Butterick B5285 – Gjeometry

I was recently charged with a sewing dare by Jagoda from FitNottoFit to sew something for myself to wear out of this Ikea Fabric. You can see the post here.

I decided to make a skirt from Butterick B5285. I made View B, which has two box pleats in the front and back, a back zipper and side seam pockets.

It was quite easy to make, (save for my brand new (to me) vintage overlocker eating my first skirt, both front and back pieces. I had to start all over again. And, the second skirt, the waistband was too big, so I had to make a new one.)The only real difficulty I found was with the box pleats. It took so much time, measuring and ironing them, then lining up the next pleat so that it did not overlap the first one, making sure the pleats were the same size, etc. This actually took longer than constructing the skirt. It was much more challenging to get these box pleats even and flat from top to bottom than it was for knife pleats, like those found in versions C and D. Is there a trick / secret to making box pleats? If you know of one, please share!I do really like the way the box pleats layer the fabric and allow the large floral print on it to peek through and make all kinds of abstract and colourful designs on the skirt. I think it really utilized the fabric to its full potential, adds an extra element of design and creates an interesting composition. I am quite pleased with that aspect. And, of course, POCKETS!!!! ‘Nuff said. I submitted it for my skirt project in sewing class and received 20 out of 20 (100%). 🙂And, I have seen so many photos of you lovely garment makers twirling in your skirts, so here goes:

Twirling is THE BEST!!!! And, it really shows the layers of colour and abstract floral patterns underneath the box pleats.

Kitty Likes Measuring Tapes

So, to refresh your memories, I had selected the Very Easy Very Vogue 9647 from the winning Pattern Pyramid. There were two main reasons for this; one, it was in my size, two, it was touted as “very easy”.

Now, not sure if you can see from the picture or not, but this pattern is definitely very ’80s. Especially, the incredibly expansive shoulder pads. They are actually large enough to land a plane on! Seriously! And for those of you afraid to fly, picture a Kitty perched on each shoulder and walking around all day like that.

I wanted to try my best to De-80s-fy the pattern (yes, I coined that phrase, please feel free to use it and share).

This is what I came up with to bring it into this century while lancing the shoulder pad design detail: I opted to make the top half of the dress in B (the short sleeves) and the bottom half of the dress in A (the full skirt), while also shortening the dress to about knee-length. I’m using a periwinkle blue cotton voile that has a flower design embossed on it, and is almost sheer where the flowers are embossed. I thought it would be delicate and flowy and deter from that ‘boxy’ look. I then decided to sew an Obi Style belt out of the cotton floral fabric to cinch it at the waist while still keeping that light and airy look (as opposed to using a heavy leather / plastic belt).

So, these are my plans to de-80’s fy, what do you think? In my mind, it looks fabulous! 🙂 In reality, we’ll have to wait and see.

And, I have been charged with a Sewing Dare by Jagoda from FitNottoFit:

“Catja, I don’t know what your plans are for March, but I CHALLENGE you to make something from Ikea fabric. Hopefully something wearable, for yourself, not for the kitties. Do you accept?”

Yes, I accept! Although Kitty is a tad disgruntled. Here is my plan:I love Ikea fabric, but it can be a challenge to sew clothing with it, as it is mainly designed for home sewing projects. I am going to make Butterick B5285 in Version B and use this Ikea fabric pictured. The fabric design is: Malin Akerblom, 2010. The floral print is quite large and I’m hoping that with the addition of the pleats on the skirt, it will look like an abstract floral pattern.

Karen, from Did You Make That? made the same version (B) of the Butterick skirt in a fabulous fabric, check it out here. It looks terrific, so if mine comes out half this well, I will be stoked!