butterick 4176 (X2)

Just a quickie today...lots to do on this rainy gross afternoon. It's been so nice all week that I ditched all housekeeping in favor of playing outside, going to the zoo, etc. and now I'm paying for it. The house is a wreck!

After spending the days playing, at night I've been forcing myself off the couch to get more summer sewing done.

After the last dress failure, I was hoping for success with the next...and yes, we have a winner! Butterick 4176, size 4 cut to size 5 length:

Sorry about the blur, the camera was set to a lower resolution and I forgot to set it back.

This is a very easy, simple dress to construct. 6 tucks across the bodice absolutely make this cute dress. They are slightly time-consuming but not at all difficult. Then the fronts and backs are joined, the armholes and neckline bound, and a closure and decorative buttons are added. Super simple!

Here's a less blurry shot. The fit is excellent and I'm glad I sized down one full number (she turns 5 on Monday and right now the size 4 commercial patterns are perfect).

This fabric has been in my stash for 10 years and I'm so glad to finally use it. I didn't have any red bias tape in my collection, so I cut my own bias strips from the same fabric to bind the neck and armholes. I wasn't into making a thread button loop for the back neck closure, so I used some seriously vintage (they were my Grandma's and the whole card cost 25 cents) hook-and-eye closures for both dresses.

I also made one in this cherry print. Daughter chose the flower buttons for decoration as we cannot seem to find my little mixed box of juicy red buttons!

We will definitely be using this pattern again. It comes with options for a tank, a shirt, a dress with short sleeves, shorts, and capri pants. The shorts are up next, and I'm seriously eyeballing my stacks of pretty cotton for more outfit ideas. Great stashbusting pattern, too - the dress takes only 1 yard of 44" wide calico. Or you can make a matching set (shorts and top) with 1.25 yards. Love it!

*Sigh*

My mop bucket calls.