Vintage Butterick 8160 - F@#% this

This weekend I worked on my dress for the Pattern Review vintage sewing contest, using Vintage Butterick 8160.

Early indications were that the bodice was going to be a bitch to sew and that I'd have at least one fit of rage while trying to get the fit right.

I made a muslin. The fit was so hideously bad. It was a major humbling experience for me because my figure is so generic that I actually stopped making muslins for the 50s-style sundresses I love because my proportions fit the pattern measurements so easily. I didn't think it'd be any different for this actual 1950s pattern, but thank goodness I made the muslin for it. Because it looked SHITTY and I would have killed myself if I'd cut up my fashion fabric for it.

This is the only picture I have of Muslin #1:

I convinced myself that it turned out badly because the fabric I used is too heavy and stiff. So I made another one, and I felt like the gathers came out better and looked more like the picture on the pattern. But it was the same result on the body. Ungainly. Badly proportioned. Horrible drape. Here, I'll show you.

Muslin #2:

I am actually wearing pants here, okay? A skirt, actually. I turned the waist band up to my actual waist level--I am very short-waisted--hoping it would magically improve the bodice fit.

I can't even begin to figure out how to fix the fitting issues. I even bought a dress form to try the muslin on so I would have a better chance of figuring it out, but ended up having a fit of rage and tearing the stupid thing up at the seams (the muslin, not the dress form).

I truly don't think the bodice pattern for vintage Butterick 8160 is a workable design. It looks good on paper, but in reality, it's a terrible design.

So I'll have to do something else for the Vintage Sewing challenge, and save the Christmas dress for the Holiday Sewing contest, because then I can combine a different bodice with the Butterick 8160 skirt, which really does look to-die-for.

Luckily I had a Plan B for the Vintage Sewing contest. My fallback plan is to do Simplicity Jiffy 5959 with the cute vintagey print fabric I found at High Fashion Fabrics in Houston.

It looks easy, and I'm sure it is, but I'm convinced that every new pattern I try takes at least 5 times longer to complete than it would for a more experienced seamstress. Plus, I'm going to line both the jacket and the dress, because the fabric is kind of scratchy and I believe it tends to stick to itself. So it's probably good for a fit of rage, haha.

I only have 12 days to finish the Vintage Sewing contest. Luckily, the Holiday Sewing contest started Nov. 15 and runs through the end of December, so I have plenty of time to figure out what to do for my Christmas dress.