The Big Blooms Print Dress: Messing with Pattern Butterick 6582
Or altering the pattern or hacking the pattern or whatever you like to call it.
After I decided to use this sewing pattern for the Big Blooms print dress, I pondered whether I liked it as is, or wanted to change it a bit. I decided on 3 changes.
First, shift the zipper from the middle of the back to the side seam at the left. Back zippers are only less annoying than back buttons, but both are awkward to get on and off alone. I decided close the side seam for 2 inches below the armhole opening and then set in an invisible zipper which would end around high-hip.
Second, I decided to change the neckline at the back. True, a v-neckline echoes the one in the front, but nobody is ever going to see both the front and the back at the same time. And since I have already made this dress once, I also knew the that back neck-line came down just low enough on me to have to worry about lingerie showing and I try never to worry about my clothes when I have them on. So I took a curved ruler and simply shifted the neckline up and rounded it. Without the zipper, I could eliminate the center-back seam on the bodice which no longer served a purpose.
Third, I switched the gathers on the skirt into some pleats at each side front which fold so that they meet the darts in the bodice. Gathers all around often create an unattractive mass while pleats do not, especially if those pleats are shift from center to side. Â
