A dress for a spring wedding!

McCall's dress--dress it up or down cuz it's a winner!




So if I think back to February, I swore off two things.  1.  No more patterns and 2.  No more fabric. That lasted about three days!  You know when you enter JoAnns or Hancock's for something as simple as a zipper, thread, etc and you see the McCall's pattern for a ridiculously low price of 3 for $5, you have to look right?  So along came 7122 or a sweet little knit dress that has RAGLAN sleeves.  I LOVE raglan sleeves!  So, into the basket it went.  Can you blame me?


Here is a description from the back of the envelope: Pullover tunic and dresses (close-fitting through bust) have neck band and narrow hem.  A: Side slits.  D: Back slit.  Close-fitting leggings have elasticized waist, no side seams and stitched hem.

This pattern calls for medium weight moderate stretch knit fabrics such as cotton knits, Jerseys, and Interlock.

I made a medium based on my measurements and I made a FBA which you can see below.  From my photos, you can see I probably need just a tad more room...

 I also almost always make a swayback adjustment.  With the center seam in the back, it is easy to take a slight wedge at the seamline and taper to nothing at the side seams.

In case you are wondering about this fabric (isn't it so pretty?), I purchased it at Gorgeous Fabrics and wow is it high quality stuff!  It is a scuba knit but what drew me to it was the color and the texture!  I've never seen a knit like this before and this color is so in right now!  I HAD to have it and the pattern had to be something with minimal design lines to show off the great texture.  I think I picked a winner.  What do you think?

Just a word of advice, you might be tempted to eliminate the center back seam but don't do it!  There is a lot of shaping going on there and also when you lay the pattern pieces out you will notice the hemline also flares out.

I tried a few methods to hem this dress including fusing interfacing to the hemlines and it just didn't lay like I wanted.  I choose to create matching bands just like the neckline and it worked beautifully!  I did topstitch those down on the right side using a stretch stitch.

This is super easy to sew, fits great and is an instant gratification project.  I wore this to my nephew's wedding and danced for hours!  It is perfectly comfortable and fun!

Here is a BAD picture of the back with horrible undies and ill-fitting bra.  I need to throw both of those in the trash later tonight.  It looked much better at the wedding when I had the proper supports on, trust me!

Thanks for reading!  I love this pattern and plan on more!

Sue