Grading Down Butterick 5001

I've been wanting to sew this dress for years. Today, when I finally got around to it, I discovered that I had shrunk out of it. The smallest size in the envelope is 18W, and I need a 16 at most on top. And by the way, since the smallest size for this pattern in any envelope is 18W, there's no freakin' way that either of the drawings below are representative of that size. Just sayin'. But it is nice to see an actual plus sized model rockin' the dress in the photo.

So I mentioned that I had to go smaller on the Vogue 1224 dress I just made but that's all I did — mention it. Today, I thought to snap some pics to show how. I know for some of you this will be old news, but for those who have never graded a pattern up or down, pictures help.

Here you can see the uncut pattern piece with the different cutting lines. I just used the offset between the existing cutting lines to create lines where the 16 would fall.

As you can see, the spacing between sizes differs depending on the particular section of the pattern. Just be sure to duplicate the existing spacing/offset all around.

It's pretty easy. I freehand it around the curves and use a ruler for the straight lines because it's faster.

So far, so good. Sorry for the shadow. I didn't notice Zillie was half in the closet. I'm still testing spots for her while I sew.

Back tomorrow with a finished dress. I would've finished tonight, but it seems my puttering around wasted more time than I realized and it's time for bed already.

Girl, Those Legs Are BLINDING Me

So, if you can look past the glare that is my fish underbelly legs, here's some outside tripod shots of the finished dress. I'm wearing cream colored shoes and they are darker than my legs. Oy.

I removed the tie at the neck, which means I now have a buttonhole that leads to nowhere. Oh well, it gets hidden in the elastic gathers.

I also elasticized the sleeve hems. As they were last night, they just seemed frumpy muu-muu to me.

And yes, I am sucking in for all it's worth, why do you ask? ;-)

Here's the back view.

I think I'll go unpack a couple of boxes and then buy some self-tanner.

First Make in the New House

I think it's been like 2 months since I've sewn, but I'M BACK!! I obviously need to practice on the mirror shots again, at least until I dig out the tripod and find a good spot for self-timer photos. Did you forget what I look like? ;-)

Here's the dress on Zillie, where you can see the print better. This is a thoroughly aged buttermilk from Emma One Sock.

It felt good to have a sewing day, even if it was interrupted by a visit to the dentist and then 5 hours of numb face. And I didn't unpack even one box today which felt great too! But holy cow on the numb this time. Not only was my mouth numb, but I couldn't feel my nose or my eyeballs. My appointment was at 1:30 PM and I could feel my face again around 6:00 PM.

So, back to the sewing stuff …

Overall, this was a good pattern to jumpstart me back to garment sewing but I'm not head over heels in love with it yet. It's OK, though, and it will probably get a good amount of weekend wear since it's comfortable and easy to throw on. And it will likely grow on me after some time in the new magic wardrobe. It's not completely finished either. Still need to hem it and it's going to lose the ties hanging down from the neckline (too twee) and gain a belt/sash. I'll take more pics when it's completely done.

I read many of the reviews for this pattern (Vogue 1224) on PR and most of them advised to add length to the bodice as well as noting that the skirt was very short out of the envelope. So, like a lemming — a lemming too lazy to make a muslin — I went ahead and added an inch to the bodice length. I wish I hadn't. I think I'd actually prefer this waistline to be more empire-ish.

I didn't add length to the skirt because I didn't use the actual skirt pattern pieces. Since my Magic Pencil skirt pattern was handy, I got it out to lay over the Vogue skirt pieces for comparison. When I saw that my MP was an exact match for the size 16 skirt pieces, I decided to use the MP instead since I already knew it was the length I wanted. I cut a mostly 16 for the bodice but morphed to a 14 at the shoulders. Or what I think a 14 would be since this pattern didn't include an actual 14 in the envelope. It was pretty easy to just wing it based on the outward grading for the bigger sizes.I do like that the skirt is snug since peasant-all-over is not the way to look slimmer.

If you're familiar with this dress, you know about the weird sew-in interior elastic casing at the waist. Uh, no thank you. I just used the bodice/skirt joining seam allowances for the casing, folded upward and stitched down. I also did not line it, as the pattern calls for. No need for that either. Finally, I initially used the neckline elastic length per the pattern but ended up cutting about 6-8" off of that after seeing it was not nearly snug enough. I'm glad I went with the 14 shoulders cuz anything wider and my bra straps would be on display.


Parting Shot: The view out of my new sewing room window. It's very green and tropical out there, with a cute concrete table and benches. Kind of like the old McDonald's style. Plus, I can keep an eye on the dogs and their lizard hunting.

The threadracks were hung by the chimney with care …

… in the hopes that St. Butterick soon would be there.

But what to my wondering eyes should appear, but TWO MORE BOXES OF FABRIC … oh dear!

(Apologies to Clement Moore.) Where in the world did these come from and, more importantly, how am I ever going to squeeze them into the stash closet?? Will the boxes NEVER END?? ;-)

Looks like I'm going to have to sew them away. First up tomorrow, Vogue 1224. Should be a good fast and easy project to get me back into the groove.I hope I don't eat those words.

Tonight, I'm sipping a chocolate martini and luxuriating in the knowledge that I'm officially ON VACATION for the next 5 days, and I'll hang one picture in my bedroom and unpack the sewing books into the bookcase. And then tomorrow I'll get up early and hit the cutting table. It won't be all-sewing-all-the-time for the next 5 days, especially since I have to go to the dentist tomorrow for an unscheduled appointment due to part of my filling breaking off during lunch today and while I'm there I'm going to have the other two small fillings done that I've put off too long. It will be my first time using my dental insurance. Yay dental insurance and yay flexible spending account deductions! But at the end of my 5 days, I do intend for there to be new clothes to wear next week come hook or crook. Stay tuned.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like …

… my sewing room!!

It's done, it's done!! Well, except for  hanging up my 3 thread racks. 

The room is set up pretty much like my former sewing room, although this one is a skootch smaller so my ironing board is proving to be a PITA. But I'll get used to it. And it certainly could be a lot worse, like not having one at all. Sheesh, I have a LOT of stuff. ;-)

I brought my really big mirror from my former bedroom, which I know I will enjoy having in my sewing room, once I take some Windex to that sucker. You can actually sorta see me in the mirror but the flash is obscuring most of me.

One thing I did, which I'd been wanting to do for years, was to spray paint my pattern cabinet white. While it was empty and in the garage, I took advantage. So glad to be rid of that ugly commericial beige.

And, as you can see, we were able to wrestle my cutting table inside after all. Didn't even need to take it apart, but I do have to replace the casters since they bit the dust in the move. As you can also see, my fabric closet is door-less. Oops. Don't tell my landlord. There's a few possible solutions, but none of them are high on my list at the moment. Frankly, I'm enjoying the view of the stash again.

I still have some other boxes in other rooms calling my name, so I don't think I'll actually start sewing anything until mid-week but it's nice to know I can if I want to.