Vintage vibes!

A review of Butterick Dress B6318

Reviewed by Mel Forrest on 12th August, 2019

The Butterick B6318 is one of those patterns that lots of people have tucked away in their collection – it’s probably on your ‘to sew’ list too, but is always overtaken by other projects – am I right? Well I would urge you to dig it out, because it’s an absolute winner and I bet you will love it!

If you are used to ‘big four’ instructions then this is a super simple make. Those more familiar with the detail and clarity of indie patterns may find the instructions quite sparse, but wouldn’t find the construction itself difficult. The sleeves are grown-on and the bodice is designed to have a ‘relaxed fit’, which makes this a very straightforward sew.

I think the reason this project gets put on the back-burner by many people is because of the quantity of fabric required to make it. I looked at some beautiful linens, but as they were narrow I would have needed to spend about £60 on fabric – not a price I’m prepared to pay for a pattern I’ve never made before. In the end I found this pretty striped linen from Seasalt – it’s 150cm wide, so 3m was just enough and I waited until it was reduced from £55 to £32.50 in their sale – a much better price!

I made a calico toile of the bodice in a size 8 to get an idea of the fit and I could only just do it up at the waist (mine measures about 27.5″). I decided to make a size 10 bodice and grade to a 12 at the waist to make sure the dress was comfortable, knowing that even if it ended up being too big, the waist ties would give me a nice fitted silhouette. I think next time I would make a straight size 10, as there is plenty of ease at the waist and the bodice fits very comfortably.

The only slight change I made to the pattern was to double the length of the waist ties. I wanted to be able to wrap them back around to the front instead of tying at the back and have plenty of length to make a nice long bow!

I’m so pleased I finally got around to making this dress and I definitely think I’ll make it again. I love the vintage vibe and how such a simple pattern can look so effective with a good choice of fabric.