Butterick 6836

There's just something about wrap dresses that make them irresistible to me, so I was very happy when I stumbled upon this pattern at VintageDressmaking on Etsy at a very favourable price:



The design is significantly similar to that of Butterick 6015, but the construction of Butterick 6836 seems to be a bit better and I think the collar is a great addition. Another plus about the the design of Butterick 6836 compared to many other wrap dresses of the 1950s, is that it doesn't use the usual "pencil skirt with an overskirt"-design, which usually rules out using a crinoline. While I don't tend to wear crinolines, it's always nice to have the option to use one and the design of Butterick 6836 makes the use of crinolines possible. Anywho, here's the results of my attempt at this pattern:



Due to the season I decided to use all cotton. The floral fabric is from Michael Miller Fabrics and it's called China Garden. I found it on sale earlier this year and I'm so happy I bought a couple of yards, it looks particularly beautiful on the back of the dress:



The pattern was pretty straightforward to work with. The only alterations I made were:

Grading the pattern up to a vintage size 14.

Making the shoulders a little narrower.

Taking off a couple of inches in the length of the skirt because the fabric wasn't very wide.

Using bias tape instead of doing a hem, again because the fabric wasn't very wide.

Using four sets of small snaps instead of the two sets of hooks and eyes suggested to fasten the front bodice in the back.

I had some concerns as to whether the front bodice would ride up, but I wore the dress last night and had no problems whatsoever, so using snaps instead of hooks and eyes probably wasn't a bad idea. Another concern was how well my bound buttonholes would turn out; the last time I did bound buttonholes was about 6 years ago, but I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out :)

So... What's up next? Well, seeing as I passed all my exams, I've been planning what contributions I want to make for the Summer Essentials Sew-Along, so stay tuned to see what patterns and fabric I have chosen :)