Polka-dots for summer! McCall's 7242

I love dresses, summer, and polka-dots!  How fun is this dress?

This dress was made for my June Fabric Mart post.  I immediately fell in love with the cotton sateen and knew exactly what I was going to make from it.  That hardly ever happens!  Typically I hem and haw over what pattern to use but I've had this McCall's pattern on my sights for a while and when this fabric was online, I knew it would be perfect for what I had in mind.

  

I love how this dress fits.  I only made an FBA after I tissue-fitted the front bodice.  However, this dress was LONG!  I am 5'7" and I chopped at least 2 inches off the bottom.  The skirt is that long!

How adorable is this pattern?  It is designed as a loose-fitting dress with a mandarin collar, hem and sleeve variations, and an elasticized waist.  It also has a back that is pleated onto a self-lined yoke.  

If I was 20 years younger, I would have left this longer and worn higher heals with it.  

This fabric washed and dried like a dream.  It required very little pressing straight from the dryer.  Don't you just love that?

This dress was super simple to put together.  The pattern is well-drafted and I am positive I'll use it again.  

So little gapsosis at the armscye.  What a win!  I really love this dress!  

Thanks for reading!

Sue 

Another dress for summer..McCall's 7351

When you find beautiful fabric are you like me and rush to snap it up?  That's exactly what I did when I saw a fellow sewer make a lovely shirt dress with this same fabric I used. And, here is her dress:

                    

She had a clickable link to Mood fabric and I snatched it up right away!  I wish I could remember her user name and I would share he blog post, but I am not that organized to have saved it but I will tell you that if you click here you can see and order some of this pretty fabric as well!

So back to the task at hand...let's look at McCall's 7351, which BTW is the same pattern I used!



I made view A sans lower pockets.   I just didn't think those pockets added to the overall look.  Do you?

I just love how summery and colorful this fabric is!  It is lightweight and very breathable.  I love the lower-in-the-front/back and higher-on-the-sides look.  It is a bit different but not too dramatic.  

I made a size 14, my usual size in McCall's.  This pattern has custom fitting for cup sizes from A/B to D.  I made the cup sizing in a C along with sloping shoulder adjustment.  Those are the only alterations I made.  Typically, I also make a swayback adjustment but when there is a waistline seam, it seems like I don't need that alteration.  

I really love how there is little gaping at the armscye so the bra is covered.  

The back is really great as well.  I love the detail of the back pleat and yoke.  The yoke is lined with the main fabric so that the inside looks nicer and tidier than it would if that wasn't lined.  

I've made enough garments like this that I didn't read the directions word-for-word but I will say that the order of construction was well thought out and logical.  All the pattern pieces fit together well and the pattern seems well drafted.

This dress is made for a belt and I had this Fossil belt in my wardrobe that gets used frequently.  Did I mention that I really like the collar, collar stand, and front bands?

For some unknown reason, I had a whale of a time stitching on the collar band.  This has nothing to do with the pattern or the drafting but only me and my lack of sleep from the previous night.  I finally just cut both pieces out new and started fresh.  It made all the difference.  

Thanks for reading!  My only minor complaint about this pattern is that while it looks shapely on the envelope, I don't think it does anything for me but to make me look more rectangular than I am.  Am I imagining things?  I still love the dress and will wear the heck out of it!

Sue :)