I found this pretty double-knit wool while I was supposed to buy something else in Okadaya. It happens a lot, doesn’t it? Anyway, I bought a meter of it without knowing what to made of the fabric.
I browsed through my pattern stash and found this Butterick 5672. From the pattern envelope: “Close fitting, lined dress has left side invisible zipper, left dart and left pleats from drape effect.” Looks perfect!
The instructions are very clear-written. The pattern itself is simple with only four outer pieces. In my initial sketch of this dress on my croquis, I drew the dress with sleeves. But after laying down the pattern pieces, I realized that the fabric is not enough so I chose view A, the sleeveless dress.
There are several alteration that I made to the pattern pieces. As usual, the bodice pieces are shortened, and the skirt hem was shortened a lot due to fabric limitation. I also added a center back seam for zipper instead of left side zipper because I wanted to make a swayback adjustment. The pictures of the alteration that I made on the bodice pattern can be seen in here and here .
As the whole dress is cut on bias, I ironed a strip of fusible interfacing to the center back seam as a reinforcement for sewing the zipper. The dress is fully lined in tricot, the lining is also used to finish the neckline and armscyes.
I ended up pinching about 1 cm on each side from underarm to waist. The neckline was gaping a bit, this happens to me a lot so next time I should add this alteration to my usual adjustments.
As for the finishing, the double knit was very stable and doesn’t fray a bit so I just left the edge raw. The hem was finished with vintage seam binding and catch-stitched to the inside. The hem of the lining was simply zigzagged. The lining was peeking a bit around the armscyes, but these can be easily fixed as they are slip-stitched by hand (if I’m not too lazy to do it though).
Recently I took The Couture Dress online course by Susan Khalje at Craftsy and had fun learning a lot of things. One of them was adding a couple of bra strap carriers on the inside of the shoulder using thread chains and small snaps. This is very useful especially for dress with wide neckline like this. I also made these thread chains to connect the skirt and the skirt lining.
One thing that I kinda regretted from this dress was the color. I really like the color but I just made a coat in similar color! If I wear this dress with the coat, it will be too… green. But aside from all those little things, I love love love the result! It fits wonderfully and the fabric feels fabulous. It is still too cold to wear the dress outside like this so it would be definitely worn with layers. But spring is coming!
Pattern is Butterick 5672 view A, size 8 on bust and 10 on waist and hip.
PS: Thank you for all the sweet comments on my wedding anniversary post! ♥♥♥
Oh! Lovely! The color, the pleats, the little details—what a beauty!
It’s beautiful. You are very talented.
This is stunning! I LOVE the color, and the fit is perfect! Yay! I say you can’t have too much of a color that lovely!
Oh I love the white shoes paired with the green dress! The dress is amazing!
WOW, this dress is a stunner. Beautifully made and worn.
Wowweee, truly a stunner dress. Love it!
You look fabulous in this dress! I find the pleats very flattering on you and it looks like your fitting changes were perfect.
I have been wearing some sleeveless dresses in the winter with a 3/4 length shirt underneath. I find this works well with bold colours and tights or leggings on the bottom. You might be able to pull this off with this dress too.
Lovely work!
This is a great colour on you and a great dress. Very stylish. I don’t think it is too much green as the coat is a very different and muted green… I’d put a big splash of fushia or a purple with it i.e a scarf if you want to wear them together. It fabulous!
That is a great idea! Now I began to see them with new eyes, thank you!
Love color, looks so nice, cant’ belive it is double-knit wool …for plate.
Stunning! It’s perfect.
This is a bit of a change from your usual style, but I have to say you look absolutely stunning in this dress!!! The colour is fantastic and, as always, the workmanship is perfect. How I wish my handmade clothes looked that good on the inside!
I used to not pay much attention to the inside because I was impatient, but all those little details really makes much difference to the dress when it is worn. They are not difficult, just needs a little bit more time
This is just gorgeous. Thanks for showing all the adjustments you made. I hope you feel like a million bucks when you wear this. You should!
Yes I do! Thank you Mainelydad!
oh wow, this dress is gorgeous! I’m really loving the color and the pattern! I may have to search this one out!
Gorgeous dress and I love that colour.
wowza! you look like you spent £250 in an expensive lady’s dress shop for this. super chic! It makes me think that before I graduate and become a doctor I really should learn dressmaking skills like yours…presumably once you’re at the pattern altering stage it’s not hard to add pockets to things (which is the major issue with clothes for me…well that and I’m 180cm!) so that there’s somewhere to attach your bleep (pager) etc!
you are such an inspiration. and a beautiful one to boot!
You can learn dress making now
It is a very relaxing activity and we got ourselves a bunch of nice clothes a as a result too. I’m small so it is not very easy to find clothes that fit me well, now I can make them myself 
You look gorgeous!!
And congratulations on your anniversary.
I never cease to marvel at your skills. The dress is stunning!
Oh my goodness gracious, you look absolutely fabulous! So much so, I had to de-lurk to tell you that I love that dress on you. I’ve passed by that pattern before and always dismissed it because I didn’t like the envelope illustrations, but made up in that color? I might have to go take another look!
Glad that you have delurked! Thank you 😀
You look absolutely stunning. I love the color too, very classy!!
Thank you Yoshimi!
perfect~ i love the fabric & green color that you choose
It looks fantastic! Really glamorous and such a good fit.
So perfect! The fit is incredible, too. 😀 Your past sewing experiences definitely contributed to your sharpened skills.
Oh wow, you look stunning! The side pleats are very classy…This blew me away!
Gorgeous!!! Gorgeous dress!!! And it suits you very well!!! I like the color, it is very cheerful, and will be perfect for spring. The fabric is really beautiful, it looks like it has a nice texture… You look gorgeous in this dress!
XOX
knock. OUT!!!
and many happy wishes on your anniversary. no doubt when you step out in this, he’ll propose all over again.
Oona your comments always make me me laugh! I have to show this to my husband! 😀 D