Miss Celie

Butterick 5522: Navy and Lime Tina Turk

When I posted about my original red and camel version of Butterick 5522 back in January, Shirley commented that she had a similar dress in navy blue and lime green in the 70s.

I LOVED the color combo idea and quickly bought two navy rayon double knits from FabricMart. Unfortunately, I couldn’t seem to get a hold of lime green. Everyone was sold out! Luckily, Patti F. came to the rescue and tracked some down, special ordered it and I was able to get two yards for myself.

The weather here has been nutty. Cold-to-warm-to-cold- to allegedly mid 80s by the weekend again. This may be the last day that I can squeeze this in before it warms up. Considering it’s my only fabric purchase so far this year, I really wanted to make sure it was sewn up as soon as possible. The biggest difference between my two versions is the material. My original is a super stable double knit poly. This is a rayon. The rayon is much looser in weave and the fit is more flowey.  I think, with all the curves, I’d prefer something a bit more stable — especially if you’re new to sewing curves.

Since it’s a hair longer than the first, I feel comfortable wearing it to work. I prefer the look of the shorter version on me, but wasn’t comfortable wearing it to work (not that I didn’t!).

This length and color are much more work appropriate.  I wore it Monday to a press conference at Fort McHenry.  *cough* Now is my time to remind you that Baltimore is the birthplace of the Star Spangled Banner, the National Anthem of the US.  And, according to this morning’s announcement, home of the two best known symbols of America (anthem / flag) *cough*

I’m glad I wore it today too because we were outdoor and it was *cold*! Try standing around for an hour. Brrrrr. Our staff photog was kind enough to take these outdoor photos of me. I’m wearing my tweed ride cape from October! Never thought I would get this much wear out of it. But, it’s a great piece and one of those things everyone loves when you put it on.

My serger was operational this time around too, so I used it for all construction steps. The dress just took a couple of hours to make.  All the alterations had been made and I knew the steps. Hmmm, I also see my shoulder in this are way long. I’m going to change the pattern a bit by taking away some of the width of the neckline and shortening the shoulder. I have narrow shoulders. I just tend to ignore them 🙂

If you’re wondering about the sexy hand brace above. It’s my tendonitis which I usually manage pretty well. But, my next project is out of denim and it did a NUMBER on my hand in the cutting. Between that and yard work this weekend, I haven’t taken the brace off since Saturday and was popping ibuprofen like candy. Pooh.

44 comments

  2. I don’t think I can properly tell you how cool I think your dress is! I am in sleeve awe, is that a thing? I it must be.

  3. Great looking dress, perfect for work. And it is perfect with the cape.
    Good to see you’re sewing again. Maybe that will help inspire me. I made a resolution to finish a sewing/craft project each month. That lasted 2 months. Now it’s the last day of April. Gotta find something I can finish in a couple of hours.

  8. An eye-popping dress! So glad we were able to locate the lime. Given the high contrast between the lime and the navy one can see that your stitching is impeccable.

  11. The dress is very cool, but I have to admit I was most struck by the reminder of your beyond fabulous cape! Which has just made me realize that I am going to HAVE to make one before October as I expect to be spending approx 5 months in the UK as of then and a cape like this just somehow screams “England!” to me. Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum.

    But your dress really is super-cool.

  13. Fabulous color combo! I love this version of the dress. Great shot of you in front of the bus with matching colors. I hope your wrist feels better soon.

  15. That color combination is so very chic. I love it, that pop of lime looks so nice on you! And WOO, Ft. McHenry! I lived in Baltimore for a year and never made it out there – but did visit the “Star Spangled Banner” in DC.

  18. Oh I just love that cape!! And the dress in lime and navy is even better than your original.

  19. That is a great colour combo and looks fabulous on you. I totally love your cape too, much more than mine! I have been thinking of shortening mine, and now I’ve seen your’s I am definitely putting it on my to-do list!

  20. Love the blog, love the dress! And I adore the cape. It looks stunning together. I wish I had something similar to brighten up the day – it’s a very very dreary morning here in the UK… Good luck to the wrist. And thanks for the blog – it keeps me happy and daydreaming while finishing a PhD!

  21. This is perfect on you and I love the colour combination. Your shoes are pretty cute, too!

  22. super dress – whoever said blue and green shouldn`t be seen together was just talking total cr@p. Linus is soo cute – you don`t need a man with him around !

  23. After your post on work appropriate clothing, my first thought was, oh great for work. It is a great dress on you. the cape is perfect for this changeable spring weather as well as looking tres chic.

  24. Love the color combination and it’s nice to see it ‘in action.’ The photo with your coat is great too.

  26. LOVE IT! YOU LOOK FABULOUS! (Why, yes, I’m yelling. It’s THAT awesome!)

  28. Girl, do you ever take a bad picture? You are so photogenic. You’re garments continue to inspire me.

  29. Very work appropriate! I love that you somehow got the bus to match your colors, too. Woo!

  31. I LOVE the dress – you look fantastic. This is the best blog post I’ve read for ages – lovely pictures and fabric info. I have some yellow ponte knit from Fabric Mart which I bought on your recommendation last year – I have to get up some courage and try sewing it on my serger. Thanks for posting!!

  32. Am hard put to decide which color combination I prefer. I love you in the red, but that lime green against the blue is mighty purty, too. You could put those wack-a-doodle sleeves on almost any garment and be happy, I do believe. It’s been crazy weather here in central NC, too: we either freeze or fry. Yesterday I wore woolen socks inside my sandals, just to cover all possibilities of cold or hot footedness.

  33. Great color combination, and it looks great with your riding cape, too. We’ve had the same nutty weather, only about 10 degrees cooler because we’re 150 miles north of you.

    Do they still make electric scissors? My grandmother had some, and they saved her arthritic hands from an awful lot of woe caused by cutting. They might help your tendonitis, too. Just a thought.

  34. That dress looks like they designed it for you! I love both versions you’ve made. Gorgeous!

    I’ve got tendonitis too and in addition to ibuporofin, I go to acupuncture in case you’re looking for more ideas. Feel better so we can see you’re lovely work.

  37. What a fun version of this dress! I like the bus imitating you ;). I’ve loved this pattern for a long time and keep meaning to buy it. And we sure would love some of that cool air our way….

  40. Let us bask in your awesomeness! Great dress and cape. I am now fully inspired to make that dress in fuschia and tangerine…perfect for my Barcelona trip next week. Thanks for the creative charge!

  42. Hello Tina! Fabulous job on the Butterick 5522! My name is Valery and I work at the McCall Pattern Company in NYC. We would love to post your photos on our Facebook page Fb.butterick.com with your permission, of course! Let me know at your convenience via my email address at valeryp@mccallpattern.com Have a great weekend!

    VP

  43. I love your dress – and it’s so YOU! Haven’t been reading blogs lately so it’s been good catching up on yours!

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