McCall's: 6355 (24 Karat Dinner Dress)  - Type:Dresses  |
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| 10 more reviews |
| Reviewed by: | karen n | 
| About karen n | | WA | | Member since: 11/24/08 | | Reviews written: 31 | | Sewing skills:Advanced Beginner | | Favored by: 7 people | | patterns reviewed: 30 | | Bio: more... |
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| Posted on: | 1/13/13 8:53 PM |
| Last Updated: | 1/13/13 8:58 PM |
| Project Photo: |  |
| Pattern Photo: | 
McCall's Pattern Info |
| Pattern Rating: | Great Wardrobe Builder |
| See other patterns in this category: Dresses Tops |
Available for sale on PR: $14.96 (See envelope)  |
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| Fabric: | Polyester Shantung [See other projects in this fabric] |
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I've admired those shrunken vintage little girl type dresses. I pulled a "Scarlett O'Hara" and turned a $2.99 thrifted curtain panel into my 24k dinner dress. Husband liked the price!
Pattern Sizing: I made this the same size as my rayon challis maxi-dress but next time, I will go up a size for a non-stretch fabric. The challis had just a little stretch but the shantung had none. I wouldn't be able to blow dry my hair in this dress since it is too fitted in the shoulders/upper chest/arm holes. I was worried this might tear at the underarm so I added stay tape to the side seams and sleeve attachment areas.
Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? No, because I used it as a base pattern.
Were the instructions easy to follow? Made this before so I didn't use them.
I used Butterick 5711 for the collar. I did not understand the instructions and had to re-do the collar multiple times. I ended up adding a lining to sandwich the collar which took care of the weird pieces hanging out in the first draft. I couldn't really get the collar to look smoothly rounded in front. I have some yucky jagged parts and couldn't figure out how to fix it. Help! I could iron it up a little to hide the lining inside on the sides and back of the collar but not for center front so the lining pokes out. Ugh. I need a class on collars. If pressed it up, it looks wrong.
What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? This is a great bodice base pattern for all those vintage dress patterns I have. I love that it was easy to fit the first time and now I can reuse it for so many different looks! It's definitely pulling it's weight in the stash.
Fabric Used: Faux silk shantung dupioni. It frayed but it was wonderful to work with since it molded and behaved a lot like real silk. Opaque but lightweight and sturdy. I can throw it in the washing machine and my leaky iron didn't even phase it!
Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:
1. The sleeve and bodice is from this pattern. I chopped the bodice off 1" below the Waistline marking.
2. The skirt is just a gathered rectangle. I wanted a very full skirt which looked good on my duct tape dummy but badly accentuated my apple waist. Now I know! I reduced by 20" and ironed down the gathers to flatten it. Concentrated gathers at sides and not directly over tum.
3. To raise the neckline, I overlaid Butterick 5711 over my bodice pattern and traced it. The collar comes from 5711 too.
4. I moved the zip to the center back. The side zip on my maxi-dress irritates my underarm at zipper top.
Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? The pattern - without a doubt! This exact style? Maybe not because it makes me look short and square - or maybe it's just the camera angle. Even so, I'm very happy to have experimented with a not-usually-me look and silhouette.
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So much better as a dress than curtains!
1/14/13 7:45 AM