Made by a Fabricista: Burnout Velvet Easy Dress! (New Look 6469.)

I really LOVED the Julie's Picks for December 2018.  I was all set to buy a few yards of a few fabrics, but because early December was crazy for me, I only got around to buying fabric in mid-December, and by that point, a lot of my favorite fabrics were already sold out (super bummed!).  But there were at least a few of this gorgeous blue burnout velvet available, and was I ever stoked to find out I could use them for a cute, comfortable, and very festive New Year's outfit.

Every year we are invited to friend's house (just down the street, so super easy to get to--we always walk) on New Year's Day.  I knew I wanted something that would suit the occasion, so I went with a long-sleeved easy and loose fitting swing dress.  I knew that even though the burnout velvet was a knit and quite stretchy, I would prefer the swingy feel for most of the dress since the beautiful medallion pattern would be most stunning when it was allowed to move and shine with the glimpses of the light.

I ended up going with New Look 6469 simply because it covered a few needs...long sleeves, easy skirted shape, longer than a mini, and raglan sleeves (I didn't want to set in velvet sleeves, nothankyou!).  There are so many cute dresses in the sewing world made from this pattern, so I knew it was a winner.  It also reminded me a lot of the dress above, which has appeal for holiday events (though mine is shorter, which I think makes it less "covered).

When I received the velvet, I audibly gasped.  Not only was it gorgeous, it was super soft, and a great weight for ensuring that it would be perfect with the drapey look I wanted to achieve.  You can find this velvet knit here, but this is also a great option for a similar look.  You will definitely need a slip with that, though!  Here's a black velvet if you would prefer to work with velvet for the sheen that my dress has.  (Note this pattern requires a knit.)

The blue is very true blue (especially when being shiny) and navy blue (when not under light), and the mesh it is applied to is sheer, but not super sheer.  I was given some ITY knit in a navy blue which I made a slip from (using Butterick 5812), and to be honest, I could get away with no slip, that is how well the voluminous drape of the skirt and darker mesh work to obscure the sheerness of the mesh.  Now if I had made a tighter item, it would have needed a full lining throughout as the stretched mesh is sheerer.

Above you see a close up of the fabric.  The medallion pattern is very royal looking, though my daughter said it looked like the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland (she's not wrong, take a look at one and two for proof, lol).  The whole dress came together quite easily, and I found the cutting process to be fairly easy, too.  I only struggled a little bit in trying to pin the pieces together before sewing.  The velvet is slightly shifty, and if I wasn't working on a completely flat surface, the seams would go wonky.  I think I took more time pinning seams together than sewing.

I actually only sewed one bit of the dress on my serger, the long side seams of the main part of the dress.  Unfortunately the serger was mediocre at best, and after switching to a 3 mm straight stitch and slightly stretching the fabric while sewing with a walking foot on my sewing machine, I had far more success.  Amazingly, the straight stitch with a slight stretch in the fabric was more than enough stretch, even on the neckline.  It looks great, too!  Color me surprised that this fabric, though a knit, worked better with my regular sewing machine.

I normally hate showing off my back view, but because this dress is slim where I am slimmest and gets far more volume at where I am not thinnest, it overall makes me appear slim!  LOVE!  I went with a size 12 from neckline to hem, which I am almost never able to do.  I think I need to make this dress again in multiple knit fabrics.  And the pattern is such that I can play around with length at the hem and sleeves, and they even have an option for a mockneck.  (I also know how to take this neckline and convert it to a more open design, like a scoop, etc., so I can do that if I want a more summer friendly swing dress.)

This dress was a huge hit at the party yesterday.  Everyone was feeling the fabric.  And, yes, I did admit to making it!  (I love being able to do that!  Do all your friends' eyes get huge when they find out you sewed something they really love?)

I hope you all had a wonderful New Year!  Did you make a cute little item for your festivities?

Don't forget to join Julie's Picks!  This fabric was in the December picks, and it wouldn't have been mine had I not been a member!!!

Have a great January and February.  See you all in March!

Dina, My Superfluities.