Butterick 6166 Finished......

What a great learning experience this has been!  When I saw the picture of how big the back of the dress was, I knew that there was some type of alternation that needed to done but it was something I had never done before.  First thought was a narrow back alteration.  So, I pulled most of my fitting books to see what needed to be done.  The first book I looked at “Every Sewer’s Guide to the Perfect Fit” mentioned the alteration but the information just didn't make sense to me.  The second book was “Fast Fit” and the information regarding the alternation made more sense.  The third book was “ Fit for Real People” and this information made sense.  I ended up following the information in “Fast Fit”.  The reason was that book had the alternation going all the way to the waistline and it seems more appropriate for the wrinkles I was seeing on my muslin.  So, I started with the smaller of the two amounts which is ½” tuck.  Here are the results:

The picture on the left is the dress with a minor alteration at the shoulder.  The dress on the right has an increased shoulder alteration and the ½” tuck from the waistline to the shoulder seam.  Isn’t that an amazing difference?  I can still see that this needs to be a wee bit of wrinkles going on and I will be increasing the tucks to ¾” on the final pattern.  So, the alterations on the final pattern are:

1.      Change the angle of the shoulder line by ½” at the shoulder line.

2.      Move the armhole down by ½” so that the sleeve will still match.

3.      Add the ¾” tuck on the back and true the seams.

4.      Add 1” to 2” of length.

Here are the results of my hard work:

I am happy with my new dress.  It is far better than what I can generally purchase.  If you're interested in my journey on this dress, here are the other two posts:

1.  Muslin Butterick 6166 Part 1

2.  Muslin Butterick 6166 Part 2

I didn't anticipate was that the dress would be a bit snugger because of the front band.  So, if you're thinking of making this dress be sure to add that to the muslin as it will affect the fit somewhat.

I'm going to write a little tutorial on how to alter the back like I did.  The information in Fit For Real People indicated that this type of alteration was generally only needed if you picked the wrong size due to a larger bust.  Maybe I did.  I do know that when I compared the altered back to the original, it actually matched a size 14.  Even though the dress indicates that maybe I should have made a small FBA, the narrow back adjust is far easier to accomplish that a FBA.   The back indicates that maybe I should have removed a little bit of length.

My next project will either be a yoga skirt or a yoga pants.  I haven't decided yet.  The stash has yielded fabric for both items.  Don't think for an instant that this really reducing the stash much because Fabric Mart had a great sale on knits a week or two ago and I had to indulged a little bit.  I need to remind myself that the next move does not need to have a huge stash to move.

Happy Stitching!