Butterick Patterns by Gertie B6453 - The Ultimate Retro Summer Dress!

Here's a peek at the pattern:

Two gorgeous variations!

I chose a vintage style ditsy floral cotton fabric for my first B6453 dress (I say 'first' as my 2nd is on the way...). It's the perfect fabric for the dress and really lends itself to the vintage vibe! The pattern is very much like the popular Pinup Girl Clothing 'Jenny' dress and is a great summer staple, I know I'll be making lots more of. The fact that the dress is nice and simple too, certainly makes it a dream to sew!

Every gathered skirt deserves pockets!

This pattern is lovely and straight forward, I would certainly recommend it for beginners. The dress features flattering princess seams, a full gathered skirt, pockets and a lapped zipper. This was the first time I have sewn a lapped zipper, and I feel silly for avoiding them as it's far more straightforward than I thought. I'll be sewing them a lot more in the future that's for sure!

Finally achieved a great fit!

The only complication for this pattern, for me, was needing to do a full bust adjustment (FBA). This won't be the case for everyone but it is for me. I've never done a FBA before and certainly wasn't looking forward to doing one. I didn't need to do anything major, but after the disappointing too-tight bust on my Kim dress, I thought I should stop avoiding it and do it!


I'm hoping to film a video on my FBA and talk about my fit details and adjustments in more detail on my . I have mentioned a little about it my and will update this section with my FBA video when it's live.


Sewing Summary:

Pattern: Butterick Patterns by Gertie B6453 Dress Pattern

Fabric: Small Rose Print Cotton Poplin Fabric - Turquoise Blue

Notions: 14" zip & 2 x Hoops and Sliders

Sewing time: A day with my FBA.

Modifications: Full bust adjustment.

Fit: Great! But I'll be shortening the waist and altering the straps next time.

Difficulty: Nice and simple - a great make for beginners.

Watch out for: Even waist gathers and creating a tidy lapped zipper will make a big difference to the final look!

Make Again?: Yes! I have another one lined up and look forward to tweaking it further and trying different styling.

No longer fearing the FBA!

Overall, I'm totally on board with the hype of the B6453 pattern! Its simple, sassy and quick to make, the perfect project for getting my creativity back on track. Have you tried this pattern yet? What do you think of it?

Thanks for reading, pinups!
xo

P.S. Thank you for bearing with me whilst my blogging schedule has been inconsistent. Between here and my new YouTube channel, I've been trying to balance my content better to fit in with my work schedule. I'm currently aiming for one post a week here (at the start of the week) and a new video every Thursday. Please do subscribe to my channel .