The Patio Dress by Gertie

Oh Hi! I’m just dancing in my new dress.

As sewists, we often see things out in the world and say to ourselves, (or out loud) “I can make that”! And, then we go home and usually do. Whether it takes a year or five is not the point. Ha! Rewind to last year when I went to Viva Las Vegas and saw beautiful vintage patio dresses. They were all priced waaay out of my budget, so I said to my husband, “I can make one. And, it’ll actually fit”. Vintage sizes aren’t always accommodating to me.

I already had the pattern. All I needed was the fabric. Oh, and trim. Lots and lots of trim!

I was gifted the absolute perfect fabric for a patio dress, so let’s dive in.

I wrote down a sketch of how much fabric I would need. It reminds me of a tiered wedding cake.

I was contacted by Fabric Wholesale Direct for a collaboration. I picked out the fabric, and they sent it to me in exchange for a blog post. That’s a win-win in my book!

I immediately thought of sewing the patio dress because it was fresh in my mind. I asked for 5 yards of shirting in a coral color. I’ve seen a few people make the dress out of heavier fabrics and I knew I wanted something very lightweight. Shirting was the perfect choice! The color is gorgeous too! Exactly what I wanted.

Let’s get to sewing a patio dress.

Gather your tracing tools. Rulers, markers, a pencil, and your favorite paper. I used medical paper this time.

I originally wanted to go with a Western theme, fringe everywhere, and then decided I wanted Ric Rac instead. So, make sure you choose the direction you want for your dress before you go trim shopping. I’ll use the fringe for something else, I’m sure. Eventually.

What You’ll Need

• At least 4.5 yards of fabric, I cut a size 12, short sleeve version, and had leftover fabric.

• Gertie Sews Jiffy Dresses book, by Gertie

• Matching thread

• 22” ish zipper. I say “ish” because I used a shorter one I had on hand and it worked just fine.

• Trim. Yards and yards of trim. I used 20.

• Sewing machine

• Serger. Not necessary, but it is nice if you have one.

• The usual sewing notions

• Interfacing

• Tools for tracing off your pattern: paper, pencils, ruler, weights, etc.

• A ruffler foot. This is reeaaally nice to have.

I bought all the pretty colors from JoAnn. Luckily, they were on sale. 

The Bodice

Start by washing your fabric. This is always step one.

Trace your pattern from pattern page 5 in the book envelope. I used medical paper, fun markers, and a ruler to trace the straight lines.

Cut out your new pattern pieces. I use a small rotary cutter for this. I never used it for anything else, so it’s my pattern paper cutter.

Transfer all markings to your fabric. Then, cut out your fabric.

I like to apply the interfacing now, to get it done and over with.

Serge the vertical edges if you’d like. The shirting fabric I used wasn’t too bad at fraying, but the serger keeps the edges nice and clean.

Stay stitch your neckline, both front and back. This is an important step, especially for this lightweight fabric. You don’t want to stretch out the neckline while you're sewing rows and rows of trim.

Gather your trim. Originally I thought I could start sewing the dress first and worry about trim later. Nope, that’s not the case. The trim goes on the bodice in step number one.

I rummaged through bags of what I had on hand and started with those colors. I liked how they looked with the coral fabric, so I stuck with a fun color palette. It was deemed my Candyland dress.

I was surprised that I didn’t need to add interfacing to the back of the fabric considering the amount of Ric Rac I added. But, this fabric held up just fine.

Place the trim along the lines. I snipped into my seam allowance to mark those spots. 

Play with your different trims. Use ribbon, pom poms, and/or ric rac. Move them around to decide on the layout you love.

Pin everything in place and sew.

Go slowly, pulling out your pins one by one. I just eyeballed the seam line and kept it in the middle as best as I could.

Repeat on the other side. If you transferred your markings correctly, they should meet up in the center perfectly. Mine met up, but the nature of ric rac looked wonky. I decided I didn’t mind and kept it as-is.

Ta-da!

Sew your darts in the bodice pieces before you sew the center front seam.

Now it’s time for the collar.

The collar was easy enough, thankfully.

Below is a 1,2,3 of which direction the sew the collar and facing together. 

Start at the top out edge, sew along the top to the corner, then down. Clip corners and turn out. 

After that, you’re going to sew the collar to the bodice neck, at the back.

So far, so good. We’re moving right along.

Overlap the back collar. Mine didn’t really overlap, but I made it work. 

Sew the neck facing.

This is easy-peasy. Pin in place and sew.

The collar should look like this. Sorry for the blurry photo, womp-womp.

Next, sew the side seams and back seam down to the marked area. The zipper will go here, eventually.

Start stitching from the waistline and go up to the arm opening.

Sew the short ends of the sleeve facings. 

I chose to make the short-sleeved version of The Patio Dress. Sew the short ends together, and press open.

The long-sleeved version will be different.

1. The sleeve facing didn’t line up perfectly with the sleeve opening. I don’t know if I did something wrong, or if the pattern was wrong.

2. I marked where the correct seam needed to be and sewed a new seam.

3. It matched up perfectly. Yay!

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The Skirt

Buckle your seatbelts, this part is a doozy.

In her book, she guides you on how to measure the skirt tiers. I followed what Gertie did.

• Measure your waist. Write it down. Double it. This will be your first tier.

• Then, double that measurement to create your second tier.

• Then, double that for your third tier.

Easy enough, right?

Okay, she does some math to get the height of the tier, in the end, she makes them 10” tall. I did exactly that.

For example: The top tier will measure 60” long by 10” tall, for a 30” waist. Then, the second tier will measure 120” long by 10” tall, and so on.

I folded my fabric in half, selvage to selvage.

Measured 10” from the bottom edge and marked it. I ended up cutting 9 strips. My fabric was 56” wide. So keep in mind how wide your fabric is.

I serged the short edges together to form one super duper long strip for gathering.

My advice for this next part? Put on headphones and play a podcast or fun music. This is going to take a while.

The ruffler foot. It looks scary, but it’s easy to use once you get the hang of it.

To make sure the ruffler foot works out for this pattern, Gertie has you grab a piece of fabric that measures 10” long. Insert the ruffler foot, and change the settings until it gathers the fabric to 5” long. Basically, half the amount.

My foot was set on 6.

Now it’s peanut butter, ruffle time! If you don’t get the reference, sorry. Random songs live rent free in my head.

Afterwards, you’ll have a huge pile of ruffles.

Whew! It takes a minute, doesn’t it?

Grab an end and start measuring. You want the first tier to be the length of your waist. Measure, then snip into the mark and rip the fabric to get an even edge. Or, just cut through.

Next, you’re going to pin and sew the top tier to the bodice.

Pin those riffles in place from one back bodice opening to the next. Sew. 

Oooh, it’s looking like a peplum shirt now. Yuck!

Next, you’ll add the second tier. Pin to the top tier raw edge, then sew. And repeat with the last tier.

Time to Trim the Dress

Gather your trims and start pinning at the seamline. Gertie said to start above the seam, but, I liked covering it up a little. Choose your own adventure here. 

Pin all the rows at once and then sew. Or, pin each row and sew. It’s completely upto you.

Pinned ric rac before sewing.

A little word of advice: Pin the trims on and try on the dress. I found that I didn’t like the blue because it clashed with my teal trim on the bodice.

Time to bust out the seam ripper. Boooo!!

I turned on a show and ripped out all the blue. Face-palm. Wasn’t a fan of the shade.

And, the green looks much better. 

Overlapped rick rack with a drop or two of Fray check. 

If you use packages of trim, you’ll need to overlap it. Line up the edges as well as you can and use Fray check to keep it from unraveling.

Next up is the zipper. The pattern calls for a 22” zipper, but I only had an 18” on hand. I made it work. You’ll sew a lapped zipper.

The zipper is in the middle of the back seam. I don’t think I’ve done this before, it was fun doing something new. It was easy too.

You’re almost finished. The hem is next! Yay!!

Make a narrow hem.

I serged the raw edge, then turned it under, and under again to create a nice narrow hem. Use your iron to steam it into position. Pin and sew.

And, you’re done! Throw some flowers in your hair and dance the night (or day) away.

Back of the fun dress. It’s a little baggy and long in the torso. Ah well. 

Thoughts:

• I thought this dress would be difficult to make but, it was pretty easy.

• It was somewhat of a fabric hog, but not as bad as I anticipated. I used about 4.25 yards of fabric. If I were to sew the long-sleeved version, I would have used the full 5 yards.

• The fabric really understood the assignment! I didn’t have a single issue. With all the weight of the ric rac, the fabric held up. And, it’s the perfect weight for the many tiers. I would use this fabric again. Oh, and wearing it is comfy too. It feels like a nightgown. The fabric is a little see-through, but I wore skin-colored underthings. No issues.

• I didn’t make a muslin because it has kimono sleeves. They usually seem to be more forgiving for the larger bust gals like me.

• I would have made a smaller size. the 12 fits, but it’s a little baggy as you can see in the photos. Size 10 for me, for next time.

• I wish it had pockets! I assume they could be easily added.

• I should have done a short waist adjustment. Whoops! I do them for everything, usually. But, the pattern either didn’t have it marked or I was abducted by aliens during the pattern tracing part.

That’s it. I hope you liked following along. I sure enjoyed making it. If I were to count how many hours it took from start to finish, I’d say around 18 hours.

What do you think? Is there a Patio Dress in your near future? I’m packing it for Viva 2025 for sure!

Happy sewing,

Annette

Wearing my Patio dress by Gertie.

All photos taken by Annette Marie Photography. aka me ;)

Simplicity 1587 1940s Vintage-Style Dress

Howdy doodily! It’s been some time since I last wrote a blog post. I do have an excuse though, I had to switch platforms from one host to another and that was soul-sucking in itself. Then, I decided to update each and every blog post. Why!? Why would someone do that? Annnd, after that was all said and done, I enrolled in another photography class at the local college- which was brain cell killing as well. Oh, and to top it all off, I thought it was a good idea to open up a photography business. Yep, I’m officially a photographer now. I do portraits. I’m not your typical portrait photographer though. I create photos with magic and whimsy in them. If you’re in Southern California (or Monterey County, where I often travel) and are interested in photos, or know someone who might be, I invite you to check out my site. Whew! It’s been a huge whirlwind but, I’m finally hopping back into the sewing life. So, here we go!

Let’s start with a dress I made 1.5 years ago. I needed a dress for a friend’s wedding in San Diego. I wanted something with a 1940s feel to it. I had a pattern and bought two different fabrics. I loved the pattern so much, that I wanted to make two dresses. Spoiler alert: I didn’t end up making my first pattern choice.

Cue the Rabbit hole of sewing. And, patterns. And, muslins.

The First Dress

This dress was made in a short amount of time so, I didn’t photograph the whole process. This blog post is more of a “this is my dress I made” rather than a tutorial on how to make the dress.

I started with a Sew Over It dress pattern I had in my stash for years. Years, I tell you. I made a muslin and did a FBA and it didn’t fit. I thought I did something wrong, and made a whole new FBA and muslin. Nope, it still didn’t fit right. Something was way off. I went to the trusty ole Youtube and Google machine and found that most sewists had a similar issue. It fit funky. So, I went back to the drawing board and pattern rabbit hole.

The Final Dress

I discovered the Simplicity pattern and snagged one in my size range at ye olde JoAnn. I made a quick bodice muslin and it fit! So, I whipped the dress up in less than 24 hours. Ha! I told you I needed it for a wedding. This is the first garment I’ve ever sewn in a short time frame. I finished it minutes before leaving for the wedding.

The only issue I had was the yoke. Yokes can be finicky sometimes and this was no exception. I sewed it and ripped it out a few times. In the end, I didn’t care about the puckers anymore. Shhh, don’t tell the sewing Gods.

It has an easy pleated neck tie, gathered sleeves, a drop waist, and is comfy. It’s not the most flattering or form fit, however, it does look like a true 1930-1940s vintage style dress. I paired it with some 1940s-style booties from Payless Shoes Source, RIP. Looking back, I wish I had worn some different shoes. But, San Diego along with all of southern California was getting dumped on by all the rain in the world that weekend, so boots were worn out of necessity. Puddles and ballet flats don’t pair well.

Ignore my 2 different shoes. I was deciding which one to wear and forgot to change before taking some photos.

Awkward pose and view of the cute necktie.

Look at the easy gathered sleeve. You make this with a small piece of elastic.

The cute peephole button in the back. I love this dress! The button is a burgundy covered button I had in my button jar.

Hope you give this dress pattern a try if you’re searching for an authentic 40s-style dress. It is easy to sew and fits well.

No, I never did make the second dress with my other fabric (both were purchased from JoAnn). Maybe that’ll be next up on the sewing table, right after I finish a new purse, more flared shorts, and wide-leg trousers. Ha!

Please share in the comments your favorite 1940s dress pattern. I’m always on the lookout for new ones.

Thanks for popping by,

Annette

Sewing A Barbie Dress

Hi Barbie! Have you noticed the pink phenomenon that is spreading all over the world? It's a whole Barbie craze! And, I'm here for it. Gimme aaallll the pink. Have you seen the movie? I saw it twice. I made a dress and had to share it with you. Yay for Barbie sewing!

Barbie Dress. Check! Pink fuzzy slippers. Check!

I grabbed the Barbara Bodice pattern from Gertie's Patreon. If you aren't a member, run, don't walk, and join now! She gives so much over there, even at the base level. The Barbara bodice is the updated version of her original Butterick 6453.

This isn't a sew-along, but it's more of a show and tell. I want to show you the Barbie movie-inspired dress. If you've made a Barbie dress, shorts, PJs, or other inspirational item, tag me. I want to see what you made. I've seen a few goth Barbie outfits that are super fun too.

Let's dive in!

Feeling fabulous!

Barbara Bodice

My thoughts on the Barbara bodice might not be the popular opinion. But, I much prefer the Butterick 6453. I like how the back fits me. It has a simple dart. The Barbara has a 2-piece back pattern. It's fine enough, but seems to be extra. 

Barbara has different cup sizes, which is awesome!! No more figuring out your FBA. For the busty gals, this is a huge plus! However, my bodice didn't fit, as flawlessly as the Butterick 6453. I had some extra armpit room, which is weird. I like the FBA I created for the Butterick pattern better. I plan on making another Barbara (I didn't make a mock-up for my Barbie dress) and I'll play with the pattern, fit, and sizing.

Gertie included 2 strap options with the Barbara Bodice. Self-tie straps that are thin, and wide gathered straps, for bra strap coverage. I opted to use the thin self-tie straps, and they covered my wide bra straps well enough. 

The Barbara doesn't have any facings, it's fully lined, which I'm a huge fan of! I definitely love the pattern and am a huge fan. Both the Butterick 6453 and Barbara come together so easily and are fun to sew. It's the perfect last-minute dress pattern. But, I'm still on the fence if I'm over the moon happy with the Barbara. 

Have you sewn it? If so, have you compared the two patterns side by side? The general consensus I've seen across the interwebs is that the Barbara is wonderful. But, as I've gone down the pattern-making black hole, I've become more of a pattern snob kabob. 

Thinner straps that you can tie into a bow. Easy and cute.

The new scoop back is pretty too.

Skirt Stuff

Gertie also created the Barbie movie skirt pattern to go with the bodice. It's a full box pleat skirt that uses aalll the fabric. When I ordered my fabric, I ordered 4 yards. However, the skirt alone uses over 4 yards. So, I went with plan B.

I opted to draft my own circle skirt, and of course, I added roomy pockets. I actually prefer circle skirts over gathered ones anyway. I have a fuller tummy and appreciate less fabric in that area. Plus, circle skirts are just fun! 

I've been learning pattern making as I mentioned above, and I'm taking it one step at a time. If you're interested, check out Tricia, she's the best teacher! And, her motto is "You don't need to be good at math for pattern making". Which I'm all about because mathing is hard. Haha :D

Self drafted circle skirt.

Circle skirt twirls are the absolute best.

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Welp, that's it. Do you love the dress? I sure do. I feel so girly in it and it'll be a February staple as well. I plan on wearing tights and a sweater, or a long sleeve underneath it.  

Not a Barbie fan? You can sew a 1950s-style swimsuit instead. It's the Bombshell and it's flattering on everybody.

Have you ever been interested in making a quilt? Read my blog post and you can sew one up in about a week. 



Thanks for hanging out today. Happy sewing of all things pink! 


XOXO,
​Annette

New Look 6446: Sewing Fail

Sewing is a journey. Whether you've been sewing for a few months or decades. As sewists, we are constantly learning. We have ups and downs. Recently I took a jump and disregarded a golden sewing rule. Yep, I had a sewing fail. I've been sewing for over 20 years and you would think with that many years under my belt, I'd be a super pro. Nope, not the case. 

I started with a pattern I've made before. The fit is good but, I went rogue! I used knit fabric for a woven pattern. And the outcome was, well, all kinds of wrong. Here's why you stick with the fabric that the pattern recommends. 

Choose your fabric wisely. When you pick a sewing pattern, the envelope gives you lots of important information. Do not ignore it. Read the fabric recommendations and stick with them, for the most part. I made my first New Look 6446 pattern back in 2020 with a stretch cotton sateen. It turned out beautifully. I wear it all the time and love the fit. I wanted to make another one and figured since the last one turned out, I could use knit fabric for a second one. It would be the ultimate cozy secret pajamas. I was wrong!

I followed the directions to the T. I even followed the layout instructions after I had made a mental note of my directional fabric. The back legs ended up getting cut upside down. Womp womp. Nevertheless, I carried on.

Sewed the darts on the front and back bodice pieces. 

Added the interfacing to the top piece. At this point, I started to realize I had chosen the wrong fabric. the knit didn't like being sewn in this direction. But, I kept going. 

The pocket bags sewed up nicely. This pattern has such nice roomy pockets. I love it!

Legs are sewn together.

Pant legs went together easily. I realized I sewed them with upside-down fabric afterward. So far, the only wonky part is the bodice.

Sewed up the crotch seam. I was getting excited because it was coming together nicely.

Pinned the bodice piece to the legs at the waist and sewed. I did notice a little stretching at this seam but thought it was no biggy. Secret pajamas remember!? This is going to be so cozy!

Next up was the invisible zipper. I love sewing these. It feels so wrong the way they go in, but it looks so right after they're in. I buy mine in bulk, so it was either black or white. I chose black, but wish I used a white one. Ah well. 

I didn't take photos of the lining, but it's the same as the bodice. It was all stretched out. I attached the shoulder straps and hemmed the legs. 

I tried it on and it fit. It fits with tons of extra room! Not good. It's not a baggy-style jumpsuit. It's supposed to be more form fitting. Ack!! 

Where I Went Wrong

• I chose knit fabric for a woven pattern. Not smart. The amount of ease and sewing pieces were created for a nonstretch fabric. When I made my first one, the fabric had a slight stretch but, wasn't knit. Lesson learned. 

• I laid my fabric out with the direction in mind, but then left my brain in the kitchen and placed the pattern upside down. So, my back pant legs are upside down. Face-palm, lesson learned.

• The rippled top piece was interfaced with stretch interfacing. Not sure if this was a good or bad move. I think it was a bad move perhaps? I also think I should have made the lining with a woven fabric. It would have acted as a stabilizer to keep the knit fabric from stretching out. 

Fixables

• Armhole sagging, gapping, bagging. I will unpick the waist seam and take a "dart" out of each side seam. This will hopefully eliminate the baggy armholes.

• I'll take in the waist seam a bit too, it's on the too big side.

A Positive Side

I learned my lesson on fabric choice. I thought I'd be able to get away with using a different fabric, but learned that I, in fact, cannot. I'm glad it was a silly mistake that I can fix. I still love the jumpsuit and plan on wearing it for three seasons. It's super comfortable and looks cute. The upside-down fabric on the backside doesn't bother me as much. The print is small enough that nobody will even notice. 

It’s a wonky green thing, but I wear it often. It’s another secret pajama outfit!

What's your most recent sewing fail? Or sewing win!? Let's celebrate both today!! Comment below. 

Happy sewing!
Annette

I need to follow my own advice sometimes!! 🤦‍♀️ If you ever need to sew sometime that calls for vinyl, splurge on the marine vinyl. Don't do what I did and use the 💩 stuff. 🤣 🪡Was this annoying to fix? Yes ✅ 🪡 Did I cry? No 😆 Did I want to? Yes ✅ I'm just thankful I have a skill and I can fix what I flubbed up. 🎉🙌 What is something you've messed up lately? 🩵🩵🩵 #sewingbags #fixingmistakes #sewingmistakestoavoid #bagmaker

Happiest Sunday everyone!! 🧵🪡 I'm doing some "not so fun" sewing today. Womp womp. 🥁 I'm re-making a set of handles for this bag. I cheesed out when I originally made it with less expensive vinyl. I was impatient, and it was going to arrive sooner than the better quality stuff. 💛🙄 Well, the handles quickly started falling apart. But, I'm fixing it now!! Yaaay 🎉 🪡💛🪡 Pattern: @swoonpatterns Annette Fabric: 😭 fabric.com ⚰️ Vinyl: marine vinyl, only and always! 🙌 Do you ever set something aside to fix/mend?

Introducing ...🥁... The Patio Dress!! Okay, this dress was way easier to sew than I thought it would be. Is it a fabric hog? Yes ✅ Did it take 8000 hrs? Yes ✅ Is it comfy to wear? Also Yes ✅ 🩵🩷💜 The fabric is a beautiful coral shirting from @fabricwholesaledirect The ric rac is all from @joann_stores The zipper is @ykk_usa It was sewn on my @brothersews machine Pattern by @gertie18 from her book, Gertie Sews Jiffy Dresses 🩵If you're curious about the process, head on over to my website and click on the newest blog post. 🩵 If you're a subscriber to my email list, check your inbox. 😘 You can read all the juicy details there. #isewmyownclothes #gertiesewsjiffydresses #gertiepatterns #patiodress #gertiedress

Introducing the magical Beetlejuice carpet bag! 💚 This thing is huge. It's ginormous! Let's see what I keep inside of it. Is your bag this big?

Happy September!! 🍁🍂🍁 I'm finishing this Beetlejuice bag today and will hopefully get started on another project. 🎃 Are you ready for Fall 🍁?

📷 Happy sewing Saturday!! Here's my camera skirt. I wore it a few days ago and never took photos because 🤦‍♀️ life gets busy. 💛 It's just an easy 2 yard gathered skirt with a waistband and pockets! I put elastic in the back because I like food. 🤪 💛 I've made a dozen gathered skirts but, I made this one shorter than usual. I wanted to keep extra fabric to make a fanny pack. This one sits just above the knee and I looove it!! Yellow pockets because yellow is happy and it matches my photography business branding. 📷💛📷 Pattern: self drafted Fabric: @hobbylobby #sewingaskirt #photographylovers #isewmyownclothes #camerafabric #socalsews

Finally!!! My sewjo has returned! And I'm sew excited. 🎉🤪 I was planning on making a spooky bag, but I think I'll start with an easy gathered skirt first. 😆I also want to make a fanny pack. Don't judge me. I still don't love them, but I have a use for one now. What do you do to get your sewjo back?

🎇 Happy July 1st!! 🎇 I rearranged my sewing space yesterday and I want to sew something new: a skirt with camera fabric. 📸 1. But first, I need to make new handles for my purse. 👛 2. Then, I need to find the camera fabric I plan on using. 3. Cannot find said fabric. 🤔 4. Found all kinds of new things I forgot about. 🤩🥳 5. Got frustrated and left the sewing room to watch the birds outside, instead. 🦆🐦‍⬛ How's your Monday going so far? Mines going great! 👍😃 #sewingroom #sewingspace #cantfindfabric #shopyourstash

Happy Mother's Day!!! 💐💗😄 Any fun plans for your special Day?? #motherhood #momsofinstagram #momsday #happymama

Ta-da!! It's the Bryant Gown. This dress gave me all the feelings when I made it for a cruise a couple summers ago. 🫠 The pattern was made for a 7ft tall person. 🤣 No really, it was! It almost broke me. ✨ Thank goodness for the gram because that's how I found @katiecanavan and she shared how she fixed hers. 😘 You just whack off 3 feet from the bottom. 🤣 And reattach the ruffly bit. 🙌 ✨ Anywho, this dress was meant for last night, but it was too tight and I like breathing. So, I took a photo and put my Florida dress back on. Ho hum. 😂 And yes, there were a few people in the hall who saw me do this. 🤪 ✨ Viva is over, and I'm sad. But I'm happy to be home so I can sleep in my own bed. My eyes are swollen and I have full blown luggage (not just bags) under eyes. 😴 Goodnight and I'll see you all in 2 days. Oh, I have a list already started of what I'm making next year. A patio dress, fringe dress, and a pake muu for starters. Pattern: @gertie18 Charm Patterns Fabric: brocade from Fabric.com 😔 Laughing: brought to you by a too tight dress. 😂 #bryantgown #charmpatterns #gertiepatterns #gertiedress #isewmyownclothes

Butterick B6453: The Easiest Dress to Sew

If you need a break from difficult sewing projects, I encourage you to grab the Butterick 6453 dress pattern. It was easy and fun to sew! The only timely adjustment I needed to make was an FBA. After that was sorted out, it was all downhill.

This dress is fluffy and full, no need for a crinoline underneath. The princess seams are flattering. The straps are perfectly positioned. And, the back zip is a cinch. What are you waiting for? Grab the pattern and let's get started! 

Supply List

1. A whole lotta fabric, this dress is a fabric hog. 4-5 yards is needed

2. Interfacing

3. Matching or contrasting thread

4. Sewing machine and notions

5. Serger, pinking shears, or a zigzag machine to finish the raw edges

6. 16" or longer zipper

7. Seam ripper because... sewing

8. Rings and sliders for adjustable straps

Sewing Notes

• This dress is super easy and only has 10 pattern pieces! This was wonderful news because I made the Hooded Princess Coat before this dress and that was a beast. Read the post if you've always wanted to make your own raincoat. Gertie did a wonderful job with the pattern.

• I chose double-faced linen. It was a little heavy for this exact dress but, I love it nonetheless. It'll be warm enough to wear in the fall paired with tights and a sweater. I suggest using regular linen, cotton, gingham, etc. Check the pattern envelope for fabric options.

• Shorten or lengthen to fit your torso. I shortened the bodice pieces by 1.5" because I have a short torso. I could have gone a little shorter.

• Size down 1-2 sizes at least. I sized down but, in the end, the dress was still too big. Four inches on each side, too big! I have to take in everything. Ugh. Honestly, I threw on a little belt and it was fine to wear. But, I plan on taking in the side seams, princess seams, waist, etc. Cue the tears.

• Widen the straps if you wear larger bras. Us gals with bigger cup sizes know the wide bra strap game all too well. I made my dress straps 1" wide and they cover my bra straps perfectly.

Trace and cut out all your pattern pieces. Make sure to transfer the markings and notches. I didn't trace the pocket or skirt pieces onto new paper. Sometimes I get lazy and use the actual pattern tissue. Please don't tell the sewing Gods on me.

Staystitch your neckline, don't skip this step.
Sew the darts.
​Then, sew the princess seams to the front bodice piece. I find it easiest to clip the front piece a little to help with the curve if needed. Also, it's easier to sew with the flat piece on the bottom. Go slow and adjust as needed; you'll have a pucker-free seam in the first go. 

After the princess seams are sewn, match the side seams with the back pieces. Sew from the waist up. 

Here's a Tip:
If you have an old bra lying around that no longer fits, cut it up. Use the metal hardware for your dress straps. I save all my metal hardware from old bras. 


Notice my blue fingers? I've washed this linen three times and it still makes my skin blue. Ack!

Pin your straps into place and try the bodice on before stitching the straps on. I waited until the dress was fully sewn before I did this. The linen weighs a ton and I knew the skirt would pull it down. Yay, gravity! My fabric was too thick to make adjustable straps so I ended up sewing the strap ends onto the bodice. But, I love adjustable straps, even though the dress will only get worn by me. :)

​Here's a bra hack post if you're interested in DIYing your bra. 

Gather and sew the skirt's front and back pieces together. I didn't take any photos of this because it's pretty easy.

Zippity doo-dah! This pattern calls for a lapped zipper. I'm still on the fence about whether I like doing lapped zippers or not. 
Press the right side under 1/2" and press the left (lapped) side 5/8" under. 
Pin the right side and sew down from the top, using a zipper foot. Go slow to avoid any mother puckers. ;)

Pin the left side starting at the waistband. You want that area to match up. Then, pin upwards and downwards making sure the raw edge will be hidden after it’s sewn. Go slowly starting from the top and sew down. Swivel and sew a few stitches across to seal the end of the zipper.

Ta-da! Your zipper is complete. A white one was used because that's all I had on hand. I was doing a "no buy" sewing challenge. I normally would have used a navy blue one but, the white still matches. Sorta. Ha!

I eventually lost the challenge after a fabric cutting mistake though. Insert eye roll. 

Butterick 6453

All that's left to do is sew the hem. Choose an easy hem, turn up the raw edge 2", and then turn it up again.

So, that's it. This is the easiest dress pattern I've ever come across. Are you going to make one? Do you know of an even easier vintage-style dress pattern? Heck, my caftan was more involved than this was. I assumed a caftan would be easy. Nay-nay! 

Thanks for hanging out today. If you are looking for a few other pattern reviews, click here for the Ginger Jeans review. Or, here for a Cheongsam sew-a-long. 

Happy sewing!
Annette