I’ve made the first round of modifications to my Butterick 2669 toile, the sixties shift dress:
If you read the last post, you’ll notice it was a bit of a sack – so much of a sack it was difficult to know where to begin! I did the following changes:
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‘Ungraded’ most of my grading – I basically brought it back to the initial pattern, but with 2″ extra on the hip
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Corrected the balance – the whole back needed uplifting. I did this in two places – one at the shoulder to bring up the back bodice, and one at the high hip to bring up the skirt. This made the horizontal and vertical grainlines hang correctly – my tailor’s dummy certainly came in handy here!
So here is the improved-but-still-a-long-way-to-go version:
Now it hangs correctly from the shoulders, and fits closely enough that I can see what other changes need to be made! I will probably:
- Lower front neckline 1cm
- Move bust point on French dart inwards
- Raise back waist darts – I’m short-waisted
- Shorten 3-5cm, and establish line of hemband
- Take it in a bit here and there, although I still want to maintain a semi-fitted look
- Sort out those shoulder drag lines
I’d like to make the belt, but I’m not liking the image I see:
However calico is the most unflattering fabric in the world, so I am banking on that fact being true.
Here’s a couple of images that demonstrate exactly what I did to the back – they are extracted from my swayback post and are fully explained there:
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This is what I did at the shoulder to shorten the back bodice 1cm:
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This is what I did at the high hip line, which was the level the skirt side seams began to swing forward, I overlapped 2cm:
Now, on to those last adjustments so I can finally get cutting!
pattern scissors cloth 
This is really looking good with your pattern improvements. As for the belt, have you tried a wide belt with it? I like the look both with and without the belt. Keep at it!
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I believe it's the fabric that makes the garment – I'd stick to it too. My question is – how do you fit yourself, as I find this the hardest thing to do.
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~Evelyne – with a lot of contortions and pinpricks! I press under one seam allowance of the zip seam, and pin them together by feel. I pin up to the waist area with the opening at the front, swing it around to the back, pin the CB neck edges together, and somehow get a pin in the shoulder region!
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Big improvement from last time. I quite like the belt. If you want to make it, what if you narrowed the shoulders a little? Would this help the overall look?
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I think your garment needs to be more figure hugging to be flattering. I agree with Sew4fun that the shoulders should be narrowed. It also needs to taper in at the knees.
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This is looking great Sherry -can't wait to see more!
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It is looking great! And I think it actually looks really chic when belted — maybe it is just the calico that is making you dissatisfied with how it looks belted?
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It looks like it's taking shape! I agree with Rachel — when you make it up in the final fabric it will drape more when belted.
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It's looking good! I wasn't aware of the Vintage Sewalong but I'm going to have to join, it looks like fun. Oh, and it burns me up when I grade or alter a pattern then end up undoing my work after I make a mock-up. It's frustrating!
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Your dress fits exactly like a vintage 60s shift dress I have! I tried to duplicate it once and nipped it in a bit at the waist –just for my taste.
I hope when you “sort out those shoulder drag lines” you tell us how. I have trouble with that myself and don't do a good job at fixing it.
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