The pattern is a popular 1952 Butterick dress. This dress was, at one point, in such high demand that Butterick stopped printing all other patterns so as to fill the backorders! It's called the Walkaway dress because it can be made so quickly. They say you can cut it out before breakfast, sew it and wear it to lunch. It's a very flattering wrap style with three buttons at the front. The under panel does up at the back.
The skirt is huge! This is only half of it!
The brown stripey fabric is a secondhand doona cover from an op shop. It has delightful little birds on it.
I have a small issue with the fabric that the buttons are attached to. I think this fabric needs to be strong or supported with interfacing as the buttons tend to group together, causing wrinkles in the fabric. I may make this dress again using a heavy brocade for the top section. This make is basically a wearable toile. I wasn't particularly careful while sewing and I didn't use matching thread. The pattern calls for all edges to be bound with binding. But that sounds like a lot of work and I don't particularly like the idea of that much binding on this design. The wrap design of the dress is interesting enough without outlining it with binding, contrasting or otherwise. I just sewed once-folded hems and made facings for the neckline.
UPDATE: It's several months after I made this dress and I just don't like it. I've made it again in blue cotton because I thought maybe I didn't like the fabric. But I'm pretty convinced that it's the pattern. It's really hard to make this pattern flattering if you're not a stick. The bodice doesn't fit my bust very well because of the tie at the back. The fastening at the front tends to move up under my bust. The skirt is beautiful but the underskirt is uncomfortable. I don't like the way it clings to my hips when I really want to feel all swishy. I don't think I'll make this again.
