Sewing : Butterick 6413 & 6453 - Gertie's dresses.

I love that it was inspired by outfits worn by real person, Marilyn Monroe. I can easily imagined how it looks like on my body. Plus there are tons of people have made it too. Just search the hashtag on Instagram and you’ll see different body type rocking the design.


I bought this pattern along with another Gertie’s pattern B6413 from Ebay and I bought the fabric without a plan in mind, but looking at the polkadot prints, it just scream for some classic design. 

Knowing me, you’ll know that I had batched cut everything few months prior, so by the time I finished sewing it, the dress is a little too fitting on me. I still can wear it, but maybe that’s how vintage dress was made or my body had changed.



To my shocking, my waist measurement had change, I’m 1.5” bigger than my previous measurements. Not sure if it’s just water retention or some hormonal changes or maybe just some bad eating habit.



I wore this dress to my nephew’s one year old birthday. And made another one in red polkadot for a friend. Isn’t she gorgeous?

I fully lined it and it looks beautiful inside out.





Sewing Summary :

Pattern: Butterick 6413, in size 6 for bust, 10 on the waist, 14 on the hips.
Fabric: Japanese cotton - blue polkadot.
Notions: Threads and zipper.
Alterations:
- I made a toile and removed the triangle on the front midriff.
- Instead of the loop, I made a detachable bow.
- I had to take in 2cm on the sleeve to make it fit better on me.
- Shorten the skirt length.
Difficulty: Easy, the instruction is easy to follow.
Make another one: Yes, but just the top part.

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I made another Gertie's pattern - Butterick 6453. With the cherry prints fabric which I bought from Kuching last year. I chose the pencil skirt, since I only bought 2m of fabric and made the B version.



It was fully lined with cotton lining and I reuse my old bra ring slider to make the adjustable straps.



This dress looks great with the red cropped cardigan that I made.



Sewing Summary :

Pattern: Butterick 6453, in size 8 for bust graded to size 14 on the hips.
Fabric: Japanese cotton - white polkadot cherry.
Notions: Threads, zip and bra ring sliders.
Alterations: Shorten the skirt length, I followed the skirt pattern for the Butterick 6413.
Difficulty: Easy, the instruction is easy to follow.
Make another one: Yes!
Notes : I made a toile or else it would turn out to be a disaster - I followed the usual sizing on the chart, but it was too big on me. See more on Gertie's blog to know more about the sizing. Gertie have a sewalong on her blog.