McCall's Lace Dress M6883

I had to make this dress.  It's so sweet and when I found the fabric that matched the envelope picture at JoAnns, I was sold!  I didn't even look at reviews I just snatched it up! 
What is really weird is that my pattern envelope doesn't match the McCall's pattern website for just the number.  My envelope says MP343 rather than M6883.  Not sure why?  Anyway here is my review.






Pattern Description: Misses' dresses and slip.  Dresses, fitted through bust, have neck band and back zipper.  A, B: Back straps, elasticized upper back, hook and eye on back band.  B: shaped hemline, wrong side shows.  C: Stitched hem on sleeves.  A, C: Lower band.  Close-fitting bias slip has shoulder straps.  B, D: Narrow hem. 

Sizes range from 6 to 14 or 14 to 22.  I made a size 14.

Suggested fabrics are Poplin, Sateen, Cotton Blends, Linen, Lace, eyelet. C: Organza.  D: Charmeuse, Crepe de Chine.  Notions are 1-14" zipper, 3 Hooks and eyes.    For A & B you also need 1 yard of 1/4" elastic.

Obviously I made view C but I made a few changes.  More on that later.

Finished garment: I think it resembles the pattern photo, especially since I used the same fabric!  I obviously made changes at the neckline, sleeves, and hem.

Directions--I didn't notice any difficulties with them.  There are just 26 steps to this dress, provided you don't make changes.  I probably just glanced at the images.  For the slip, there are only eight steps.  Love an instant gratification project once in a while!

Likes/Dislikes:
The style, it is easy to wear.  I had fun making this pattern.  It fit well and I made so few modifications to it.
My only dislike is that the opening from the top of the zipper to the neck band is open.  Any ideas on why?

Modifications/Alterations:
1.  My usual 1/2" sway back adjustment.
2.  I made narrow french seams on the sides of the dress.  
3.  The one thing I don't like about this pattern is that with the lace dress, the directions have you use self-fabric for the neckband and hem.  Well, if you use lace like I did, it's not the prettiest finish.  Know what I mean?  Also, interfacing is also required and I wanted something opaque so I purchased about a half-yard of the white silk charmeuse and used that for the hem and neckband.  That way my interfacing didn't show through and it gave this dress a little more polish.  To have everything coordinate, I also made narrow charmeuse bands for the sleeve hem.
4.  For the slip, my only modification was to zig-zag the hemline since you wouldn't see it with the band of the dress covering it up.   
5.  I used two hook and eyes on the neck band instead of three.

Will I sew it again? Probably not--that doesn't mean I don't like it.  I am happy with the finished dress.  I have so many patterns that I haven't touched that I need to keep looking to my queue instead of revisiting patterns I have used.     

Conclusion/Recommendations:  This was an easy little dress to sew up and fun to wear.  Although the contrasting slip was a bold choice, I am glad I went with it.  Although DH didn't get my shoes in the picture, they matched the slip perfectly!

Thanks so much for reading!
Sue