Butterick 6582, I'm in love

My Yaya (grandma) has about half a dozen gorgeous dresses from the 60′s in her closet. My grandpa was in the navy andnd once upon a time they lived in Hong Kong. While they were stationed there he had gorgeous clothes made for her. Sigh. I used to borrow them  for special occasions (prom, weddings etc). Here’s my favorite dress from a friend’s wedding a few years ago.

We like to get low on occasion.

I can’t find a better photo or one that includes the matching boxy jacket. They are all to die for, but sadly they all eventually go back to her.  I really think she should give them all to me! My sister and cousins will feel sad and I will never let them borrow them ever.

I just completed Butterick 6582, which is a retro re-production of a pattern originally printed in 1960. This is in homage to those fabulous dresses and it’s mine-all-mine!

I used some emerald/ tealish and gold brocade I found on sale at Joann fabrics (This hot little number cost me less than $20 to make).

I cut a size 12, and had to make a few adjustments to get the fit close to right (I made two muslins). I shortened the waist 1 1/4″ and the length by 2″ so that it would hit below my knee as opposed to mid-calf. I also ended up making the side seams a full inch to get this bad boy to hug my curves..

The adjustment I’m most proud of was figuring out how to lower the back 6″ and re-drafting the back facing to fit.I finished the side seams by pinking and finished the facings with vintage pink seam binding (from 1966, naturally). I inserted an invisible zipper  for the first time (thank you Colette Patterns) and hemmed by hand using a catch stitch (thank you Sewaholic).

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