Before the sun and heat leave us for good, let me introduce you to the last of my summer dresses… until next year!
Inspiration for a self-drafted cut-out bodice
As I discussed in a previous article, I have been obsessed with cut-out bodices this summer but couldn’t find any pattern that matched what I had in mind. So I ventured into the world of self-drafting – definitely not my safest place I have to admit.
Similarly to my broderie anglaise cut-out dress , I started with this inspiration from Zimmermann:
I frustratingly did not find any pattern to match it and really struggled to work-out myself how to make the front pleat ease for the bust, along with a criss-cross. So as usual my imagination took me far, far away from the original.
Step by step hacks to create the cut-out
I started by using a true-and-tested pattern: B6446, sewn four times previously ( and reviewed on the blog here, here and here).
Step one: modifying the bodice pieces
This pattern has two different bodice pieces at the front. For the one at the top of the wrap, the bust ease comes from the side pleats in this pattern. So to create a cut-out, I had to move these pleats out of the way. I then created a triangle on the side of my front pattern pieces (I have realised with horror that I have not kept my modified pattern pieces so I sadly cannot show you the before/after pictures).
For the pattern piece at the back of the wrap, the bust ease comes from a dart. Here as well I had to reposition it to avoid losing it in the cut-out.
For the back bodice piece, I just had to shorten it to match my front.
Step 2: finishing the exposed edges
An additional challenge created by the cut-out in a dress bodice is that you end-up with many exposed edges. So I sorted the problem by:
- Lining fully the front bodice. For a wrap dress, I find this easier to do pattern piece by pattern piece rather than in one go but it means you shoulder seam will be visible. I added piping at the neckline to make this invisible.
- Inserting an elastic at the back. On top of stabilising the lining, it helps the fit.
- Adding cap sleeves, which I took from the M7081 pattern. While expending my collection of Vogue, McCall’s, Butterick and Simplicity, I have found out that their sleeve patterns tend to be interchangeable.
Adding a self-drafted skirt
For the skirt, my absolute priority was to keep the border pattern of the fabric intact. As much as I love circle skirts, they definitely do not work for this purpose. Conversely I utterly dislike gathered skirts but they are perfect for border patterns.
Therefore, I ended up somewhat cheating: I took the top of a half circle skirt and then added a gathered rectangle of fabric. This way, the border is intact and the volume of the gathers is not unflatteringly concentrated at the waist, leaving the stomach area perfectly flat.
Construction-wise, the top part of the skirt is lined but not the gathered one. This allows a very clean finish of the bodice-skirt and circle skirt top-gathered skirt bottom connections. I added an invisible zip on the side, which keeps my patterns intact at the front and the back with no pattern-matching needed!
As you can see, for good measure I also added piping to the skirt – never enough piping in my motto and I am surprised of how reasonable I have been recently…
In summary
- Pattern: for the bodice, Butterick 6446 (S6446), which is a pretty standard wrap dress pattern with a perfect fit. I used it as a blank canvas for my cut-out inspiration. For the skirt, I self-drafted the child of a half-circle and a gathered skirt, with the purpose of keeping my border print intact without ended-up with a pregnant-looking tummy (I hate gathered skirts).
- Sizing: size 10 for my UK 8/ FR 36/ US 2, this is my standard size for Vogue/Butterick/ McCall’s/ Simplicity patterns, despite the size chart telling me I should be a 12/14. I am an E cup and did not need an FBA, but this is often the case when the bust ease comes from gathers, they are simply more forgiving than darts on princess seams.
- Changes to the pattern: see above.
- Level of difficulty: B6446 is a super easy pattern and I had sewn it multiple times before. That said, I did fiddle quite a bit with the changes I made to the bodice.
- Fabric used: I am still not over the fact that I managed to find such a beauty on Etsy. This is a linen/poly mix (sadly not linen/cotton, but definitely creases less) with an incredibly beautiful border print. I had been looking for this type of fabric ever since I encountered it in the Zimmermann shops and I adore it.
- Likes: definitely what I had in mind shape and fabric wise.
- Dislikes: not the easiest to put on and off, as the bodice does not have any zip.
- Conclusion: super pleased with this one!
XXX
