Butterick 5333

This project was a lesson in why I like to make muslins.

Butterick 5333 has one view that is very similar to a White House Black Market dress that Michelle Obama wore on TV during the 2008 campaign. It was my favorite of all her awesome outfits.

Here is my first muslin - this is with no pattern alterations at all.

Let's see: too tight in the hips, I need more upper bodice length, gaping at the neckline... and probably other smaller issues. I went back and cut apart the paper pattern to fix those problems and stitched it up. Considering how badly the muslin fit, this may have been a brave move, but I felt that I had gotten close enough to fudge with fit in the final garment stage.

It's still a WIP, but as the USCG Change of Command ceremony which I plan to wear the finished dress for is Wednesday, I suppose I'll be sweating away the evening hours tonight finishing it up!

First, here's a comedy photo. I didn't pay any attention to pattern placement on the facing which of course guaranteed the best possible motif placement. Thank goodness this is inside.

The midriff is lined in silk shantung (more wedding dress leftovers...) and the skirt is lined in silk habotai (ditto). The top facing is the fashion fabric, which is a 100% cotton that I think I bought at Mood last summer.

The back zipper is a metal one from Pacific Trim. I am newly a metal zipper snob.

I still need to hem it and stitch down some navy blue ribbons on the midriff panel, although I may be lazy and skip that step. We'll see how much energy I end up with on tracking down some blue ribbon in my stash. (;