Butterick 5638, blissfully finished

Not loving my expression here, but am loving the pose.

Did you hear it?
The huge, heaving sigh of relief when I finished Butterick 5638?

I sewed a modified version of view B and also sewed the belt, view C.
I wrote about it over several posts.  I don't know how many hours it took. A long while.  

It's a little disconcerting how the model is placed with all the drawings...

It's made from a navy cotton sateen with a little bit of stretch, from Chic Fabrics, purchased during PR weekend NYC 2012.

I hated the deep V and ripped the inset panel out and redid it. 
I wound up drafting my own facing instead of using the binding the pattern calls for.
I asked y'all if I should put buttons down the vacant placket and you said yes.
I had these lovelies in stash:


The spot is just water, no need to panic....

But mostly I'm proud of a few techniques:
Purchased and learned how to use a rolled hem foot, for straight hems at least!
And that's what this ruffle was, a long straight strip of fabric.

The top is above and here's the underbelly:

I am SO proud of that. The narrow hem was something I was afraid of trying and I'm so glad I did.

I bought the foot off of ebay and watched a few youtube tutorials, like this one I liked best, practiced for an hour or so on scraps, and got the hang of it (still need to learn it for curves and junctures, though).  Credit goes to Noile for her post about her rolled hem foot inspiring me to get my own.

Second, I used interfacing I bought online from Fashion Sewing Supply. I read about Pam's interfacing on Gertie's blog and thought it is time to upgrade! This interfacing does not shrink and comes in WIDE widths so no more futzing with narrow interfacing. And it's really not all that expensive, even compared to Joann's, arrives quickly and fuses like a dream (which lately, Joann's interfacing was NOT).

As I learned from Kathy Ruddy at the ASE 2 years ago, I rough cut a piece of fabric and a piece of interfacing and fuse them together, as seen here:

and then I cut out the piece (in this case the inset). No more futzing with the cut interfacing and the cut fabric not matching!

Third, I used stitch #16 on my BabyLock, called the Arrowhead Overedging stitch. I used this stitch on my friend's shirt too. It's very slow but am thinking it might hold up better than a zigzagged edge. I have "Getting My Serger To Work" on my to-do list....

Here are some more pix:

Back view

Side view

I really should look happier:

On Becky? (I might name my dressform Becky, as per Michael Kors and "Becky HomeEcky"):

Up close

Without the belt:

Side view:

Back:

My best invisible zipper yet (I refer to SunnyGal studio's tutorial every time and I am improving with each time):

I'm wearing the dress to work on Thursday--let's see how it rolls.

Oh, and last night I felt like sticking some dried red roses into a styrofoam ball (stuff I found during The Big Cleanout).
I'm not sure where I will hang it

But, I love it.

This gives you an idea of the size


Be well!