Butterick 5882 Review

I finished version of B5882.  I made it in black.  And I found out that trying to get the lighting right on a black dress against a white background is pretty difficult.  There were some Photoshop shenanigans in order to show the contrast on the dress.  And not the usual shenanigans where I make my crow's feet disappear or magically erase back fat.  I had a friend I hadn't seen in person in years tell me that I look like I haven''t changed since high school because she saw at some photos of me on Facebook.  Poor thing didn't know it was all due to clever software.

Anyway... on the the dress.  Here are the front and back views.

For the bodice contrast, I chose a sheer fabric with polka dots.  It does not make neat little pleats like the pattern was intended to do, but I like the effect.   I had also ended up doing a little hand-sewing on the strap to get it to keep down at the bust line.  Gertie covers the strap placement on her blog. 

  

The main part of the dress is made from a cotton sateen.  The fabric from the bodice was actually part of a border print.  The edges are embroidered and I couldn't help but want to use it for the skirt.  But I was torn, because I really did want to sew the pattern as written. 

I made a removable over-skirt. I sewed a rolled hem on the vertical edges of the fabric, then made a button for a closure. I knew that would add volume to the skirt, but it was an effect I actually liked.  Very 50's and buried-in-yards-of-fabric.

This is the dress with the over-skirt.  It is a little hard to see the detail on the gather.

Picture on pattern

My version with gathered over-skirt

Mini-review: I really loved this pattern.  It was pretty easy to sew and the instructions were good. I ended up sewing a size smaller than the pattern said should be my size based on measurements, but I usually find that when you want close-fitting bodices (like in retro dresses), you have to really find out what the ease is and then take that into consideration.  Also, since I chose a cotton sateen for the fabric, I knew that it would stretch and I wouldn't need the ease.  Making the muslin helped make that decision easier, too

I am looking forward to Gertie's next patterns.  I would definitely buy from her line again.

Class Review: Design Your Own Handbag by Craftsy

I was so excited to take the Design Your Own Handbag from Craftsy.  And I so wanted to love it.  I did love the some parts of it and I think the instructor was knowledgeable and likeable, but I had some serious frustration with the way the class was structured.  But, on to that later...

First things first.  Here is the bag that I made as a result of the class.  Just another black bag that goes with everything because I can't be bothered to change purses with my outfits.  I want to sometimes, but it turns out that I just have a one bag and use it until it is worn out, then I have another bag.  I am a serial bag-ruiner.

One zipper pocket on the outside with the lining peeking through.

This is the inside of the purse.  It has four pockets inside.  That is actually my favorite part.  I hate not having enough pockets inside a purse.  Things must be sectioned off and in their own space.  If it's not a right angle, it is a wrong angle. Or something.

The bottom has feet.  The inside of the straps has a broken rubber jump rope that was headed for the recycle bin. I felt so green and all granola-crunchy good for doing it.

Now for the nitty-gritty: the way the class was structured makes this a bag I would never use.  It was  presented in a way that had me watching too many steps out of order.  For example, the construction of the bag itself was placed before the addition of pockets.  I managed to avoid that pitfall, but got in trouble when I didn't place the magnetic closures on before I put together the bag.  And I ended up putting the feet on at an inconvenient step.  Then, the handles were awkward to put on.  I ended up having to take some things apart and/or make adjustments that make this look like a very home-made bag.   For example, you can't see in the photos that I had to reinforce the bag in an obvious way where the clasp goes in.  It looks pretty bad.

Overall, I liked the sections of the class, I liked the instructor and I did learn some things about basic bag making.  I just wish that the class followed a logical order from steps a-z so you could follow it along.  Maybe they are counting on you to watch the whole class before attempting to sew anything.  But, seriously, who does that?  I love sewing and that isn't appealing, even to me.

In other blog news, I have been inundated with a barrage of spam comments the last month or so.  They are fake comments in Spanish about a diet and they all link back to a Web site.  So, I have had to turn on the CAPTCHA for comments.  I don't like that, but I am tired of sorting through spam. Meh.  I love comments and discussions, so I hope that doesn't stop anyone.