DIY: Butterick B6204 Cotton Sateen Surplice Dress

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I made View A of the B6204 dress for Tomiko. Unfortunately this pattern is now out of print. We picked up a stretch cotton sateen fabric in a beautiful rich blue and white leaf print from Fabricland.

I used B6204 from my pattern stash; it is a great pattern because it has multiple cup sizes. The so-called Big Four make some patterns with different cup sizes, and I almost always snatch these up to save me the trouble of doing an FBA. For Tomiko, I chose size 18 with a C cup based on her measurements, and then did some fitting alterations.

She is petite and quite a bit shorter than me, so I had to do some alterations that were new to me. I shortened the waist by 1″, and shortened the armhole by 1″. Additionally, I shortened the skirt by 2″ and the front darts by 1″. However, now I think I could have done a bit more. With all these alterations, I think I could have probably cut out a size 16 and then done an extra FBA, for better fit.

Overall, I ended up increasing the back darts by 1″ each. I also added back neckhole darts that could be larger. Maybe she has a narrow back? I could have taken in the back by quite a bit. What would this alteration be called?

I found it very interesting to try and fit to another body. I’ve been sewing for myself for a few years now and am getting familiar with my common alterations (FBA, sometimes lengthening the waist, square shoulders). However, Tomiko is obviously different than me and so I ended up making two muslins for her. I think in the future I would try another muslin to get the fit even better, especially around the bust. She struggles to find petite ready-to-wear clothes, and was happy that this dress is petite for her and that it defined her waist.

I lined Tomiko’s B6204 dress with a cotton-polyester broadcloth that I used to make the second muslin. The surplice dress has a waist band and shirt tail hem. This curved hem was tricky to sew but with a lot of steaming, I was able to make it work.

The dress has a back centred zipper and hook and eye clasp for closures.

Overall, this was an easy dress to sew, and I think it came together great. I definitely want to make one for myself!