Tuesday 6 June 2017

Holiday Maxi - Butterick B6051

I have been incredibly lax at blogging recently. This has been down to starting a new job, birthdays, weekends away and a holiday. I've actually sewn tons of stuff since I last blogged, just not got round to writing about it. I will catch up soon, including the fab dressmakers ball and a number of dresses for work. In the meantime, I wanted to write a quick post about my latest make, a maxi dress for my holiday. 

I bought some fabulous hot pink and black chevron jersey from Girl Charlee when they had a flash chevron sale. I knew it would be perfect for a maxi dress, even though I didn't have a pattern at the time, so I got 3m to ensure I would have enough. I have been searching on and off for a jersey maxi dress pattern for ages as two of my favourite pre-sewing Summer dresses were knit maxis. I spotted Butterick B6051 in a pic in my Instagram feed, as part of a photo of loads of different patterns then searched for it and found I could make it with jersey so ordered the pattern. 

As with all best-laid sewing plans, I totally ran out of time to make this before my holiday and had decided to make it for when I got back instead. However, I had a last minute change of heart and decided that I NEEDED this dress to take to Tenerife and started making it the evening before I went away. As usual, if there is a way to make my life more difficult, I can be guaranteed to take it. 

This was a relatively quick and easy sew, but the sheer volume of fabric involved meant that cutting out took ages. The bodice had a turned under neck seam and I ended up stitching this with my normal machine rather than my coverstitch because I was making it in such a rush and the coverstitch machine was away in the cupboard!  I would have got a more professional finish using the other machine, but needs must. The elastic either side of the waistband ended up adding a bit of bulk with the seam allowance, something I would definitely try to remedy if I make this again. 

In retrospect, the fabric is probably a bit too fine for the pattern and it would work better in a thicker knit or even in a fine woven (although that wouldn't have the benefit of being crease-free in a suitcase). The weight of the fabric in the skirt does make it feel as though the bodice if being pulled down, although I don't think this is all that noticeable when wearing it. I'm still in love with this fabric, and pleased I saved it for a maxi. 

I didn't get too many pics, but here I am ready to go out for tapas:

 

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