About Me

My photo
Sewing is therapy for me. I hoard fabric, patterns, notions, and spend more time shopping for fabric than I care to admit...

Thursday, April 16, 2015

A dress for a spring wedding!

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

M7122, Misses' Tunic, Dresses and Leggings
Line Art

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?
M7122, Misses' Tunic, Dresses and Leggings

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

10 comments:

  1. I love this dress!!!! I swore off patterns and fabric also and made it for about three months and goodness I have made up for that dry spell.

    I saw your review at PR and fell in love with this pattern because of the raglan sleeves and center back seam. I know where I will be at lunch time today. Really pretty dress and the fabric is "gorgeous"". Beautiful blue color. I can see you making more dresses with this pattern.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I adore this colour blue Sue, and the subtle textured pattern makes it even nicer. Your dress looks lovely. The raglan sleeves fit your shoulders beautifully. This looks like a great pattern.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Jean! I hope you'll try this pattern!

      Delete
  3. Great dress! I think you've inspired me to redraft my Patterns for Pirates raglan pattern to a tunic/dress with a similar skirt. Because I already have the pattern and think it's fun to reuse/redraft patterns :-) Bravo for trying scuba knit. I'm ducking because it's so hot and humid here, all I can think of is my scuba diving days and how awfully hot the dive suits were when out of the water! The color is pretty on you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Coco! Oh, I don't think you'd like this type of fabric in hot and humid weather. It doesn't breath all that well. I keep eyeing the Patterns for Pirates company, I think I'll have to try one!

      Delete
  4. Beautiful color! I saw some similar scuba knit at Hancock's yesterday, but didn't know if it would be too hot. Did you find that it breathed okay after your dancing?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. i was a little warm dancing Ann. The scuba knit doesn't breathe very well. Darn it!

      Delete
  5. I always have to make these adjustments too. Cute dress sue!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I know this is so late, but just bought the pattern and we have similar figures, so have to ask: does your FBA have a dart? I don't see one in the photo, I don't think......let me know!

    ReplyDelete