More summer sewing: McCall's 7432

How is summer flying by so quickly?  I knew I had several fabrics in my stash I planned on using before fall set in, so I got busy!

Here's the pattern I used: 

I love the simplicity of it.  It's a classic style, super easy, well drafted...need I go on?

This blue fabric is an ITY knit which works really well for this dress.  I so love the royal blue with white and I am a sucker for a paisley print.

I only had enough fabric to make this in a knee-length, which is fine.  This length is nice and cool to wear.

I love how this fabric skims your body, it doesn't cling, making it a great choice for this pattern.

I've been playing a lot with fit, and have discovered that I need to widen the shoulders at my upper back.  This is such an easy alteration to make.

Look at how well this dress hangs in this fabric!  

For my second version, I used a Stof knit that's 94/95% cotton and the rest is lycra.  This fabric feels just lovely on your body.

It doesn't glide from the shoulders like the ITY knit, but that's okay.

I really wanted to do something a bit different so I played with the sleeves.

I cut the sleeve pattern in half, added a hem allowance, and used the ties from Jalie's new tee pattern.  I would have just used Jalie's sleeves, but when I walked the pattern pieces, they were too large for this dress.  Plus, other reviewers mentioned they were difficult to get to look like the pattern photo, which shows them tied tightly.

Fitting is trickier with these cotton knits.  Everything seems to show!  I ended up making a dart at the bust, which btw, wasn't needed on the ITY knit.

I put in an inch at the hemline, as it hangs so much nicer on this cotton knit.  Also, the neckband drooped so I fixed that by opening up a stitch or two on the inside of the neckband, inserting 1/8" elastic, getting the length just right, sewing the ends of the elastic together, and stitching the neckband closed.  Sorry, no photo of that, but trust me, much better!

I worked hard to get all these skinny stripes lined up at the side seams and the effort paid off!

I am sure I will revisit this pattern when I want to make winter/cold weather dresses!

Thanks for reading!

Sue

Simplicity 8547

The instant I saw this dress I knew I had to make it and I knew I was going to embellish part of the front bodice.  

So, I ordered a stencil from here: ThanksImadeThem.  I purchased the 'drops' stencil.  I love it!

I was so excited to try this that I ended up just tracing the inside of each shape with a washable child marker instead of the usual painting with an airbrush.  It worked great, although I highly recommend testing your fabric prior to using the marker.  

So back to the pattern.  I used three fabrics, all from my stash.  The blue and white knit are Stof knits that are 94% cotton and 6% spandex.  Usually people use Organic cotton for Alabama Chanin handwork, but I decided to use what I had on hand.  The mesh is also from my stash.

This fabric is much, much stretchier than the pattern envelope calls for.  Because of that I eliminated the back zipper.  If you used a firmer knit, you'll want the zip.  This dress is very close fitting.  I am wearing as much shapewear as I can under this.  It will look much more flattering once I finally loose 10 pounds! 

The pattern is very well drafted.  It goes together beautifully.  I made a few alterations.

1.  I raised the V-back 5 inches.  It would hit you a little higher than the natural waist.  

2.  I had to raise the waistline by about an inch.  For reference, I am 5'7".  

That's it.  After wearing it, and seeing photos, I need to raise the front waistline an additional 1/2"-ish.  There is a ripple there that I don't like.  

My sleeves aren't nearly as snug as Mimi's.  I may need to take those in a bit as well.

  

Here is a peek at the hem and the stitch I use to create almost all my hems.  It is #22 on my Bernina.  

All in all, I really like this dress.  It was fun to create the reverse applique.  

Thanks for reading!

Sue