Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Butterick B5019 - Girl's Apron Dress

Forgive me for these not so charming photos. It's late and there is zero natural light, so these will have to do. I just finished up this cute little apron dress for Sara Lynn - she's sleeping now, otherwise I'd have her model it for you.

These are fabrics I got on sale at Hobby Lobby (can you believe it?!) I'm absolutely loving the turquoise, pink, and green. Let me start by saying this was a very easy to sew pattern. What wasn't so easy was making my own bias tape for the first time. It took as long to make the tape as it did to sew the dress! But I think the results were worth it. I used this tutorial from Martha Stewart and a Dritz brand 1 in. bias tape maker.

I've shied away from patterns with bias tape in the past because I don't love the solid colored bias tapes that are commercially available. But when I stumbled across the tutorial above, I knew I must take the plunge. Really, it's as easy to finish seams as it is to create and use your own bias tape (in my humble opinion.) But every now and then, it's nice to try something different.

About the actual pattern... I feel I must disclose that it looks ENORMOUS for a size 2 (which is what I sewed.) I know that Butterick patterns run a bit on the large side, but I wonder if my sweetie will have to wait until next year to get any use out of this one. I'll let you know how her first "fitting" goes.

****Here's how the dress fits my little one... I think the length is okay...


But the neck hole is WAY too big for her right now. She's tall and thin. Usually a 2T fits her perfectly, but next time I will definitely cut the neck hole MUCH smaller. Hope this helps you!

8 comments:

VSJensen said...

oh my! this is so darling! really. i love it. i think the bias trim is amazing, too. i hear you on that one, i don't like the store bought bias tapes, and do have a tape maker, but lack in any sort of patience, so usually i won't choose anything that requires it. but this is so worth it on this piece, even if it did take as long as the dress to make! home made bias tape is so darling, i SERIOUSLY wish i had the patience to do this. maybe one day... :) have a great week!

Ann said...

Beautiful dress on a beautiful girl. Well done with the bias tape, I'm useless with it.

Anonymous said...

what a lovely dress

mayaluna said...

My first time here and I'm so pleased to have found you. I'm in love with this dress for your daughter and now have enough inspiration to try out my new(and still in its package bias) tape maker...thanks for the nudge!

cynthia said...

i am trying to sew this dress right now, but it looks like they left out how to attach the button holed tab to the garment. did you just wing it? what did you do? thanks!!

sarah said...

I know you sewed this like a year ago, but I'm having the same problem as Cynthia with the button tab. So I'm curious if you can remember what you did?

Melissa Price said...

Sarah, I ended up not sewing button tabs at all... if I remember correctly. They're not necessary, as the dress goes on overhead, and the bias tape is also used as ties in the back. I sewed on a bias tape tie to each side.

You can see it in the top photo if you look closely. Hope that helps!

God's Peace,
Melissa

Kathee said...

Thanks so much - I've got this pattern for my daughter, and, I, too was looking at it and wondering where to put the tab. I think I'm probably just going to leave that part out, since it seemed to work for you. That is a beautiful dress, by the way - I love the colors!

-Kathee