Butterick 6621 (twist version)

When I first made Butterick 6621 a couple of months ago, I'd already decided that I wanted to experiment with making the twist version. It's something I've always wanted to try, but on the assumption that it would either be very good or very bad for a large of stomach person like me, had never been willing to take the risk of a twist-specific pattern. Now that I already owned it, it was a different story.

It worked! It's really cute!

As I mentioned last week, this is the exact same fabric as my jumpsuit. I'd not originally thought of making my trial version this fancy, but realised that I don't actually have a standard-issue black evening dress (I have my Trina, which I love, but it's quite a specific look and not necessarily as versatile as a black evening dress ought to be) and if it worked there was a niche in my wardrobe it could fill.

Construction was actually fairly simple, once I got past the roadblock of my own making, where I accidentally put the instructions in with a different pattern and could only find the diagramless French instructions. I tried to go with it, realised that my French is terrible (I got an A* in GCSE French, but I'm also absolutely certain I've never known more than fourteen words of it), and put the whole thing on pause until I could find the English sheet.

The dress is made up of two front pieces, and one wraps over and round the other to create the twist. You're then left with a couple of darts to sew up, and the front is complete. It's not a difficult thing to do at all, but I wouldn't have got there from the pattern pieces and sparse French instructions. The whole thing was maybe a couple of hours' work

In terms of adjustments, I cut on a cheat FBA, ignored the neck binding piece to do my own thing, and shortened the sleeves by about an inch. I don't think I've ever had a short sleeve be the right length out of the packet; they're all a bit too long and cut my arm at a weird place. I didn't want to shorten the skirt too much as it messes with the proportion of the twist. 

This version is obviously a snugger fit than my sweater knit version, and for this view I think it's better that way. I think if it were a looser dress it would just feel like unpleasant bulk sitting on top of my stomach, but when it's tight like this the twist just eliminates the stomach cling I hate so much. I'm aware that's why they do this sort of thing for maternity dresses, but I am not wearing a maternity dress and let's not go there, please.

I'm also surprised by how much I like this neckline. I tend to shy away from V necks because they look horrific on me if the proportions are even slightly wrong (especially if it's not a very deep V), but this is really nice and balanced.

The one thing that does disappoint me a bit is that I was hoping this would be a good dress to go dancing in, and for me it's not. I have a super-wide high hip (almost the exact same measurement as my lower hip) and a few enthusiastic dance moves is enough to push the entire twist directly under my bust and make everything else unflattering and precarious. It's completely fine for a more sedate evening, though, and I'll definitely get plenty of wear out of it in dinner-and-cocktails situations.

Overall I'm super pleased with this dress and would cheerfully make another one. I originally thought that if this version worked I would make another in cotton jersey, but now I'm not so sure about that. For me and my body shape, this works perfectly in a heavier, super-stretchy fabric that allows me to wear the whole thing a little tighter, and I think I'd be looking for a fabric with similar properties were I to make a second one. It's actually entirely possible that I'll make another one in velvet; I'm a bit obsessed at the moment (you may have noticed), and I feel like I'm racing to catch up on all the velvet clothes I didn't make when I thought the fabric was too hard to work with. Not any more! All the shiny strokeable clothes! 

I'm not exactly sure what will be up next. I really want to get the stupid yellow cords done but also I've screwed this up THREE times already, so I'm weighing the pros and cons or either the time and expense it would take to make a test pair of whatever pattern I choose (I think it's going to be the CCP Jenny, just because I've been struck with the awful fascination of trying out a pair of overalls later), or the possibly of ruining my yellow trouser fabric for the fourth time. One way or another I WILL make a decision before the end of the month, goddammit.