Butterick 6051 - Maxi Dress

This is the project that almost didn't happen.  So many things happened along the way but finally it is finished.  I had this picture in my head, it was from one of  my Friday Fashion Inspirations.  The first maxi dress, isn't it  wonderful? I wend with one of the patterns I suggested, Butterick 6051 and this Mood Fabrics' red ponte for the skirt.  Initially, I ordered a red-white stripe for the top but the reds did not match.  The stripe become a Kristin Kimono Tee.   Reason #1 it didn't happen, fabric wrong, rethink plan.

I started shopping online for a good stripe knit and found two at Girl Charlee, a red/white stripe, which didn't match but worked to muslin the bodice and this black/white stripe which I thought would be perfect.

Reason #2 for this dress not happening - I didn't order enough ponte knit!  Fortunately, it was still in stock and I quickly reordered.  This was before the wedding and this maxi dress got pushed aside.

Believe me when I say, you want to muslin the bodice.  I made several changes. 1.  Raised the armholes, they are low, low and I probably could of raised them a bit more. 2.  So much extra fabric in the bodice.  I took out 2" from the bodice front.  There was just extra fabric hanging down over the waistband. Not a pretty sight.  The front is cut not on straight grain, that is why the stripes run like they do. 3.. The back neck edge is a bit big. I think folding out some width on the pattern would help.  I am hoping washing and drying will help.  If not, I am going to use Debbie's trick with elastic thread. 4.  The black/white fabric is thin so I lined it with a tricot knit.  Just treated the tricot and the stripe knit as one. 4.  Let's talk the tie - Keep or Remove?  What do you think?  I added it after the fact, as I didn't like the side view of red front waistband and stripe back but I think I dislike the tie more.  (See next picture for the side view) I was getting very frustrated with all the changes in the bodice.  I thought with the muslin I had my changes correct but the muslin knit was much stiffer.  This black/white fabric is soft and drapes more, so I had to do a bit more sewing and unsewing.  Reason #3 for this dress not happening I do have the elastic in the back waist as per the pattern, I might remove the ties and tighten the elastic.  Again, your thoughts? I really am not liking the way the tie looks in this picture.

I did add pockets to the side seams of this skirt, I really miss when I forget to add pockets.  This is such an easy step.

Reason #4 for this dress not happening, after a week of working on a simple knit dress, I was about to just give up.  First the fabric, then the bodice, then more fitting, then the ties and sides.  Then I took a walk and decided this knit dress wasn't going to get the best of me!

I do think I need to do a bit of tweaking......the neckline fix and I have almost talked myself into removing the ties.

I am so happy this dress did happen, after seeing the pictures, the dress is growing on me.  It will be a nice dress to wear during the last few weeks of warm weather.

I took these pictures at 10 am, the light was quite different so I really did some effects in Picmonkey to get some decent color.