Butterick 6388 (knit dress)

I finally got around to making this dress after having it rotate in and out of the queue for a couple of years.  It's so quick and easy to sew; I don't know what took me so long to make it.

There's so much to like about this pattern:  it's a knit, has pockets, some waist shaping, and a collar that nicely frames the face.  Love!

I cut and sewed this in about four hours - not including the muslin. 

Fabric & notions:

• 2 yards dark pink scuba knit (I think)
• 80/12 stretch needle
• steam-a-seam for all hems
• serger, sewing and coverstitch machines

Size (edited):  I cut a size medium everywhere.  Since I have the bad habit of working on more than one project at the same time, I confused the details of this dress with McCall's 7429.  Ooops. =)

Alterations:  I added a 3/4" wedge to the center front as a cheater FBA.  I didn't want to do a real FBA because I didn't want to have to deal with the dart.

I removed 1" from the side seam to the center back for the swayback adjustment.  Since I usually have to adjust for trunk junk, I added 1" from the side seam to the center back in the hip area.  This helped to keep the front and back side seam lengths the same.

I also added 3" to the hem.  As drafted, the cut edge ends an inch above my knees.  Errr...that's pretty short and I'm only five feet tall.

Despite my love for the collar, it's too tall at the center back.  I shaved 5/8" from the top and bottom, tapering to nothing at the center front.  This helped a little, but not enough; the collar still hits the back of my hair. 

The collar also could benefit from a bit of interfacing to keep it from collapsing.  

Construction:  I finished the edges of the knit with my serger and pressed the major seams open.  I didn't want the bulk of a seam pressed to one side because the fabric was rather thick.  I know knits don't ravel, but my mind wouldn't let that edge go unfinished. =)

Usually I sew knit seams with a straight stitch and then serge over it to maintain stretch.  Since I didn't serge the seams together, I sewed each seam with a  small zigzag stitch (width 1.5, length 2.0).

I didn't add the pockets because...um...I just didn't.  I still like them though!

 (ooof...bad lighting)

The only thing I'm mildly annoyed about is the lower sleeve seam.  I pressed and topstitched it in the wrong direction, so the stitching points upward instead of down.  Waaaaaah.  Meh, I am not redoing it. =)

Overall I'm happy with the dress.  I don't have any immediate plans to make it again, though I can see at least one more version some time in the future.

This pattern was part of my MakeNine2019 plan. 

Two down, seven to go.  Yay!

L