The Dyna-Flow Top, Butterick 6486

I am 90% pleased with this wearable muslin. It is a muslin as well  as a painting experiment, after all. I'll go through and let you know where it failed. My goal here was to find a pattern for a dress/jumper that would basically hang from the shoulders but still fit those shoulders. I wanted something I could wear a turtleneck under in the winter, make out of warmer, bulkier fabric; and whose bodice I could manipulate into a curved waist that you don't see here (in my head).  Basically I was looking for a loose fitting block to play with at a later date and I found it.

Pattern:

This is Butterick 6486.   It is described as "Misses loose fitting , gathered waist pullover top with bell sleeves." I will now get back on my Ease Rant. This pattern got terrible reviews on Pattern Review due to the  fit. Did you know that the words pattern companies use to describe their patterns are up there with biblical book and verse? If it says loose fitting, it IS loose fitting, people. ALSO, in the pattern books at the store as well as on line on their sites are the ease charts for the Big Four pattern companies . If the pattern company describes this pattern as "loose fitting", (back to book and verse) by the ease chart, that means there is 5 1/8 to 8 inches of ease above your bust measurement for this particular pattern design. This is DESIGN EASE. This is not ill fit. Know what you are buying. Do your homework. If it has that much ease and no darts, you know it will be a bag. So if your bust measurement is 34, this could be up 42 inches wide at the bust. I was looking for something that would just hang from my shoulders. It works for me. If you want a bodice that is fitted with darts, this is not your pattern. I will now get off of my Ease Rant soapbox that I know I have been on a lot lately. I apologize for being so brusque!

All that being said about the fit of this garment, it went together perfectly at all seams. I was very pleased with the drafting. The pattern, once the fit is understood, makes a great, loose fitting, comfortable top, one I think that can be pretty versatile. There was not too much ease in the sleeve caps. The sleeves were beautifully shaped with a distinct and welcome difference in shape between the front and back armscyes. I applaud these sleeves.  Here, at the waistline,  is where I saw a problem, the ten % that failed, IMO.

 OK, I have boobage, a C cup and narrow torso. I did some measuring. For me to make the back bodice match horizontally with the front bodice I would have to either lengthen the front or shorten the back by 1 3/4 inches at CB or CF. I noticed this hiking up on most views I saw on PR. Boobage made it worse. The less endowed did not have as much of an issue. Yes, darting could help but I really think it was an intentional design call that just  flunked. I looked at other patterns like this that I own and they are longer in the back as well. Is it prego? baby doll? both? Just personally I would prefer either a horizontal waistline front and back or something with a distinct design curve that gave a reason for the lengths being so different. That is my only complaint with the pattern but one easily fixable in the next iteration. I made notes and will work around this next time. 

Fabric:

This was the fun part! Being a trial garment, I searched the stash for something I wasn't too invested in. I dug up a very soft, much washed but still lovely, damask tablecloth that I believe to be a heavy cotton. It's "card table" size which indicated it being quite old. I had been researching DynaFlow paints and decided this muslin would be a great chance to just try some out. The paint and the fabric did not disappoint and I go into more detail about the painting process in my last post. I first cut out my pattern pieces. Then, I painted them, let dried and then heat treated them for permanence. After that is was crank up the machine. The fabric was a bit ravelly but we managed. I love how the color separated in other shading. If this were done outside in the hot sun I think the colors would have dried to quickly to separate and would have remained more intense. I will definitely be ordering and using more DynaFlow again, great paint. In the first photo of the front of the top you see swirls on the breasts. It doesn't come across like this in reality. The damask design in the fabric is lighter and picked up the flash from the camera in a way that made it shine far more than it does. You don't motice it much at all in person. The fabric was great to sew on. Love those natural fibers! 

Construction:

ditch stitching in well of shoulder seam and understitching

There is nothing difficult about this pattern. I did tweak a few things, aka, did them my way so here is a rundown. 

* I did not use the pattern recommended French seams. I wanted to be able to adjust my muslin if needed. I opted for a simple and quick stitch and serge for all seams. 

* I used the recommended facing for the V neckline. I did the Nancy Zieman triple stitch treatment for the understitching and serged the edges. It was interfaced. The facing was then ditch stitch at the shoulder and CB seam wells as shown above. 

facing triple zigzagged and interfaced. Fabric is baby cord.

sleeve head catch stitched to seam allowance between notches

* When the top was complete I felt like the sleeve cap was caving in. I had left my seam allowance in and pressed it toward the sleeve but it just didn't give the nice roll I like. What you see above is a strip of quilt fleece catch stitched to the seam allowance within the seam allowance so no stitching shows publicly. This is then flipped toward the sleeve with the seam allowance and gives the armscye a bit of a soft roll. 

* I used what has become my "signature" machine hems. I started using this just on knits and now bring it forth whenever I need a machine hem.

inside hem

outside hem

* The hem is made by folding under a 1/4 inch and then turning to the inside another inch and pressed into place. The hem is edgestitched with an edgestitching foot and then again almost an inch away to catch the top edge. There were a lot of thread color changes while making this top.

Conclusion:

I think I have a cute top to wear with jeans, dark or white, or with a flowy pair of white linen pants. I recommend the pattern with suggested awareness about the design ease as well as the shape of the waistline seam, which I don't think flatters anyone. Otherwise, this is wearable, cute and fulfilled it's goal of giving me a loose block to play with in the future.

I apologize for no personal modeling but hubs and I are in the midst of carpentry on our facia boards and painting the house. We are doing it ourselves and have two weeks to get it all done and are in full focus mode. I am not sure what my next project will be. Have to get this house painted first! Color: Sherwin Williams Peppercorn!. ....Bunny

ETA: We had some visitors in the yard for brunch this morning!