Viva Les May Fleurs

Heather is SEW ecstatic about her new flower girl dress!  She had butterflies in her stomach due to being honored to be a flower girl for the first time.

I snapped this photo inside our hotel room in Las Vegas. She is a flower girl for my cousin who was getting married that early evening.

I sewed Heather's dress using Butterick 4967.

Pattern Description: "Children's/Girl's Dress and Cummberbund:  Lined, sleeveless dress with tier variations and back zipper closing.  A, B:  mid-knee length with ribbon tie.  C:  evening length with contrast cummerbund and flower".  I sewed a view "C' for my daughter's flower girl gown. 

There are 6 tiers (each with a front and back) for view C: one top tier (just below the bodice), 4 middle tiers (the upper middle tier has pieces 9 and 10, the subsequent three  middle tiers have respectfully 12, 13, 14), and the low tier is made from piece number 15.  

Size: Girls' 6-7-8. I sewed an "8" which corresponds to my daughter's usual RTW size. However, I discovered that it fits more like a "10". But this is fine, since I was able to tie her ribbon (also purchased by the spool at JA's trims section) in a way that cinches the back.

Comparable tiered formal dresses

"Satin netting Wedding/Bridesmaid/Prom/Pageant Dress", from jaksflowergirldresses.com, $320

Here's how NOT to wear a tiered dress:

You are not on the right track, "Lady".  Tiers cannot be"worn this way"!

Double vision!

Just before the photo session with the wedding entourage, Heather gave herself one more check at the mirror. I thought this was would be an interesting photo op. 

Material: Baroque Satin from JA's on sale for $3.49/yard.  I used approximately 5 1/3 yards of the 6 yards that I purchased. For view "C" in a size 8, the pattern calls for 3 3/8" (45" width) and 4 3/8" (60"width) of fabric.  The lining requires 2 1/2 yards of fabric. 

Approximate total cost of dress:  $32.00

I used the same fabric to line the bodice and the skirt. 

Here is about 2/3 of a yard of bits and pieces of the baroque satin after I sewed the entire dress.

 Directions:

Although I relied extensively on the illustrations, the directions were sufficient and simple to follow.  I adapted the steps to the type of fabric and number of tiers that I was using. 

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I reserved seven consecutive evenings to sew Heather's dress.

Evening One:
*Pinning and cutting the fabric (lots of cutting due to number of pieces!)
*Marking the placements of the tiers to the skirt stay

Evening Two:
*Sewing the front and back bodice with the lining,
*Sewing and lining the upper tier

Evening Three
*Sewing and hemming two middle tiers

Evening Four:
*Sewing and hemming the subsequent two middle tiers
*Pinning and sewing the first two layers of middle tiers to the skirt "stay"

Evening Five:
*Pinning and sewing the third layer of the middle tier to the skirt "stay"

Evening Six:
*Attach the skirt stay to the skirt lining along the upper edge
*Attach the upper bodice to the skirt
*Attach the invisible zipper, paying attention to the backs of the upper two tiers so that they don't get "caught" in the zipper.
Evening Seven:
*Attach the lowest middle tier, which ended up being the lowest tier, omitting pattern piece #15 (lowest tier of the skirt)

Challenges:

*Attaching two of the "middle tiers" to the skirt because one of them was a bit wide and the other a bit narrow as I attached each to the corresponding marking that encircled one level of the skirt. I strongly believe this is due to operator error, when I mistook one pattern piece for another which can very easily happen sewing into the wee hours of the morning.

*Hemming each tier

Favorite Features:

* Tiered style

* Although time and labor intensive, the dress is still straightforward to construct.

* Suitable for many occasions.

Wedding entourage in front of the hotel entrance at the JW Marriott in Las Vegas (outside the L.V. strip).  

Design Modifications/Alterations
* Instead of sewing 6 tiers as pictured on the pretty human model, I sewed 5, omitting the lowest tier.

*I lined the top tier. If I had more fabric, I would have lined all the tiers to eliminate the process  hemming a circular piece of fabric.

*If only hemming each tier was simple as a blink of the eye! After sewing the side seams of each tier (middle) and using a small zig zag stitch to finish the ends of each tier, I turned up, pressed, and pinned down a 3/8" hem, and topstitch very close to the edge. My iron has received quite a workout!

*I did a lot of edge finishing after staystitching the ends of the bodice, upper edges of the skirt and its lining, and the top of each tier due to the fraying nature of the fabric. 

* As mentioned earlier, I most likely mixed up one front for a middle tier with the back for another middle tier (the third and fourth levels of the tiers below the bodice)! I gathered slightly one of the middle tiers to get it to encircle nicely one level of the skirt, before the final pinning and stitching.   I did not have problem with two of the middle tiers.  For one of the other middle tiers whose circumference was smaller than the level to which it was to be attached, I had to slightly pleat somewhere along the skirt. 

* Added two front tucks/pleats at the lower edge of the front bodice.

*I used an invisible zipper for the back.

Return To Sewing, A-Dress Unknown...
I plan to make the two-tiered view "A" sometime very soon. Although view "C" is time and labor intensive, but it is still SEW worth it for making any young lady whom you adore feel like a princess for a day!

Heather on her way to the Waterfall Lagoon where the ceremony was to be held.

A little more conversation after the ceremony

Smileys Cy-r-us

Cowl-lifornia Girls

The draped cowl neck caught my attention when I purchased this pattern.  After my slight disappointment with my first version of this pattern several months ago, I decided to give it another try.

From 2004: "Misses/misses' petite top and belt: Unlined, loosefitting, below waist, pullover top has cowl-neck A, B: sleeveless. C, D: short sleeve. E: long bell sleeves. D, E: side seam slits.  B: self belt."  The front and back pieces are cut on the bias.

I sewed the "C" view with the flutter short sleeves, but with the longer length from either view "B" or "E".

Pattern Sizing:
8-10-12    I sewed a "12".

Fabric Used:
Cotton/rayon jersey from fabric.com

Favorite Features
*I liked the draped/cowl neck style and the sleeve options.

A Chadwick's cowl shell

Ann Taylor Loft's cowl shell

* The directions were satisfactory. When I made my second top from this pattern, I barely glanced at them due to a few modifications.
* I liked that it was much more easier especially after making the first version and discovering some "rough" spots along the way. After my disappointment with my first version that I made months ago, I decided to give this pattern another try.

* For my first version when cutting the front piece, I did not include the "extended" front facing that was to be folded inward along the marked horizontal line and the reinforced (with backstitching) clipped corners. I replaced the front facing with a topstitched narrow hem.

*For the second version, I included the extended front facing, which I prefer over my "non-faced" original.

*I only disliked the back facing and the original construction of the flutter short sleeves.  

Pattern modifications/alterations:
*I performed my usual petite adjustments on the upper back (3/4") and at the waistline (1").

* To narrow the upper back, I folded in 1" from the center back, for my second version.

* I lengthened each of the short flutter sleeve 1 centimeter and still found it short. Next time, I will lengthen each sleeve a full inch (approximately 2.54 cm).

* Since I was not using the back facing, I let the upper edge of the back neckline, extend approximately 5/8" past the short shoulder seam formed by the junction of the front piece (having self-facing that was folded inward) and the back piece. To avoid the back facing, I topstitched a narrow hem at the back neckline between the shoulder seams.

*I self-faced each sleeve to avoid the visibility of a "narrow" hem when the sleeves flop about. I cut an additional pair of the sleeves and sewed each facing to the lower edge of its corresponding sleeve, right sides together. After trimming the seams and "clipping" at the curves of the seam, I turned each sleeve with the facing inside out and pressed the lower edge. I machine basted the upper edges before sewing them to the armscyes.

*I sewed the sleeves in "flat" instead of setting them in per the directions. Or, I sewed the sleeves to the armscyes before sewing a little corner of the sleeve seam and the entire side seams of the entire top.



Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
I still would recommend this top. Even though this pattern originally came out 7 years ago, the draped front has been a classic and timeless style feature. This neckline has received more attention and interest after Pippa Middleton created a media sensation with her bridesmaid gown.

Also it was mentioned that Cameron Diaz wore the red carpet version of McQueen's dress at 2010's Golden Globes award. I liked Cameron's red dress that I snapped a pic of her in it during the show.

The neckline of the dresses worn by Pippa and Cameron reminds me of views E or F of Simplicity 3682 that I sewed 4 years ago.

Conclusion:
There are probably "better" patterns with a similar style to Butterick 4132.  This pattern is a keeper for now.

More draped/cowl tops

From Ann Taylor Loft:

From Chadwick's: