S/S 2017: Road Trip Part 2 (Butterick B6318)

I’d been dreaming of making another version of this dress ever since I finished my last one, way back in September. It’s so nice to not have to worry about fit because I made all of the necessary adjustments last time. I’m starting to understand the appeal of TNT patterns.

This is, of course, Butterick 6318. All notes about fitting adjustments are in my other post. The only change I made to this one was to lengthen the sash/ties by 10″ each. This length is perfect for tying a nice big bow.

I lined it the same as last time, but I decided to skip the facings since I wasn’t too worried about the black peeking out.

Also, check out my label! You may have noticed it in my last post, but I forgot to mention it. I ordered them from Dutch Label Shop and they are so professional looking! I bet you can’t even tell that I spent two days working on the design. Hah! I guess simple is best, sometimes. I don’t have a fancy affiliate coupon code or anything, but there’s always one or two floating around on some sewing blogs.

The fabric is a lovely light and floaty rayon poplin that I ordered from Fabric.com. I know a few other shops have also had this stuff in stock recently, like Blackbird Fabrics. I kept seeing other sewists making some beautiful stuff out of it (like this gold-buttoned-beauty by Jess), and when I realized it wasn’t super pricey I quickly ordered 3 yards of the black and white color ways.

I’ve never used a poplin before, and always assumed that it was a lot more “crisp” and only suitable for shirts and shirt dresses. Maybe that’s only cotton poplin? When I received this fabric, I immediately thought “hmm, this is challis.” Rayons do tend to be softer and have more drape than cottons, so I figure it’s probably just the fiber giving it different properties. Anyway, this is not a complaint. I really love this fabric, and I think it has the perfect weight and drape for this dress.

The lining is a cotton voile, also from Fabric.com. I think it is actually a poly blend, though, because it smelled really bad when I pressed it with my iron. Ah well, that means it will also wrinkle less, hopefully.

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I had a little issue with the outer fabric being heavier than the lining and pulling down on the neckline. I was able to fix this by simply tacking the dress and lining together in a few spots on the waistline seam.

I love how this dress turned out, and I think it’ll be a nice transition piece into the fall. With the lining, it’ll be warm enough to wear into October or November around here, especially with some tights and ankle boots. Hmmmm . . . I might need to go shopping for some ankle boots!

Now that we’re over a month into summer I’m scrambling to sew up all my lightweight fabrics. I’ve got the white color way on the cutting table now, and will hopefully have a cute button-down skirt soon!

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