The Seabirds Dress (Butterick 5209)

Hey everyone! Today I’m sharing the Butterick 5209 I made to wear to our friend’s wedding on Catalina Island. I made it along with the seahorse dress and a light blue and white striped Moneta (which I have yet to blog about). I decided to go with a nautical theme for all of my outfits since the wedding was on an island (yes, I’m a weirdo). Unfortunately I didn’t get any good photos of the dress on Catalina, so I took some photos last weekend in Guadalupe, a little town near the ocean a few miles from Santa Maria. It’s known for the huge sand dunes nearby and it was the filming location for the 1923 film “The Ten Commandments.” The crew actually left most of the props behind after filming and they were covered up by the sand. Some have now been excavated and you can see them in the little historical museum in town!

Anyway… I used Butterick 5209, which is a 1947 re-issue and it has a look which can read both 1940s and 1950s (the halter version would make a perfect “Marilyn” dress). It was pretty simple to make and luckily it fit without adjustments, which was great since I was in a time crunch getting three dresses completed for the wedding! The only thing I would possibly do if I make it again is to make the neckline a teensy bit higher because I ended up showing a bit more cleavage than I’m used to 🙂

I made it with some great rayon challis from Cotton & Steel with little sea birds on it. Oh my gosh, I LOVE this fabric! Not only is it a great novelty print which reads well as being from the right era, it’s super soft and comfortable as well! The only thing I was a bit worried about was that it’s instructed to be dry cleaned only, which is just way too high-maintenance for me. I took a chance and washed the fabric as a delicate and tumbled it dry on low heat and it didn’t seem to create any adverse effects..phew! I’ll still wash it in cold water and hang dry from here on out.

I tried my hand at a 1940’s hair style (courtesy of a YouTube tutorial), it’s better than what I usually do but as you can see I still need some practice (also my hair does not like to stay curled for more than 10 minutes or so).Â I finally had a reason to wear the adorable hair clip my brother’s girlfriend gave me last Christmas. It’s perfect for the bird theme!