Casual dress: Butterick 5496

Hello! I am still alive! School has started and, while I am still substituting, I go to the same high school every day (same one as last year), so I know a lot of the kids and the other teachers. It's not bad and definitely the best possible subbing situation I could find! I'm going to take some more courses this year to add some more subjects that I can be qualified to teach... hopefully leading to a job next year for sure!

I actually made this dress before we went on our honeymoon, but didn't find the time to post it. Then, I washed it in the machine and all of the elastic at the waist came off and it was out of commission until I changed the thread color and sewed it back on. On to my finsihed dress!

This is my pattern, Butterick 5496 from a sale at ye olde Jo-Ann fabrics. I made view B and decided to increase the length a bit to take it from a tunic to a dress. It has three pattern pieces, elastic and bias binding, so it was a quick make. 

T-Rex decided to photobomb every picture as he rubbed into some mysterious stink in the grass. My garden, in the background is doing very well. After someone stole my one pumpkin while we were out of town, I ripped out the space-wasting pumpkins and now everything is doing much better. I have approximately 2000 cherry tomatoes in the kitchen right now.

Showing of my wing-flap sleeves. T-Rex admires me. 

 Looking at the pictures, I think I should have hemmed it a few inches shorter. I don't really love my fabric choice; the print is cute up close, but lost at a distance. However, it is perfectly chill, casual dress to wear around the house or running errands.

Finding a stinky spot.

 For construction, the front is one big pieces, the back is too. The sleeves are finished with a narrow hem, the bottom hem is done on the machine and the neckline is finished with bias turned to the inside. It told me to use bias tape for the elastic casing, which looked nice until I washed it. Then it completely unravelled and all of the elastic came out. So that is not an "ideal" finish. I would use a real piece of fabric next time.

The back is fine, but again I would like it a bit shorter.

The eternal question: Does he want to smell like the stink, or make the stink smell like him?

 I can leave the tie undone if I want, but it makes a super casual dress look too sloppy. I thought this was just a wonder of my modelling skillz, so I had to post it.

Now turn your head. Yes and squint off into the distance like a pirate. Good, good. Make sure you have 46 hair ties on your arm for no reason. Great, perfect shot!

Thanks for anyone still reading after a good six months of sporadic posts. Summer is ending, the house is not insanely hot and school is back in, so I am motivated to make outfits to wear. Maybe even some jackets...