Butterick 5781- Mood Fabrics' Jacquard

    You know when you just see fabric and you have to have it?  That is the case with Paradise Pink and Rosewater Geometric Cotton-Polyester Jacquard (now say that three times fast!).  This fabric just kept saying "buy me, buy me" and so I did.  Initially, I was thinking some kind of pants or shorts for me but the fabric was a bit too bright for me.  I knew this gorgeous fabric would find its way to the perfect garment.  I had purchased Butterick 5781 with Meredith (daughter #3) in mind, as I knew it  was the perfect style for her, just needed the fabric and the occasion.

 The perfect occasion appeared in our mailbox, an invitation to a wedding, which states "this is a cowboy wedding so bring your boots."  Well, we have lots of boots at our house, just needed a dress to wear with those boots.  That pink jacquard sitting on the shelf was just the perfect fabric and Butterick 5781 was just the pattern.  One of the best things about this pattern is it is an A/B, C, D cup pattern.  I measured Meredith before she headed back to college and went to work on the bodice and skirt.  I had these two parts all finished before she came back this weekend.  A few adjustments to the bodice and the dress was ready to finish.

    I am sure you have experienced a fabric layout with very little fabric left.  This dress was just that way, I was able to lay out all 4 bodice pieces across the width of fabric, making it very easy to match these pieces.  I did add 1" to the bodice, for Meredith's longer waist.  I added length to the skirt but that wasn't necessary.  I literally had 1" of extra fabric, boy was I getting nervous if I could pull this off!

      This fabric is very stretchy and heavy, so take special care with staystitching and handling the fabric.  I added seam tape after I attached the bodice and skirt together.  The bodice lining (from stash)  also helped to stabilize the waist after it was hand stitched.  The pattern and fabric was wonderful to sew, it goes together beautifully. I used an invisible zipper for the dress and tacked down the lining for the finishing touches. Here is my tip for invisible zippers where matching is important.  Sew one side of the zipper, then mark on the unsewn part of the zipper the matching point.  For instance, on this dress, I wanted to match the waistline.  I used a pencil and marked the location of the waistline on the zipper.  Matching this mark with the other side of the dress, I pinned this precisely and only sew about 1" above the waistline and 1" below the waistline.  After stitching this bit, I close the zipper and check out how the waistline matches.  If the match is good, then sew the rest of the zipper.  If not so good, then you have just a bit to unsew instead of the entire zipper.

      If the night is a bit cool, Meredith's jean jacket looks great with this dress.

  I think she looks perfect for a cowboy wedding....   And if you like this fabric, hurry over to get it and there is not much left!