Butterick B6318 in Houndstooth!

Hey!!!! 

This make feels about a thousand years old now! Seriously I've worn it loads since I made it. 

The fabric is from the abakhans fill a bag sale and as soon as I saw it I knew I wanted to make this dress. Annoyingly their wasn't quite enough for the belt as well so I used some of the Burgundy triple crepe that I used for my other version. Both of the fabrics are of a similar weight so it works nicely. But I'm not 100% about the two colours, mainly because the ties are inserted into the seam so you can see them really clearly. 

I think the hounds tooth is some sort of drapey polyester type thing? It melts under a hot iron but luckily provided I hang it up straight out of the dryer it doesn't need ironing anyway. 

The pattern is butterick B6318 which is a vintage reproduction pattern. You can buy it online and I'm pretty sure it came free in love sewing magazine at one point but I actually got mine in a charity shop for 20p!!!!! 

Alteration wise I took an inch off the length of the bodice [because apparently I have a tiny torso] , took a wedge out of the centre front neckline to stop gaping and make the skirt panels the same size. 

For some bizarre reason the original pattern has the front skirt and the back skirt pieces at different sizes and then it has you line up the bodice side seam with a notch [or a circle something like that] which means the skirt and bodice side seams don't end up matching. 

Which makes me very very twitchy!!! 

I also extended the ties so that the bow would be much bigger and longer and I lined the bow in the same fabric. The original pattern just has you hem the edges but I much refer the ties lined because it makes for a cleaner finish. 

For the zip I just whacked in a standard one. I didn't even bother with doing a lapped one because I thought it was unlikely that the fabric would play nicely doing a lapped zip.

The only real issue I have with the dress is that the drop shoulder/kimono sleeves kick up a little bit where I hemmed them. Its not enough to stop me wearing it, but I will probably use bias binding next time I make the pattern up in the hopes that it doesn't happen again.

I've not got any pictures of the insides but its not lined, instead the neckline is finished with a facing and some top stitching. The waist seam is finished on the inside with bias binding. it makes it a bit bulky around the zip but its stopping the fraying and making things look a bit tidier. 

All in all I really like the dress. I love that its such a loud print on such a simple dress and that its so easy and comfortable to wear. 

It works especially well with my fleece tights and a big coat! Even in this weather!!!!!!!! Although saying that I am taking full advantage of the fact I've made my own jeans and keeping my legs really really toasty during this cold snap! 

I have some fabric to make another of these and I've promised my mum one as well to wear to Goodwood! 

In other news!!! 

Ummmmm I'm not sure I really have any other news? 

I've been enjoying wearing all the winter hats and scarves I knit last year. 

I was gutted that there wasn't more snow. I really wanted to have a snowball fight with little man! 

I'm hoping to get some more sewing done next week and I've got a pile of things ready to photograph for the blog! 

Much Love 

Frankie 

xxxx