McCall's 6956

So this one's a bit of a flop. It really just lacks wearability. It's still cute, but could probably benefit from the addition of straps.

Pattern Used: McCall's 6956

View Made: B

Fabric Used: Quilting cotton and broadcloth. Just a note about the quilting cotton, I really REALLY wanted to match up the stripes and have it all perfect, but they apparently don't repeat, so there will be no matching. I don't think it really impacted the overall look of the dress too much.

Pattern Details: Strapless, fitted bodice, pleated skirts and hem band. A/B, C, D Cup Size, boning 

What did you like about this pattern? I like that the bust is cut on the bias to give those cool-looking chevrons.

What did you dislike about this pattern? Not much. I did have to do something that I didn't want to, which was sewing the lining pieces directly to my good fabric and then treating them as one piece. That was SO INCORRECT, and should never be done in a properly constructed garment, but because of the boning and the pleats, I had no other choice if I wanted to line the dress. And I had to slipstitch the WHOLE HEM BAND in place. It took me at least two hours to do. I HATE slipstitching. Unfortunately, because of how the dress was supposed to look over all, there were no other options, otherwise that hem band would have gone through the machine in an instant. If there was other topstitching, maybe, but there was no other topstitching so I thought it would look stupid to have some along the hem band and nowhere else. 

Were the instructions easy to follow? Yes. The instructions were quite good, however, they seem to forget that on the sides, to insert the boning, you would need to sew right through the dress, not just attach it to the seam allowances, because of the waist seam. I feel this was a minor glitch and my boning inserts along the sides are not noticeable.

What did you learn from this pattern? Inserting boning. It is much easier than I expected and will allow me to create more tailored and fitted garments in the future.

Final thoughts: I don't think I'll make this one again. It's just meh, not amazing, as I wanted it to be. I tried it for the strapless aspect, which worked, but didn't fit as well as it could have. I really wanted to like it, with all the playing with fabric grain, but no. It will go in to a pile to be worn over a bathing suit or some such. Also, I was lucky. Usually I would've made a size 12, but the finished measurements said it would have too much bust ease, so I made a size 10. It fit with only a little let out at the sides, which was nice.

Pictures:

Front View

Close up of  the Bust Chevrons

Back View

Hem Band

Come back for my next post on JEANS! I'm so excited about them. :)