My Birthday Dress - Butterick 5247

My birthday is in November and I just want to make a Birthday Dress! Sweater dresses have been my Fall/Winter wardrobe staple for many years. They are easy to dress (all-in-one dressing) and style. I just felt like making a new one this Fall/Winter season.

I dug into my stash and found a little bit of this wool blend sweater knit that I have used before (see here). One side is a rich burgundy colour and the other side is a plain grey. I decided to use both sides of this fabric to make a 2 tone sweater dress, which I didn't have in my wardrobe. I thought the rich wine tone would be perfect for the holiday season too.

I used a tried and true Butterick 5247 (see here and here and here) to create this easy to sew dress. It came together really quickly. I used size 14 and it's a little loose on me since I lost a few pounds recently. No worries! I'm sure I'll gain back the weight during this upcoming holiday season! ;-) Also, when it gets even colder, I'll likely be wearing additional layers under the dress.

I'm happy that I have another useful dress for this Fall/Winter season and I have busted a lot of stash as well. Yay!

I should have cleaned the camera lens before taking this photo! And I look like Robin Hood's merry men with this belt! LOL!

My entry for the Little Red Dress Contest - Butterick 5247 again!

I stared at my stash fabrics and my stash patterns for a long time to figure out what I want to make for the Little Red Dress contest. I have lots and lots of red fabrics and great patterns to make 5 red dresses! I was pondering if I should make something really sophisticated or something very practical. Eventually, practicality won over elegance.

In keeping with the theme of the contest, which is 'empower women to take charge of their heart health', I wanted to make a practical dress that I can use for healthy outdoor winter activities (hiking, playing in the snow, etc), general day to day activities of a mom, and even lounging around the house. Most of the sporty, practical, utility dresses I have seen at the shops are all in muted colours: black, grey, taupe, navy, blue, etc. Why not something in a vibrant colour?

This is a lipstick red Polartec material. I have LOTS of it! I have this material in black, green , brown and red. I love this material. It's warm and moisture wicking and has 2 usable sides: the soft fleece side and the coated firmer side. I took advantage of the 2 different sides to make my dress.

The pattern I chose was the tried and true Butterick 5247 (See previous creations here and here).  As this is a dress I will be layering, I used size 14 (otherwise I would have used size 12). It is super easy to sew. I drafted a kangaroo pocket for practical purpose. I used the firmer coated side for the main body of the dress and the fleecy side for the pocket and the cowl neck. 

I look pregnant with my hands in the pocket!

It's not the most glamourous little red dress but it's definitely something that's very useful for me. I have already worn it out for a day and was very pleased with it. I think it will get a lot of use in the colder months!

You can read my review of this pattern at PatternReview.

Halloween Outfit - Butterick 5247

Happy Halloween! I knew this Butterick 5247 chain mail-like dress would come in handy some day. During the past few days, I was busy getting the kids' costumes ready for tonight. My daughter asked me this afternoon what costume I would be wearing. I hadn't thought about a costume for myself but she was really insisting that I 'make' one. I rummaged through my wardrobe and found this chain mail-like dress that I made last year. I wore it on top of a grey long sleeves t-shirt, a pair of self-made Polartec black pants, a thrifted belt and my knee high boots. I also made a cardboard sword with aluminum foil. I braided one side of my hair and voila! I'm a female warrior!

My daughter seemed genuinely impressed with this outfit that she said she wanted to be a female warrior tonight too! Sorry, there was just no time to make a new costume for her. But she said that next year she would definitely want to be a female warrior with a sword and a shield. We shall see. She changes her mind about her attire constantly. I wouldn't be surprised if she wanted to be something completely different a year from now!

December MAGAM Festive Chain Mail Dress Done!! Butterick 5247

This Festive Chain Mail dress came together really quickly! It was so much fun to make and I`m sure will be really fun to wear.

I made a few design changes:

1. I omitted the cowl neck;
2. I added a centre back seam to add more shaping to the dress;
3. I added slit to the front neckline;
4. I shorted the sleeves by about 3cm;
5. I shortened the hem by 3cm;
6. I decorated the front neckline with a buckle (making it even more like Chain Mail!)

I used size 12 and I still had to take in the centre back seam a bit. I have loads of buckles in my stash (I got them for a deep discount in the summer) so I decided to continue with the chain mail theme and added the buckle to the neckline. I have used buckles before in dresses (see here).

I think I`ll have lots of fun wearing this Festive Chain Mail dress not just for x`mas and New Year, but also for many other occasions (especially ones where a meal is involved). I can`t wait!

See my review on PatternReview.com.

MAGAM November project completed! Another Sweater Dress - Butterick 5247

My MAGAM November project is done! Yay! I used the tried and true Butterick 5147 knit dress pattern and made this Festive Sweater Dress really quickly.

I used size 12 because I used a more stretchy knit than the pattern calls for (the pattern calls for Moderate Stretch Knits). I had to narrow the arm holes and the waist quite a bit to get the right shape for me. So I probably would have been better off using a size 10.

I actually made the mistake of cutting the pattern at the tunic length instead of the dress length. Oh well! It will look fine with leggings and jeggings and skinny pants.

I love this pattern. It is easy and quick to sew and very versatile. Highly recommended! I debated whether I wanted to add some my own design elements into the dress but I think I'll just add my DIY jewelry, belts, etc to the dress instead.

I was too lazy to put on leggings for this photo but will definitely be wearing leggings/jeggings with this dress/tunic.

My review on PatternReview.com is here.

UPDATE: 2014.11.20 -
I wore this dress the day after I made it with a long sleeves t-shirt and jeggings. This was how it looked as a tunic:

It's funny that the same garment looks so different as a tunic than a dress!