Sewing Retro! B4790 #6: I think I've Got It!

Butterick B4790 "muslin" with narrower shoulders,
a larger bust (D), higher armpits and sized to
a 24 in the waist. In other words, made to fit me!

A close up of the waist, chest and shoulders.
45 38 47 I am one hot chick!

I hope this shows the great fit in the armpits.
I had this on last night. It comes up higher
underneath than it did in the original pattern.
There's only a peek of bra where the fabric meets
under the arms and no gap along the front! I
removed close to 3 inches from the shoulders.

I am so excited now. I had lost a little momentum when the top of the dress ended up gapping so much. It was icky and looked like I would never have that great 1950s feminine appeal.

This was actually just another junk version. I'd used up all the muslin I had left and searched around in my cabinet for anything close to enough yardage. I found this pink/lavender floral it was just enough for the underskirt and the bodice back. I like this version enough I am going to find some 6 oz chambray or even 8 oz "denim" to finish this one with some matching blue bias tape.

I've got a few busy days ahead of me with a wedding to top it off on Saturday, but the only thing left I may do is move the bust darts out a little bit. It's not as clear in these pictures, but on me, the bust darts come in just a hair too far and pucker slight enough that you can see the point of the dart from the side but not the front.

I ended up just hacking off the shoulders down to the size 16 point and then removing another 1/2" after it was put together. I added 1"(translating to 2" on the finished product) to the waist of the back bodice and 1" (again adding 2") to the underskirt. I brought the area around the bust out 1/2" on each side of the front only. I didn't need the extra fabric in the back. I'm liking this enough at this point that I was up until way past midnight looking at other fabric combinations to sew this dress again.

I had what you see in the photos together in about 2 1/2 hours. But keep in mind, I spent many hours fussing over measurements, fit and fall. I have not set a skirt to it and I have not done the bias tape.

This is a sample of the chambray/denim I'm thinking about for
the over skirt. It's kind of difficult to see the blue matching
the print, but it does. I think it will give it a casual picnic look.

I am definitely looking forward to finishing this dress and wearing it as often as I can. With the usual changes I have to make to every pattern I touch, I'm ready to give this pattern a rave review, but I'll wait until I have at least one finished product.