Pattern Description:
Dresses have shoulder pads, close-fitting, bias, self-lined front bodice with gathered shoulders and right side, tucked left side, pleated drape, and stitched hems. C and D: close-fitting through hips.
Pattern Sizing:
8-24W. I cut a 12: view D. There were no bust/hip/waist measurements on the pattern. Get with it, McCall's!
Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?
Yup.
Were the instructions easy to follow?
Yes, they were. There seemed like a lot of them for the dress that resulted, though! Ha.
What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
I thought that a self-lined bodice was a little odd in a knit dress, but it really is necessary to help give the gathers a little structure. The whole thing went together fairly quickly (about 5 hours).
The drape made things a little bulky at the waistline, (11 layers of fabric to sew through!), but it was nothing my serger couldn't handle. Beware of using a heavy knit with this drape: see MazzyGirl's review.
Fabric Used:
Poly ITY knit.
Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:
I did a "cheat" FBA by adding 1/2" to the bottom of the bust, and truing out to the side seams. I think it worked out pretty well...woohoo for cheating!
I also did a sort of swayback adjustment (AKA another cheat) mid-construction, because I could see it would be too long in the back. Cut off 1/2". Then, after serging the skirt on, I went back and serged another 1/4" off in the middle back (again, truing to the side seams). It's still a little long, but that might just be because of my body and not the pattern.
Instead of sewing a casing into the waistline, I just serged it. It was a little funny looking after that, so I took 1/4" elastic and stretched while sewing it onto just the serged seam allowance. Worked out great!
Pretty negligible, but I used a 1" hem instead of the prescribed 5/8".
I also chose to omit the shoulder pads.
Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
Yes. It's a pretty dress with minimal fuss. I don't know that I'd recommend it as a pattern for someone who is *just* starting out with knits, but anyone else should have at 'er!
Conclusion:
I like it! And so does the boyfriend. ;) I will definitely be making another at some point without the sleeves - when I got to that point in construction I really considered not adding them, because it was so cute, but sleeves are just better for Winter!
More photos on my blog.  |
|Login|Help]
to add a link
Pattern with more than 5 reviews!
Great dress and fun blog review :)
1/27/13 1:38 AM
Great dress on you.
1/27/13 6:45 AM
Um, hot! Looks smashing with the red shoes and cardigan too ;)
1/27/13 7:25 AM
Oh she is a gorgeous beast and so beautifully styled!!!
1/27/13 7:58 AM
Love, love, love this!
1/27/13 10:21 AM
Thank you all! :D
1/27/13 11:05 AM
Very hot dresss
1/27/13 3:42 PM
Fun dress, love the styling, great on your colouring
1/27/13 6:28 PM
Hot dress! Nice job!
1/27/13 7:50 PM
Lovely dress.
1/28/13 1:16 AM
Love it!
1/28/13 1:50 AM
Enjoyed your blog. The dress is great and looks super with the red accessories.
1/28/13 10:33 AM
your dress is hot! the blog is funny and spot on, i have issues with people not wearing hosiery with dresses in the winter, since it gets hotter than an erupting volcano here in the summer i let them pass.imho hosiery with a nice dress gives it a more polished look.
1/29/13 4:55 PM
This dress looks great on you!!
2/2/13 11:01 AM
Great looking dress! I especially love it paired withe red cardigan.
2/4/13 12:55 PM
your dress turned out beautifully! very nice!
2/14/13 9:46 PM