Edelweiss Patterns Butterick Patterns Releases a Princess Catherine Wedding Dress Pattern!
Ever since the royal wedding festivities in April, I have been waiting to see one of the “Big Four” pattern companies release a “royal wedding dress pattern” for Princess Catherine’s bridal gown. And at last one of them has! Butterick Patterns has just released their latest wedding dress design, BP249 which is very close to the original Sarah Burton design and makes a wonderful replica of Kate Middleton’s wedding dress! This bridal gown pattern is clearly a “knock-off” of Princess Catherine’s wedding gown, though there are some obvious differences in the back which make it easier to sew. A few months ago I studied how one could combine separate patterns to achieve the Princess Catherine look, and while you may still want to read to study all the design details, this pattern will greatly simplify the process!
The royal wedding has so inspired future brides that Butterick Patterns has released not one, but three dress patterns inspired by William and Catherine’s wedding! Besides the royal wedding dress pattern, Butterick has also produced a drapey bias-cut dress pattern (BP250) which is nearly identical to Pippa Middleton’s royal bridesmaid dress pattern (minus the elegant row of buttons down the back closure). Butterick Patterns used the same model for both patterns, who looks very similar to the royal Middleton sisters.
The attention to detail that Butterick showed for their photo shoots is impressive. For Princess Catherine’s wedding dress pattern, we see a lovely brunette with the same half-up/half-down hairstyle topped with a replica of the Cartier’ halo tiara and a lace trimmed single layer veil. At her ears hang diamond earrings which are reminiscent of the acorn earrings which Mr. & Mrs. Middleton commissioned for their daughter Catherine as a wedding gift. The bridal bouquet she holds has the same simplicity of the original royal bouquet, and we see an enormous sapphire ring (replica of Kate Middleton’s engagement ring) on hands that sport a thin coating of light pink nail polish over short fingernails. At first glance I actually thought it was Princess Catherine on the front pattern cover!
The third royal wedding dress pattern is for the flower girls. Once again the child model they used bears a striking resemblance to one of the royal wedding participants, and while the dress is a simple, classic style, I’m sure brides-to-be will favor this pattern for Kate Middleton-inspired weddings!
As far as the Princess Catherine’s wedding dress pattern is designed, the front is nearly identical, with the same high-necked lace overlay/bolero, sweetheart neckline, and wide pleated skirt. The Chantilly lace slopes from the high neckline down to the center of the sweetheart curve just as the Sarah Burton gown did, and the sleeves are just as fitted and end in a slight “v” at the wrists. (For more photos of the original royal wedding dress on display, click here.)
The back of this Butterick wedding dress is different than the original royal wedding dress, and while it is still quite lovely, I might not recognize it for exactly the same bridal gown.
- The original dress had wide pleating down the skirt back; the Butterick Pattern 249 has only one small pleat at the back waist.
- Kate Middleton’s royal wedding gown had an ostentatious train which was approximately 7 feet long, while the Butterick gown pattern has probably no more than a 3 foot train.
- One of the most notable design elements for the Sarah Burton designed dress was the floucy “bustle” at the back waist of Princess Catherine’s gown. The newly-released wedding dress pattern doesn’t quite have the same effect, as the separate bustle pieces sewn at the back waist seam lends an more angular, almost triangular feel to the back.
- Lastly (and this is not a big difference at all), Princess Catherine’s wedding dress had a slight downward curve to the strapless back. This Butterick pattern has a completely straight strapless back, which is not quite as slenderizing as the original royal wedding gown.
But that being said, many bridal seamstresses may not make an exact replica of the royal wedding dress anyhow, and unless a bride-to-be was very picky (which they often are!), she probably wouldn’t notice much of a difference between the two wedding dress designs at all. Butterick has done an excellent job reproducing the royal family’s wedding dresses in such a short amount of time, and I’m sure they will be the most popular wedding dress patterns for the next couple years, at least! Visit http://butterick.mccall.com to purchase these patterns.
[…] between this Butterick royal wedding dress pattern and the original Sarah Burton design, click here for comparison pictures and a detailed […]
Great finds! Thanks for posting! I’m not in the market for a wedding or bridesmaid dress, but I do like the shorter version of Pippa’s dress for a going out/cocktail dress.
Thanks for the review! I am hoping the Duchess’s gown will inspire a return to the more elegant and traditional styles in the history of bridal fashion. The strapless gown has worn out its welcome! We would have lace and sleeves!
Hi Rebecca,
Yes, I agree! It would be so nice if brides chose to wear something besides the typical strapless gown that we’ve all seen a hundred times! From a fashion silhouette standpoint, it is much more flattering for a woman to wear a dress with shoulder emphasis as that adds width up top and makes the rest of the body appear narrower. When a wedding or prom dress is just a tubular “pop can” shape, the bride can look totally round and cylindrical! I’ve never understood what the appeal is of that, and it’s high time that Princess Catherine chose a classic, elegant wedding dress style for her royal wedding!
Thanks for commenting!
Katrina
I bet they started drafting the pattern as soon as she appeared on camera!
Hi Debbie,
I bet you’re absolutely right! The pattern companies must have seen the enormous demand there would be for a Princess Catherine wedding dress pattern and planned accordingly. I know that Simplicity Patterns usually takes five months from the time they start a design to the time it rolls off the presses, so Butterick really had to hurry with this one. They did a great job, too!
Happy sewing,
Katrina
I wasnt able to find these patterns on the Butterick site. Do you know if they have been released yet? Are they available in the US?
Regards
Kristi
Hello Kristi,
Glad you like the royal wedding dress patterns! At this time they are not on the Butterick website or in their fall pattern books, but I was able to purchase one at my local fabric store and heard from a couple ladies who also found them at local chain fabric stores. As far as I know that is the only venue that offers them currently, but I’m sure Butterick will officially release them soon!
Hope this helps,
Katrina
Hi, thanks for the post, it’s very informative. Thought I should point out that she isn’t ‘Princess Catherine’. She is actually Duchess of Cambridge, Countess of Strathearn and Baroness Carrickfergus. No one in Britain refers to her as Princess; not the media and not the public. The media always refer to her as the Duchess of Cambridge. It sounds odd to me when you refer to her as Princess! Is she known as Princess Catherine in America?
Hello Yaz,
Yes, ever since the wedding ceremony the media has called her “Princess Catherine”, perhaps only because royalty is such a foreign subject here in America. Except for when they still call her Kate Middleton, the news reports refer to her as the “Princess”. Over here we only get First Ladies, so I think we all like to be able to use the term. : ) But thank you for letting me know – I had no idea!
Katrina
[…] couple of weeks ago I excitedly wrote a detailed post about the lovely new Butterick Royal Wedding Dress pattern, inspired by Princess […]
I think she only becomes Princess Catherine when Charles succeeds the throne and William is next in line. Or something like that; it’s all very complicated.
It’s a fantastic dress – not my style because I’m going for more understated, but it would be wonderful to see the strapless style go away already.
Hello Lucy,
Yes I agree! It would be very nice to see the strapless style disappear from the fashion scene. They do make straps and sleeves for a reason! : )
Good thinking about the royal family – I wonder why even British reporters called Beatrice and Eugenie “Princesses”. Perhaps I should do some more studying on the subject.
Happy sewing!
Katrina
Beatrice and Eugenie are princesses because their father, Andrew, is a son of the Queen of England – in the same way William and Harry are princes. Prince Edward, the youngest son CHOSE NOT to have his daughter styled a Princess so she is Lady Louise but could have been Princess Louise. Catherine Middleton is the wife of a Prince. She was not born a princess nor did she marry the first in line to the throne (like Princess Diana). She married the second in line to the throne. Hope that helps.
Hello Adrienne,
Thank you for shedding some light on the royal family’s line for us! That makes much more sense, and I really should study up on this stuff. All I usually keep track of is the President and Vice President. : )
Thanks again for the information!
Katrina
[…] and her fabulous wedding! If you were reading the blog back then, you’ll remember the post I wrote in great detail about the differences and similarities between the original gowns and the […]
Thanks for posting this. I really love the royal couple. The princess’ gown is really elegant.
Creating a gown that is fit for a royal princess is really a great inspiration for everyone who is in this kind of business. It is truly an art to be able to make slight variations of a design to make each look different from the original without anyone noticing the difference.