Butterick See & Sew 5399

...or my interpretation of this Michael Kors Dress from his Spring/Summer '08 Collection:

And on me:

I've had this picture hanging on my bulletin board since early spring - always meaning to interpret it. I thought that I would have gotten to it for spring/summer but there were so many other things vying for my attention that I am just now getting around to making it...and in tran-seasonal fabrics for early fall.

When I first saw the dress, I remembered that I had this pattern in my collection. Back in the mid-90s I made several dresses like this...different fabric bodice and skirt, with a matching jacket or a style similar to this pattern. So I just had to decide which fabrics to use to make the dress. Did I want to make a splashy colorful version or did I want to adapt the look for corporate wear? Going with the black/gray/black theme makes the dress corporate wear but sophisticated and different from what others will be wearing.

Pattern Description:

Semi-fitted, slightly tapered dress, mid-knee, has contrast middle/lower sections, back zipper/slit and above elbow elbows...copyright 1998...Out-of-Print (OOP).

Fabrics:

The bodice is from a sueded silk remnant

The center is from a lightweight twill type of gray wool crepe

The bottom is from a lightweight black wool crepe

*All of the pieces of fabric are from the collection ~ Yeah!

Notions:

Lining, 22" zipper, rayon hem tape

Pattern Alterations:

~I made my usual alteration to the sleeve bicep - slashing and spreading and adding 2" to the body of the sleeve to fit my bodacious biceps.

~I added 1" to the center front of all the pieces - doing a pivot and slide for the front top piece.

And that was all - this pattern fit with a small amount of assistance right out of the envelope.

Construction Techniques:

~I added a lining to the dress and omitted the facings that were included in the pattern. I also did the lining in two pieces - using a lighter colored lining for the white bodice and a darker shade for the body.

~I added black topstitching to the neckline and sleeves to bring some of the color to the top of the garment.

The topstitching was accomplished by using the saddle stitch on my sewing machine.

~Otherwise the only other consideration was to make sure that the side seams matched. Again this pattern went together smoothly and without any problem. I just made sure that I sewed both sides using directional stitching - sewing from the bottom of the dress to the top and making sure the side seams were pinned well before sewing.

I love the gradiation effect - light to dark. It is a perfect work dress, yet I believe it still is me! And even though its not an exact replica of the Michael Kors dress...I think that I have interpreted the spirit of the design! But mostly I can't believe that I used a pattern from 1998 to achieve this look!