Butterick 5209: The "Garden of Dreams Dress"

One of my favourite place in Kathmandu was the 'Garden of Dreams'.  My friends recommended it to me and it did not disappoint! It is a garden that was designed by Field Marshal Kaiser Sumsher Rana in the early 1920s as a private garden.  It has since been open to the public, restored (during 2000-2007) and is a beautiful oasis in the middle of the bustling city.

How stunning is this photo of the garden pond in the late afternoon light?  It looks like a beautiful painting:

For my trip, I decided to tackle one of my UFOs, Butterick 5209.

This is also one of the patterns for 'The Big Vintage Sew-along'.  If you haven't already, check out this super fun sew-along using vintage Butterick, McCall and Vogue patterns.  The perfect impetus to finish my UFO (aka 'unfinished object).

Butterick 5209 is a pattern from 1947 that features a stunning halter top or cap sleeved dress.  The bodice is smooth around the midriff and then creates a stunning gathered halter top effect.  The skirt is attached through a gathered waist.

I chose a fabulous tropical print pattern with bright orange flowers.  I'm not sure what the fabric is but it is very easy to work with and drapes well.  I got the fabric several years ago from Fabric Depot, a massive fabric store, in Portland.

This poor dress languished in my UFO pile for three years!  Why you might ask?  Well, I started sewing the halter dress and then halfway through decided that maybe the cap sleeves would look better on me.  I went back to the patterns and realised each version was sewn a completely different way and I would have to unpick the halter to make the other version.  Silly me.  But with my good luck the The Big Vintage Sew-along was announced and I immediately remembered the dress!  Finally, I could successfully participate in a  sew-along and finish my UFO! teehee.

I got the dress back out and realised I liked the halter version better anyways and just finished it up!  It was the perfect dress for our adventures in the Garden of Dreams:

I was even able to find out what the Garden of Dreams would have looked like in the 1940s:

The grand building in the background is a restaurant.

I even had the perfect orange shoes to wear with the dress:

YAY! What a fantastic day!  So happy I was also able to participate in the Sew-along (looking forward to more in the future??) And I'm hoping that now that I have a fantastic summery halter dress that I will go to more warm and sunny places in the not-so-distant future :-)