Butterick Dress pattern B5882

Who's ready for Spring? I am! This winter has felt long and we still have a couple of months to go. 
I've been busy sewing in my warm sewing studio. It's right next to my wood stove, so naturally, I've been hanging out there all winter. 

My family and I are going on a cruise this spring and I remember from past cruises there's always a fancy dress night. I wanted to make my own fancy dress an I had an actual place to wear it. Win-Win! Cue the Butterick pattern that I've had in my arsenal for a while. I had yards and yards of fabric leftover from a Halloween project. 

I decided to make the B5882 dress because I had nothing to lose. My fabric wasn't anything I had an attachment to, I just dove in! I did make a muslin first because I almost always have to do an FBA. But...no FBA was needed this time. Shock and awe!

Supply List:

• Sewing machine and all that jazz
• 14" zipper
• Boning 
• Interfacing
• Fabric and lining
• Patience
• Grosgrain ribbon
• Hook and eye set
• Matching threads
• Butterick Pattern B5882
• 
  

Cup instructions have arrows to help the folding, but it was still difficult.

I used pins, clips, washi tape, anything I could find and use to finagle this fold into place.

Once the folding was figured out, the rest was a walk in the park.

The muslin turned out, the fit was great. I didn't need an FBA. Woohoo!!

I made the muslin, tried it on, and it fit! Hooray! Next was the cutting of the fashion fabric and lining. I went in head first and full of confidence. 

Make sure you stitch and pivot at the exact dots for the strap. It'll cause issues down the road if you don't. *I learned my lesson.

That whole folding thing was super simple with muslin fabric. Not so much with Taffeta. It was fiddly and didn't press how I expected. So, in the end I went with however the fabric behaved and called it a day. You'll notice in my photos at the end that the strap still doesn't lay flat. 

Pressed the pleats into place using a tailors ham. Didn't really work, but.. good enough. Ha!

Got one pinned, onto the second one.

Fold and press

Use pins, clips or whatever you can find. This is the tricky part.

Sew one cup on first, then the the other will get sewn over the first cup. So many layers!

I had never used boning before, but have made my own bras. In the future, I want to dabble in corsetry for myself. I own a few corsets and love them. I love how they squish everything into place and keep it there. I didn't buy the pre-cased plastic boning as the pattern recommended. Instead, I ordered yardage of spiral steel boning from Etsy. I also ordered boning casing, and the little metal caps that go on the ends to you don't get poked. I was intimidated, but it ended up being pretty darn easy! 

Excuse the lighting, I did the boning part at night.

After sewing the casing on, I stuck the boning inside. So easy!

Cable cutters, casing, spiral boning, and boning tips.

Zipper time! 
Grab that zipper and foot. The pattern calls for a lapped zipper which is similar to a regular zip, but the measurements are changed up a little bit.  
You want the left seam to be smaller than the right seam so the fabric folds over and conceals the zipper. I always love a lapped zipper because they're easy and a nod to true vintage style.

The left side is sewn right at the zipper teeth. The right side will have more fabric so that when the zipper is closed, the teeth are hidden. 

See how the fabric is folded over when I stitch the left side for the lapped zipper.

I didn't take any more photos after the zipper. All that's left to do was the skirt. Follow the directions and match the notches. Hand sew the lining to the zipper and hand stitch the bodice lining to the skirt lining.

Let the dress hang for 24 hours. Sew the hem by sewing a 1/4" seam line around both the lining and dress. Fold up the edge and press. Then, fold it up again and stitch. You'll have 3 layers. You're basically creating a narrow hem.

I added the waist stay last- I completely forgot about it until I saw the ribbon I had cut, draped over my sewing cart. Haha!! 
I tacked the ribbon at the waist with a few stitches where the boning seams were. Sewed on the hook and eye and it was done! Time to take all the pretty pictures.

If you've made this dress or do make it, please tag me! I want to see your fabric choice and version. This dress taught me some new things and I really enjoyed making it. Aside from the pesky folding of those cups, it was fairly easy. Don't be intimidated by the boning like I was. 

​As always, thanks for reading and hanging out. 
​
Happy Stitching,
Annette

I'm going to hand sew a few hidden stitches to keep the neckline strap down. It likes to pop up.

This is the back view. It's a form fitting dress but, it's comfortable.

Wanted to show the gold lining. The whole dress reminds me of Mardi Gras. If I ever go, I'll be sure to pack this beauty. :D