If you hang around the vintage sewing community, you will hear of several patterns that have a bit of a cult following. These patterns are often rare and very sought-after so most of us will miss out on owning/sewing the pattern however, some companies sell professional reproductions of vintage patterns meaning the original pattern is copied exactly and then resold so you buy a copy rather than the original pattern. That’s how I eventually got my hands on vintage Butterick 9629 from the 1960’s and it’s sat in my stash for at least a year which means it’s about time I sew her up.

Vintage Butterick 9629 is a late 1960s pattern featuring a sarong dress with wrap-around skirt and matching jacket. The bodice has a sweetheart neckline, a small gather at the bust and optional straps for the shoulders. The bodice also has darts for a flattering fit. Vintage Butterick 9629 was purchased from this seller on Etsy who I have purchased from before. As you don’t always get a lot of choice when it comes to size in vintage patterns, the pattern size I found was a 14 for a 34″ bust. I normally have a 38″ bust but at the moment am recovering from a health dip and am in the process of getting back to a healthier weight. Because of this, I don’t think I need to adjust the sizing too much and the waist should just fit me at 27″. Extra care with seams will be taken to ensure I can let her out if needed.

When it came to fabric, I started to browse my stash when I came upon a stunning Malay batik-inspired cotton I bought from KL a little while ago. It features a stunning purple/magenta cotton background adorned with various illustrations of flowers, plants and other pretty symbols some of which are adorned with gold adding a regal touch to the whole look. I was a particular fan of the boldness of the colour of this fabric as well as the details in the pattern; I loved the pops of white, blue and gold in contrast to the boldness of the magenta colour. It’s also a colour you don’t get to see often so I figured once made into a dress, she will be quite the statement. This fabric was quite a stiff cotton which I believe came from the dyes used in the pattern, she would have been great for something really structured.

Sew let’s get started! This pattern only had three pattern pieces that I needed as I decided to draft my own skirt as I normally do. The bodice had two pieces in the front and back and besides darts and adding a few gathers in the front, there wasn’t anything new or challenging in it’s construction. The pattern did ask for a side zip but personally I have always prefered a back zip so I swapped the placement. As I had a fair amount of fabric left over, I decided to use some for the bodices lining. I’ve been starting to use cottons from previous projects as fun lining options but I believe that due to the thickness and coarseness of this fabric, she wouldn’t be the best lining for multiple future garments. In saying this, because this fabric is quite thick, when I added boning channels, there was heaps of strength and support. The boning I ended up adding was from an abandoned project so I was happy to not have to cut up anymore. Once I sewed up the whole bodice, I realised I didn’t add the shoulder straps so I decided not to worry about them and have a strapless number instead.

The pattern came with it’s own skirt pattern pieces but I ommitted them and decided to make my own. As the fabric had a beautiful boarder print to it, I used that along the bottom of my skirt. To make the skirt nice and full, I cut out a length of fabric 27″ long and the full fabric length of 3.5meters across. To gather this huge piece of material I used the dental floss method which means sewing a zig zag stitch over the top of a piece of dental floss along the skirts waistband. Once done, just push your fabric along the floss and it’ll create simple gathers that are easy to adjust. Three and a half meters is a fair amount of fabric and given how thick the fabric is, I think this may have been a little much and removing half a meter or even a full meter might have calmed it down a little. Regardless, life is too short not to wear a full skirt so I just embraced the chaos.

Attaching the skirt to the bodice was done by pinning the gathers to the waistline of the bodice and sewing it down. This dress did have pockets omitted which I’m very sad about but I just plain forgot about them when push came to shove. Before sewing in my zip, I did adjust the fit on my mannequin but for some reason it didn’t fit my dress form well. I have no idea why this is the case as she should fit but oddly enough, I added a zip and it did fit me. Strange. In saying that, I do wish I brought in the bust a little at the back as it was a touch too big that could also be because I’ve been sick for a while. With a final skirt hem, she was finished.

Even though I made this dress back in March, I didn’t get to wear her until June when I went to Cooly Rocks On and sure enough, this dress ended up in the newspaper so I was super happy with how she turned out. The striking colour of this dress completely speaks for itself and it turned heads everywhere we went. The fit of the dress was pretty good although the bust felt slightly too large. The waist was also just a touch too tight for true comfort but wearing a lot of vintage, I’m kind of used to the tightness. Even without the straps, I think this bodice is really flattering but perhaps a little long for me in some parts as it created this stubborn wrinkle and caused the skirt to lift a bit. This pattern has so much potential that I do want to keep her on my back burner and hopefully I can sew her again for something fun soon.

Whilst walking around Cooly Rocks On, I paired this dress with a white belt to further bring out the white tones on the dress and gosh I wish I had my gold shoes to finish this outfit. The next time I take her out I am hoping to add more accessories and better shoes but I had a super limited space and weight. To make the dress shine, I posed with a cute vintage car along the main street at Cooly and it was a divine experience. Having now made vintage Butterick 9629, I am very excited to make it again and use it’s saron skirt with straps; this dress really is at the peak of vintage tiki-style sewing patterns and something fun and tropical would be perfect for next time.

Note: This is not a sponsored post. All opinions and thoughts expressed are solely my own and not influenced in any way. There are no affiliate links and I do not benefit from any link clicks or purchases made.