The Sewing Time Machine: The Walkaway Dress—A Review of Butterick 4790

     With it's history, (allegedly) simple construction, and adorable style, the walkaway dress is almost a rite of passage in the vintage-sewing community.
     Despite owning the pattern for several years, I only put it together a few weeks ago. Here is what I think about the Butterick 4790.
     It was fun to sew for the most part, and the finished dress is really cute—on my dress form. It doesn't fit! When working with commercial sewing patterns, I choose a size based on the measurements printed on the actual pattern. These are the measurements of the finished garment (including ease) and are normally found on a FRONT pattern piece

     The pattern envelope gives a waist measurement of 24" for the Size 8. However, as can be seen above, a Size 8 dress will actually have a waist measurement of 26.5". That's 2.5" of ease in the waist and is pretty excessive in my opinion.
     My finished dress in Size 8 barely measures 25.5"! The fabric I used has some stretch, so I may be able to wear it with some serious foundation garments. While it's an option, I was really hoping for something more comfortable.
   The front panel of the dress has two perpendicular darts that are close to each other and very close to the edge (where the binding is applied).

   This was probably my least favourite part of the construction. The edge had to be re-shaped and stay-stitched (again!) to keep everything put.
   I did make some alterations to the back piece, where it wraps around the waist at the front. The original illustration shows straight lines that come together in the front to make a "v." The re-printed pattern, however, is scooped out. Here is a post by Edelweiss Patterns Blog, which shows the alteration. It's very easy to do.
   I did some other alterations as I went along. I chose to use a hook and eye to fasten the front panel (in the back). Also, the buttons I wanted to use were a little smaller than recommended, so I used four instead of three. I also used four snaps (behind each button) instead of three.

     Despite being listed as a VERY EASY pattern, it still requires the hemming of a circle skirt, four double-ended darts, and a lot of bias binding with a couple of outside corners. It's not difficult, but it's also not for the beginner.
     Making size adjustments to the pattern would be a little tricky because of how the dress wraps around the torso. The front of the dress is a sheath that wraps around the back, and the back is a bodice with a circle skirt that wraps around the front. I would highly recommend making a muslin if you have made size adjustments.