Finished long back

This is a dress I made ages ago. (Well, FSVO "ages" - it was during my August break). I never wore it before Sunday, it was too hot here or I was doing something too potentially messy.

The pattern was, I'm pretty sure, a Butterick pattern. (I forget the number - it was 5000-something - and a quick scan of their website doesn't turn up what I'm looking for. Anyway, some patterns get discontinued fast).

The pattern was featured in a spring 2013 issue of Threads. There are two views, one with a little keyhole neck opening and one with a contrast yoke. I decided to do the version without the opening (sometimes I think my bustline must be higher than what designers expect, and those kinds of details wind up unfortunately placed) but I did the yoke out of the same fabric:



I used a sage batik rayon. There were a couple fabrics I was considering but this was the only one that had washing-on-gentle as an option (rather than dry cleaning). I'd rather not experiment to see if a fabric is safe to wash (when it says it isn't) or haul a dress off to the cleaners' every time I wear it, so....

I think the color was a good choice, though. I like this kind of green and I think it's also a color that looks good on me.

It has a sort of funnel neck, which doesn't show up as well on me. I think the pattern drafted for my size assumed the woman would have a thicker neck than I do, and I didn't consider redrafting that part of the pattern:



I did wind up having to take several of the seams in after putting the whole thing together. (And this was after fitting the paper pattern). When I put the dress on on Sunday, it still seemed loose. I don't know whether to try taking it in a little more or whether just to live with it.