Since I only have a few photos, we’ll make this quick and sweet, shall we? The pattern is Butterick 5454, a cute little wrap dress with a few different sleeve options. For my version, I cut a straight size 24 which is the largest size the pattern runs to. It’s technically smaller than my ‘size’ if I go by the actual measurements, but with all the ease built into the pattern, along with my preference for a bit of negative ease in the shoulders and bust, it fit very well. It is, as you can see, a bit on the short side. A lot on the short side. It’s still longer than my fingertips, but I won’t be wearing this without tights until I’m well slathered with self-tanner and will likely have to wear matching bloomers in case of wind-related peep shows.

One point that make me feel BRILLIANT was my excellent finishing. OK. Maybe it wasn’t 100% excellent, but I hemmed the entire thing – neck, bodice, front seams and hem – in one fell rolled hem serger swoop. The brilliant part was that instead of trying to neatly turn the corners where the hem and the front of the dress meet, I did a nice little curved trim job. No 90 degree impossible to serge corners for me! I turned the neck and bodice under and double stitched for a nicer finish, and just left unfolded at the waist to leave the rolled hem for the skirt front and bottom edges.

For any of y’all worried about serious flashing as a result of wearing this dress, I really haven’t felt overly exposed. I think I saw in comments on patternreview.com that the overlap isn’t large enough, but that wasn’t the case for me.

Let’s move on to the last word, shall we?

The Last Word: Butterick 5454

Pattern: Butterick 5454, view A
Notions: I used a bit of 1/4 inch double sided tape (the wash away kind) to help with the neck and bodice turn and hem. Other than that, just a lot of serger thread.
Time to complete: 1.5 hours to cut the pattern and fabric, 1 hour to sew, 30 minutes to hem
likelihood to make another?: It’s already made! I added a bit of length to the bodice, which made the pleats sort of funky – and I need to wash the fabric, but other than that I’m nearly done!
curvy girl score: 8 I really like the style, and the sleeves are super flattering. This sort of surplice neckline can be problematic and a bit too cleavagey, but other than that it’s a winner!

oh, and about the name… I’ve had this fabric, some sort of mystery poly jersey, in my stash for a while. I always thought it was all about the circles, until I finished the dress and tried it on! Now all I can see are the diamonds – the pattern totally reminds me of 50′s diamond formica tables. Very atomic-age, don’t you agree?

Oh! And as a little bit of extra cherry on the sunday… I wore this to work today. Let’s do a daily outfit post, too, shall we? A two-for-one!

dress | handmade, blogged, well… here!
scarf | a little giftshop in Galena, Illinois
tights | Assets reversable grey/black tights. This is the grey side, if you can believe it!
bolero sweater | a little cashmere refashion that I made from a mens thrift find and never bothered to blog about!
boots | ah… my second pair of ACTUAL leather wide calf boots I got at end-of-season prices. I like ‘em, except they’re only boots to wear with dresses – the calves aren’t wide enough to go over jeans! (available here)

I think you will all be amused to know that I presented a variety of fabric choices to Mr. Bug for new cushions for our living room. He picked a yellow and white damask print that I had on hand and had made this circle skirt from. That’s right, folks. I will shortly have a matching outfit with my sofa. Twinsies!

tank | Old Navy. Approximately 310 years old and suitably stretched out. Probably more suited to use as a cleaning cloth than clothing. Nevertheless, I continue to wear it.
cardigan | Old Navy cashmere. This one is an XL petite – the sleeves are a bit short, but not so much that I was willing to pass up basic grey cashmere on super clearance! (available here)
skirt | handmade, blogged here
boots | Katie Step Up Comfort via Woman Within – real leather! Wide calved!
scarf | polka dot scarf, from Target, last year

OK. I realize it’s the last day of January. I also realize that we’ve had a freakishly mild Minnesota winter, not even seeing much snow to speak of yet. But it’s been cold. And dark. And in February the sun starts to get all bright and shiny, so I thought it was time to dressing a bit more spring like. But spring with sweater knit leggings and cashmere.

tank | Lane Bryant (available here)
skirt | handmade (blogged here)
leggings | mine are from Dots, of all places, but I found some similar ones online at the Debs Plus site. Yay for cheap clothes meant for the pre-teen set, amiright?
boots | beloved and broken from Avenue. No longer available.
sweater | yet another cashmere cardi from Lands End – this one is a 1x and is no longer available

Here, the fashion victim lives out her worst nightmare in which she is walking through the mall and suddenly realizes she has forgotten to put on her pants…

Seriously, folkses, this is one of those psycho hangs-to-the-knees in the front and doesn’t-cover-the-rump in back sweaters. Love the lines in the front, hate ‘em in back, so I don’t wear this sweater all that often and when I do, I generally wear with a fairly short skirt, otherwise there’s just too much fabric going on. In almost every single photo I took, it appeared that I wasn’t wearing anything on my lower half but hot pink leggings and Stevie Nicks sweater bits. Hm.

tank | super awesome $2 clearance tank from Target!
sweater | Nine West from Macy’s – bought a few years ago
belt | the store that shall not be named (walmart)
leggings | Debs Plus (similar)
boots | Torrid (still available in black – super sale!)

PS: I actually DID accessorize with my favorite grey scarf, but I had taken it off when I got home and forgot to put it back on for picture time!

Dress: Target, from a few years ago
Cashmere sweater: Lands End (similar – I’m wearing a size Large)
Leggings: Debs Plus – HIGH nylon content! (similar)
Socks | Over-the-knee-socks from Target – they fit me like regular knee socks
Boots: Randy Wide Calf boots from Comfortview (available here)

OK. I am a big, huge, dork. I haven’t taken a ‘what I wore’ picture in FOREVER, mainly because of the bad lighting this time of year, but I’ve been missing it and SWORE I would start again today. I dutifully lugged out the tripod when I got home from work and puttered around in the living room, trying to get the best light possible. I downloaded to my laptop, cropped in photoshop, played with some actions (my new camera is STILL throwing me for a loop) and finally uploaded to WordPress only to find… my last daily outfit post from November 2nd was practically the exact same outfit! With better tights. Apparently, I love a nice winter white dress combo!

dress | handmade, blogged here
sweater | cashmere! mmmmmm… Lands End (available here, and in sizes up to 3X – I’m wearing XL/18-20)
scarf | Galena gift shop!
tights | Avenue  (available here, although if you’re tall like me, I’d skip ‘em)
boots | Avenue, (similar)

dress | handmade, blogged here
turtleneck | thrifted
belt | the store that shall not be named (rhymes with smallsmart)
scarf | boutique in Galena, Illinois
tights | Lane Bryant
shoes | Len Druskin

Is it just me, or do i have a complete prison vibe in my stripey prison shirt? I bought two new pairs  of jeans this fall. Exactly the same, except one pair is the ‘tall’ variety so they ‘re nice and scrunchy by my ankles. These are skinnies from Avenue and they MEAN SKINNIES!! If i don’t put on socks before jeans I won’t be putting on socks at all!

prison shirt | handmade, blogged here
sweater | Michael Kors from Macy’s
scarf | Anthropologie
jeans | Avenue (available here)
boots | Avenue (very similar available here)

I don’t wear trousers very often, so today was a very special day. I’m sure you can see why I tend to skip the trousers!!

trousers – Lane Bryant a few years old
shirt – handmade, blogged here
cardigan & shoes – Target

{10.6}

I can’t remember who I saw doing the cardigan wrap, but I like the look and how it makes longer cardi’s work. This is a new Target purchase – pumpkin color!

sweater, dress, shoes… ALL TARGET!! The dress was heavily altered when I brought it home to make it fit better!

{10.5}

Yesterday I took one last chance to wear a summery maxi dress! I just brought it home from the shop, so I was pretty excited to get to wear it before it cools down. I paired it with blue sneaks and a white sweater and ended up feeling like a project runway reject. Heidi would NOT choose this look for her New Balance line…

dress: handmade, blogged here
sneaks: Target
card: New York & Co.