Butterick 5831

I bought the Butterick pattern #5831 last year, when Joann Fabrics had their buy-a-bunch-of-patterns-real-cheap sale. It's marketed as a Civil War ear dress, but really the sloped shoulders make it acceptable for the Dickens Fair too. I've always wanted to try it, and this year I got the chance!

BTW, I prefer Butterick patterns because they have a clean, no fuss approach. The Simplicity patterns tend to have a lot of unnecessary steps and details which makes them a bit more work to adjust for size. I'm actually making this dress for my friend ("A") but except for my larger waistline we're almost sort of the same size.

My first decision -- and this made all the difference in the world -- was the choice of fabric. This is a "silkessence" polyester silk imitation, but it handles beautifully. It doesn't fray too much. It doesn't pucker. It is soft but not as impossibly slippery as gossamer, and with it's lower price it's not as scary to cut into as silk. Plus, I didn't make too many modifications to the original pattern. I was a good girl and followed most of the directions, including a cotton lining under the bodice that's a sort of fake chemise, and I put piping at the shoulder seams. The fabric was so thin and silky that I didn't need to do tedious cartridge pleats to gather the waistband. Whew! Also, I chose to make self-fabric loops for the buttons instead of button holes. I put a little modesty panel inside the front gap of the skirt. I hand-basted a lace collar that I got in the grab-bag at a rummage sale, and that really jazzes it up.

All I need to do is hem the bottom, which I can't do until "A" tries it on again, and which I can't ask her to do until I finish her hoop skirt. (Right now, I'm trying it on over my own ratty ol' hoop skirt.)  Glad her mom gave me that big bag of muslin to work with.