Butterick Dress pattern B 5882 sewing tutorial — Butterick B5882 dress pattern

I had this fancy-looking fabric lying around and used it for the Butterick 5882 dress pattern. It turned out well enough but, next time, I'll make some adjustments.

My family and I are going on a cruise this spring and I needed a fancy dress. I wanted to make my own dress. Cue the Butterick pattern that I've had in my pattern arsenal for a while. I had yards and yards of fabric left over from a Halloween project.

I decided to make the B5882 dress because I had nothing to lose. My fabric wasn't anything I had an attachment to so, I just dove in! I did make a bodice muslin first because I almost always have to do an FBA. But, no FBA was needed this time. Shock and awe!

Let's get sewing.

Supply List:

Sewing machine and all that jazz
14" zipper
Boning
Interfacing
Fabric and lining
Patience
Grosgrain ribbon
Hook and eye set
Matching threads
Butterick Pattern B5882

Instructions have arrows, but it was still confusing

Pins, clips, tape, use whatever you can to hold the folds.

After folding is done, the rest is easy.

I made the muslin, tried it on, and it fit! Hooray! Next was the cutting of the fashion fabric and lining. I went in head first and full of confidence.

That whole folding thing was super simple with muslin fabric. Not so much with Taffeta. It was fiddly and didn't press how I expected. So, in the end, I went with however the fabric behaved and called it a day. You'll notice in my photos at the end that the strap still doesn't lay flat.

Butterick B5882 How to sew a dress. Gertie for Butterick pattern — Make sure you stitch and pivot at the exact dots for the strap. It'll cause issues down the road if you don't. *I learned my lesson.

Pleat and pin/clip.

Fold and press, then pin.

It is a little tricky, go slow, and take your time.

Boning Time

I had never used boning before, but have made my own bras. In the future, I want to dabble in corsetry for myself. I own a few corsets and love them. I love how they squish everything into place and keep it there. I didn't buy the pre-cased plastic boning as the pattern recommended. Instead, I ordered yardage of spiral steel boning from Etsy. I also ordered boning casing, and the little metal caps that go on the ends so you don't get poked. I was intimidated, but it ended up being pretty darn easy!

Excuse the lighting, I did the boning part at night. No pun intended ;)

Wire cutters, casing, spiral steel boning, tips.

After sewing the casing, I inserted the boning.

Zipper time!

Grab that zipper and foot. The pattern calls for a lapped zipper which is similar to a regular zip, but the measurements are changed up a little bit.
You want the left seam to be smaller than the right seam so the fabric folds over and conceals the zipper. I always love a lapped zipper because they're easy and a nod to vintage style.

The left side is sewn right at the zipper teeth. The right side will have more fabric so that when the zipper is closed, the teeth are hidden.

See how the fabric is folded over when I stitch the left side for the lapped zipper.

I didn't take any more photos after the zipper. All that was left to do was the skirt. Follow the directions and match the notches. Hand sew the lining to the zipper and hand stitch the bodice lining to the skirt lining.

Let the dress hang for 24 hours. Sew the hem by sewing a 1/4" seam line around both the lining and dress. Fold up the edge and press. Then, fold it up again and stitch. You'll have 3 layers. You're basically creating a narrow hem.

I added the waist stay last- I completely forgot about it until I saw the ribbon I had cut, and draped over my sewing cart. Haha!!
I tacked the ribbon at the waist with a few stitches where the boning seams were. Sewed on the hook and eye and it was done! Time to take all the pretty pictures.

Ta-da! Dress is finished. Ignore my face. LOL

If you've made this dress or do make it, please tag me! I want to see your fabric choice and version. This dress taught me some new things and I really enjoyed making it. Aside from the pesky folding of those cups, it was fairly easy. Don't be intimidated by the boning like I was.

As always, thanks for reading and hanging out.

Happy Stitching,
Annette