Nani Iro Cotton Sateen B6453

I AM SO HAPPY WITH THIS DRESS! It’s one of those rare instances where I bought a fabric for a specific pattern and still actually wanted to use it for that purpose when I got around to making the dress a year later. I bought this Nani Iro cotton sateen at Patch more than a year ago, and I knew that I wanted to make a B6453 from it. It’s a pattern by Gertie for Butterick, and it calls for 3.8m of fabric. Which is a LOT, especially when it’s Nani Iro ($$$). I can’t remember how much I actually had, but I know it was less than 3.8m because someone I know was in front of me in line and got her request in before me. So I just took whatever was left on the bolt – which was crazy because the bolt only came into the store earlier that very DAY.

The reason it took so long for me to make this is because I didn’t want to cut into it until I was TOTALLY sure of the fit and pattern, because I loooove this fabric so much and knew I couldn’t get any more. This is the same pattern as I used for my veggie dress a few months ago, AND that I made for my bridesmaid dress for my uncle’s wedding later this August. So I had already made two versions of it, and the second one included the alterations I’d made after my first one, so I knew it would fit. As well, the bridesmaid dress was in a lightweight voile and I’d done a full bodice lining for that one, so I already had practice with that and seen how it turned out in a lighter fabric. I finally took the plunge on a two day sewing staycation with my friend Catheryn sort of on a whim – it had been set out on my sewing table with the pattern pieces on top of it ever since I’d finished the last version of B6453 in May, and I just felt that NOW was the time to do it. And I couldn’t be happier with it!

I made a straight size 12 the first time I made this pattern, and for the next time ended up shortening the straps by 2.5″ each (the sliders ended up on the front of the dress when adjusted to the correct length), and shortened the bodice by 1″ as well all around. I kept all of those alterations for this version. I got my rings and sliders (along with a bunch of other things at the same time) from Bra-Makers Supply‘s online store, which I highly recommend for notions/hardware like this. I cut everything out on a single layer in order to experiment with pattern placement, and just cut double of all the bodice pieces to do a self-lining. The facing in the original pattern is completely interfaced to provide stability at the neckline/armholes. For my fully-lined version, I made up the whole lining, and then applied interfacing along the top edge of the whole lining (from the top to around 2-3″ down – I wasn’t the most precise) before sewing the bodice and lining together with the straps. I did the same thing for my last version of this dress, so I knew it would work.

I’m also SO PROUD of the gathers! This fabric gathered beautifully, and I did two rows of gathering stitches and really took my time with making sure they were straight along the stitch line and not bunchy or diagonal. Also, shoutout to the lovely roomy pockets that Gertie included with this pattern – whenever I add side-seam pockets to other patterns I always use this piece. For finishing, I serged everything separately in terms of the skirt and pocket pieces, and for the bodice it was all lined so I didn’t need to do anything there. For this dress, I always sew narrow twill tape into the waist seam when I attach the skirt to the bodice so it doesn’t drag from the weight of all the gathers. As well, I find it really helps when it’s a lined bodice because then when you’re hand-sewing the lining from the inside along the zipper and waist seam, you can just sew it to the edge of the twill tape and not have to worry about stitches being visible from the outside as much.

Of course I had to demonstrate the twirly-ness of the skirt! It’s not as full as the pattern calls for, if you can believe that. It’s because I had to cut the skirt on the grain instead of the crossgrain as called for, because of print direction, and also because of fabric limitations. After I cut all the other pieces out, all I did was use the length of the skirt pieces to make width-of-fabric “strips” in that height. Then I sewed those strips (2+a bit * width of fabric) all together, and cut 1/4 of the total length from each side to form new places to put my side seam pockets. This means that there’s two seams in random places in my skirt, but the print is so busy and the skirt is so full that you really can’t tell at all.

I LOVE THIS DRESS! It was definitely one of those makes where I put it on at the end and felt that magical glow of making something that you totally love and that fits great. I think I’m done with B6453 for a while – I have two bridesmaids dresses left to sew, and lots of things in my mental queue (which has no order whatsoever). I’m hoping to get started on my Sophie swimsuit soon, but I made a deal with myself not to start sewing that until the bridesmaids dresses are done. Has anyone else sewn with the Nani Iro cotton sateen? What did you make out of it?