Butterick 6049: A Festive Halter Dress

When this pattern was released on the Butterick website, I was instantly smitten. In fact, I loved it so much I made a near-replica of the model garment.

I think the bust detail is so cool. It reminded me immediately of this Tatyana dress from Modcloth. (Warning: those points are a little tricky to sew!)

This is one of the quickest projects I've sewn in recent memory. I was at my parent's house in Arizona and decided to give it a try. I made a muslin and then the rest of the dress in half a day. Super satisfying. I got the fabric at the local quilt shop out there. The white halter is Kona Cotton and the rest is a quilting broadcloth cotton print. It softened up nicely by prewashing.

I would definitely recommend making a bodice muslin of this design. The bodice was significantly too long for me, both in the halter portion and in the midriff. It also was very wide underneath the armpits, so I narrowed it. The size 14 was too big for me overall. I took it in at the side seams, but wish I had taken more out at the waist.

If I were to make it again, I would put a bit of boning in at the side seams and on either side of the zipper for support so the lower back doesn't wrinkle. I didn't have any of that stuff with me in Arizona, so I decided to do without. I did add bra cups, post construction.

The skirt is a full circle (with pockets, yay!). I wore it with a crinoline peeking out for dramatic effect, since I wore it for a 4th of July performance. It looked pretty great on stage (if I do say so myself). The skirt kept blowing up, since it was a windy day, so I was glad to have the crinoline underneath.

Overall, I highly recommend the pattern but do know that you'll probably need to spend some time fitting it--and you may wish to size down altogether. I'll probably be making this again this summer--aqua and white, perhaps?