I completed this lovely dress just in time to wear to the wedding shower of our friend. Here is the journey of the construction of this dress.

I chose Butterick 5744 pattern to make the feminine ruffled blouson dress in a lovely silk crepe and silk habotai lining material that I purchased at Mill End Store in Milwaukie, OR. I made view A of the pattern with the plain skirt with the double ruffle of view B.

teal silk crepe de chine draped on my dress form

Butterick 5744 pattern

I was going for a pretty, feminine and romantic looking dress such as these styles:

Tory Burch dress

yellow dress on Nicole Richie

Ruffle neck dress from Karen Millen

Pink blouson dress from Cynthia Rowley $330

ruffle neck tank dress

So I took my pattern to the Open Sewing session held at Mill End Store in Beaverton last Saturday and was able to get some great assistance and personal fitting attention from sewing expert Elizabeth Miles. We cut out the pattern pieces, pinned the pattern tissue pieces together and I slipped it on. Elizabeth was able to fit the pattern tissue to my body.

We decided that the pattern needed a few tweaks for the best fit. We added a bust dart and did a slight full bust adjustment, as well as added about an inch to the bottom hem of the bodice front and back.

Elizabeth was such a great help for me to fit this dress, I can’t thank her enough for her time and attention. I will be going back to that session for help on other sewing projects for sure!

So on to the cutting and sewing of my dress.

I added 2″ to the hem of the skirt using a chalk outline as I cut out the pattern. The chalk line is a little faint in this photo:

And here is the lining cutting layout:

As I sewed, I made French seams for the skirt side seams for both the dress and the lining:

Sew a narrow 1/4″ seam wrong sides together, press flat, trim and press open

press edges of seam flat

right sides together, sew seam again, enclosing the first seam

completed French seam

All in all, I am very pleased with my finished  dress and was excited to wear it to the shower!

Simplicity 1614 View B Tank in bright coral silk charmeuse

I cranked out this silk charmeuse tank top yesterday using Simplicity 1614 pattern. It took about 6 1/2 hours start to finish, including pattern cutting time right out of a newly opened envelope. That always means taking several body and pattern measurements, figuring out what size to cut out, and cutting out all the pattern pieces needed from the pattern tissue, as well as sewing something for the first time, so it takes a bit longer.

I’ve been wanting to sew a bright coral orange top to wear to go with my BCBG sandals I bought two years ago for a long time! My first attempt at making a cool top was a failure, at least a fit failure for me, so I am delighted to finally have a great top to wear with these shoes, plus a whole lot more!

I like the front yoke seam as well as the back strap parts of this pattern. The pattern envelope comes with a few other views as well, and at least one other view is definitely a fun and relatively easy tank top to sew.

I made French seams for the yoke, shoulder, side and center back seams, and made my own 2″ bias binding for the neckline and armholes, but ended up only using the binding for the neckline and just narrow hemming the armholes.

I think this pattern has some creative opportunities as well. I may go back and do some beading, sequin or stud application to the yoke or back strap for some interest and design umph.

Inspiration for this top is abundant. Check out some of the tops and outfits I have pinned on my Pinterest board:

Silk tank top from Eileen Fisher for $188 at Neiman Markus

Joie Silk Tank Top $138 found at Saks Fifth Avenue

Next time I make this tank top ( and there will be a next time), I will bring up the neckline as it is a little low, bring up the armholes, and possibly  cut the back on the fold if possible.

Overall, for 1.5 yards of fabric, about 6 hours of my life, I am very happy with my new silk tank top!