Butterick 5319

Inspired by ... an old bedsheet!

A friend of mine had an old sheet sitting out at his yard sale quite a few months ago and I thought the print on it was really pretty. I had this pattern lying around, so I decided it seemed like a good time to try it out. 

The dress is fully lined - I used a lightweight pale yellow broadcloth for the lining. It is not an incredibly advanced pattern, but there are a lot of steps and I made quite a few careless mistakes along the way that I had to go back and fix. I am not yet very skilled at adjusting the fitting, so the bodice is a bit too loose. I chose not to include the sash from the pattern because quite frankly, I thought it was ugly. I'd like to make this dress again at some point and do the version with the sleeves.

Vintage Simplicity 3206

Inspired by all of the adorable aprons at Anthropologie

Anthropologie has some of the cutest aprons, but as is typical, they are all rather overpriced. This apron pattern actually came from my grandmother - it's from the 60s I believe. The cut of the apron is not really similar to the Anthropologie ones, but I still love the vintage look of it.

This was my very, very first sewing project. For a total beginner, I think it was a success. My grandmother had bought the pattern to make an apron for my grandfather and the women's size in the envelope was a large, so it is too big for me, but I don't mind. I like the three pockets across the front and the rick-rack is a fun decorative touch. Having this just makes me want to bake more :)

Simplicity 2588

Loosely inspired by 500 Days of Summer (again)

I am fairly certain that almost every girl that has watched this movie drooled over this dress. One day I would love to try to create a close match, but for now I have made a dress that somewhat channels the style, but is a more casual version. I really like the center bodice bow and the baby blue color. This pattern had lots of options and pattern pieces to be creative with. I've been quite happy with the Project Runway line that Simplicity has. This is what I came up with:

 I used a very lightweight broadcloth - inexpensive, but surprisingly feels quite nice. I used white satin ribbon as a decorative touch around the bodice and hem. The only step I found mildly frustrating with this pattern was the neckband (and that could just be because I am a novice). I ended up handstiching the facing along the neckband. I altered the length a bit - probably shortened it ~4 inches? Conveniently I applied the ribbon around the bottom right on top of my hem line, allowing me to machine stitch the hem and save time.  I applied the ribbon with Stitch Witchery, which fuses it on and makes the task very simple and fast. The ribbon doesn't perfectly come together in the back, but overall it looks decent. The placement of my zipper looks a tad flawed too because there seems to be too big of a space left at the neck, but oh well. Not bad for my third dress project.

Butterick 6582

Inspired by 500 Days of Summer

I loved this dress Zoey Deschanel wore in a brief scene of this film. To my excitement, the Butterick 6582 pattern allowed me to make an extremely similar version of this dress! This is one of Butterick's Retro patterns so it is a re-released version from the 50s.

This is actually the very first dress I ever made (with significant guidance from my mother). I used inexpensive cotton fabric from Joann's. While the quality of the fabric is not very high and I'm not sure how well it will hold up, it is a good option for a beginner sewer.

The pattern was easy to follow and the dress was overall fairly simple to construct. I used the bow pattern piece to add a bow to the back of my dress. I tacked the bow down on one side and used a hook and eye for the other side so that it could lie over the zipper. I also significantly altered the length of the dress. I ended up cutting off ~10 inches of length. I found the shorter length more flattering on me - leaving the dress with a vintage feel, but a slightly more modern style. I also made a wider hem than the instructions suggested. I think full skirted dresses hang better with a wider hem. 

Definitely recommend!