as usual for someone who is barely 5'2"! I found that the bodice of this pattern is quite long, and I ended up taking about 1.25" out above the waist, so that the ties would fall on my waist. I didn't want a lot of blousing, as the pattern image shows that it's pretty sleek. I did end up with some blousing, however, and do find that there is a lot of ease in the bodice, even though I cut it according to my measurements. The neckline fits very well, however, and isn't too constricting, which is something I thought about while cutting this out. I also took about an inch out of the skirt length, and used a 1.5" hem as well. 

The other small alteration I made was to add in a side pocket on the right side (opposite the buttons). I always need a pocket! I think you could add patch pockets as another option, as they would fit quite well into the retro aesthetic. But I just added a side seam pocket, using one of my standard templates. 

I used the required 1/2" shoulder pads as per the pattern, as I felt that they would finish the look, although I didn't cover them with fabric, which was an option, with pattern pieces for that purpose included in the pattern. And I'm quite pleased with the pretty shell buttons that I found at Fabricville to finish this one off! 

As to the pattern itself, I wouldn't recommend this for a beginner. There is a lot of hand sewing to get things secured, and there is also the line of buttons on the side. I do find that I can put it on over my head without undoing any buttons though, so to simplify this project you could easily add buttons to the side band without making any actual buttonholes. The instructions are a bit vague in places; I found them difficult to decipher in the stage of putting the side button bands on (yes, there was unpicking...) I felt like the instructions could have been a bit more expansive, even though the dress itself was fairly simple overall.

So this dress took a little longer to put together than I'd planned but in the end I am happy with my Barbie influenced dress! It's a bit different from my usual style, especially with the close fitting neckline, but it's always fun to try something new.  

When Refashions Go Wrong

Way back in the spring, PatternReview was running its Sewing Bee challenge. I made it to Round 2 on the strength of my first project, a Knit Dress With A Twist. 

The challenge for Round 2 was Collars. I have lots of collars that are interesting, and lots of things I've always wanted to try. I decided to try to make a Book Dress with a Chelsea Collar that would be multi-layered to look like book pages. Well, great idea but not so great in the execution. 

I used Simplicity 7238, a Christie Brinkley pattern from 1991. I had some good base fabric for the dress -- an old sheet, which had tones and shapes that reminded me of old book bindings. So far so good. Then I tried to create layers of sheers as "pages". So many problems! 

First off, the Chelsea collar wasn't the right choice for this concept - there was too much collar, and the sheers that I had in my stash just weren't stiff enough. I sprayed them all with spray starch and pressed but still not enough body to have the effect I wanted. Also, I caught Covid right at the beginning of collar week so was way too exhausted to do anything that might have added to the effect, like adding a text underlay, stitching with wire edges etc. I gave up and just got done what I had started so I had an entry. 

But I didn't like very much, I felt that it really didn't work for me. I put it aside thinking that maybe I could take off the sheer layers and make the dress actually wearable. I finally got to the refashion this month, and removed the sheer bits, sewing the plain collar back on. I like it much better, and think it could be wearable. But not, alas, by me. 

I don't like the shape of this dress, or the collar, or the fabric colours (why did I think I would like these colours on me?). It doesn't have any drape, and the whole outfit is just a big fail, refashion or not! 

However, the fabric is very interesting in its own right, so I'll be unpicking the zip to go back in the stash, and cutting up the dress to put into my art quilt scrap box. I can see it making a great background for something :) The joys of having non-garment sewing possibilities! 

This project was another reminder that the things I make for challenges or contests that don't already fit in with my wardrobe plans and/or colour-pattern preferences are rarely successful. I will be able to reuse this fabric, but will never get all the time back that I sunk into the project. Have you had projects like this too? I have to remind myself to be more conscious about what I'm choosing to make, in many different ways.