Butterick 5186

I've been in a sewing funk lately. Seems like every sewing project I start ends up a turkey (remember the eggplant knit dress?). Even when I follow the directions to a "T", cut out fabric meticulously, sew exact 5/8" seams, grade & clip, baste and tack....blah, blah, blah...it's all for naught. The garments just don't fit properly.

So I decided to increase my odds...I chose a pattern that doesn't fit closely. Butterick 5186 was my choice. It says it's a "Fast & Easy" pattern and it was...really!

Because of the disappointing history I've had of late, I chose to use some inexpensive stash fabric - a dark brown stretch cotton. I made view A with view c sleeves. This pattern has a very wide collar - which is what drew me to it to begin with. After the front facing was sewn I tried it on...the collar was waaaay too wide for me so I took off 3.25 inches of it and I'm very happy with the results. Adding 2.5 inches to the length was a power move. The only closure it has right now are the ties but I have plans to add a large fabric covered snap.

I wore it to work on Monday with a baby blue turtleneck underneath and since I was feeling so froggy from that success, I wore the eggplant colored knit dress on Tuesday.