August 8, 2014katboulder

W is for Wrap Dress – Butterick 3485 – A Pattern Review

For the 23rd post in my  series, the letter W, I made a Wrap Dress from a vintage 1994 pattern, Butterick 3485. 3485 has been in my stash for quite awhile – I purchased it for 30 cents at a thrift store in Arizona at least 5 years ago. This pattern is rated Very Easy and I totally agree with that assessment. The only closures it has are ties, and with only 4 pattern pieces, what could be easier?

3485 is described as: “Loose-fitting, mid-knee or above ankle dress, has attached tie ends, and self-lined back bodice extending into tie ends (wrong side may show on tie ends). Narrow hem”. I made both the short and long versions of this dress but the long version is an odd length – between the knee and ankle – and I think it would look much better as a maxi. If I were to make the long version again I would definitely lengthen the pattern first.

I made several small pattern adjustments to 3485. I shortened the front shoulder by 1+1/2″, being careful to do so between the bustline and the shoulder seam so the width of the front and back shoulders at the seams would still match. I also lowered the back shoulders in the same way but only by 1/2″. I added another tie closure to the back of the dress at the bustline. The single tie closure at the waist didn’t feel secure enough for a windy day. The narrow security ties are attached to the sides of the dress on the front and are hidden under the back of the dress when it’s wrapped closed.

I would recommend making the lining the dress from the same fabric as the dress if you want the front tie to completely match – the back of the tie (which is made from the lining fabric) shows when you wrap and knot the dress. Luckily I had just enough fabric to self-line the dress, and I’m especially happy that I finally found a suitable vehicle for such a large scale print.

I’ve had this thrift store cotton stashed away for years – it was difficult for me to picture such a huge print as a garment. The scale is way out of my comfort zone, but I couldn’t resist the flower print design. The red background matches my favorite high heels! You can’t tell in the photos above but my shoes have little zippers on the back and I absolutely love that they have such an unusual (but perfect for a seamstress) detail!

13 comments

  1. What a cute dress! I want to make this dress but cannot find a pattern like this. So would you share the technical pattern with me? So i can see what the pattern pieces look like.
    Thanks in advance foor your cooperation!
    Gr Angelique from the Netherlands

    Like

    Reply

  3. I’ve considered making this dress for a long time. I looks like a dress that will fit nicely into my wardrobe. I love the wrap detail, and it looks very lovely on you. The dress and shoes look like a coral shade on my computer. Those are gorgeous shoes!

    Like

    Reply

  6. Kitty – This is darling. I *LOVE* it. The pattern, the fabric, the shoes & your red lipstick! Smart move on the additional ties for the back. I would have done the same thing. It’s the perfect summer dress – great job.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  7. The sewing stars seem to have aligned completely for you in this project. The color, print and the pattern are so in sync that your dress is gorgeous!! And you look great in it.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

We love to hear from you!

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s