FO: Butterick 5523

I put down the crochet hook long enough to make a dress in January.  I actually finished this dress weeks ago, but only found the gumption to hem it this week.  I've messed up hems before, and it's so discouraging.  Having a good dress I couldn't wear finally wore me down, and I screwed up my courage and sat myself down at the sewing machine.  Ta da!  An hour later, I had a wearable new dress.

I wish I'd remembered to put on lipstick!

This is Butterick 5523, a pattern I picked up at a Joann's sale for $1 sometime last fall.  I wasn't really confident in my ability to pick a good pattern, since sewing was something I was just getting in to.  So I came home and immediately googled it to see if other sewing bloggers had made it.  Yay!  They had!  The pattern had potential.

After reading lots of reviews about how the pattern ran short, I measured things carefully.  I added six--six!--inches to the skirt and three inches to the arms.  The skirt ended up being a perfect length.  I took a 1.5 inch hem, so I really didn't have too much to spare.  I could have added several more inches to the sleeves, but I like them this length. 

I used a double knit from fabric.com.  My husband says I need to wear more navy, and I agree! 

I didn't add the little tab thing on the back.  I made it, but I wasn't super committed to it.  I guess I still could, but I sort of like it plain.  It is a simple dress with a low drama factor, but it's super comfortable and very easy to wear on winter work days. 

I"m putting this one in the success column!