McCall's 6035

This pattern is just a plain, simple blouse. Really sweet, quite easy, nothing too special.

Pattern Used: McCall's 6035

Fabric Used: quilting cotton

View Made: A, with a collar

What did you like about this pattern? I like that it's a  wardrobe staple with easy variations. It's also a simple pattern to put together. I also liked the A/B, C, D cup size variations. All patterns should have this, in my opinion. It just makes the thing fit better right off the bat.

What did you dislike about this pattern? There were a couple small things. I wasn't a fan of the princess seams, but that wasn't the fault of the pattern. It took me a few tries to get them in without bubbling, and then it took even more trying to get the topstitching to look decent. I am also a little puzzled that there is no interfacing down the front. Don't get me wrong. I like that I didn't have to interface, but I think the blouse would've benefitted from a strip down where the button holes go. I did like that I could just hem the thing and didn't have to sew the facing together, then turn it right side out, then hem to the same length.

Did you change the pattern at all? I added a collar, because I don't particularly like mandarin collars. This was really easy though, because the mandarin collar is just the regular collar without the outer collar attached, if that makes sense.

Final thoughts: I will definitely make this again. It's a simple, easy, attractive blouse.

Pictures:

McCall's 6696 Revisited

Recently, I made another "copy" of a dress that I made back in June. I really liked the original and had fabric and buttons for another one.

I made another shirt-dress from McCall's 6696. For the original review, click here.

I have no really new information to add on this pattern, other than I've decided to stop pressing the edges of pieces up before I sew them. If you sew them first, then pin it in place, you can press the edge evenly along the seamline, covering all that you need to, as well as making the inside look nearly as neat as the outside. (I'm talking about the waistband here, where you are supposed to press up one edge at 5/8", then sew it over your interfaced waistband and skirt, then slipstitch it down.)

As per usual I didn't slipstitch anything on this pattern, instead I did a lot of edge and topstitching, hence the new technique for pieces that should be slip-stitched.

A note about this fabric. I really love the way this fabric looks and feels. I'm pretty sure it's a poly-cotton blend, that's heavy on the poly. It was quite hard to work with, however. Because it is so light, it tucks like nobody's business and it frays really badly. I ended up finishing all my inside seams with a zig-zag stitch. It was also kind of hard to hem, because of the tuck-ey-ness. In the end, I think the result is worth it. It's almost a vintage look. :)

Pictures:

Front View

Back View

Close-up of topstitching and fabric. Notice the white striation to the fabric.

Edgestitching along the button strip.

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. :)

Butterick 5982

This one came out of the "make this in the future" bin, and so I was less than enthusiastic when I was making it. However, it turned out SO WELL!

Pattern Used: Butterick 5982

Pattern Details: Fitted bodice, high boatneck, pleated/gathered skirt, accent belt, A/B, C, D Cup Size

Fabric Used: Linen, with broadcloth lining

View Made: B

What did you especially like about this pattern? I like the contrast skirt and I like that it's not a super-low-cut bodice.

What did you especially dislike about this pattern? Nothing. It was very straightforward.

Did you change the pattern at all? No, except for adding pockets and lining to the skirt.

Were the instructions easy to follow? Yes. However, I found it strange that you sew together the strips of the skirt horizontally and then have to match the side seams. I suppose that is so that it's not crucial that they line up perfectly, but I would have preferred to make the front and the back, then sew them together along the sides.

Did you learn anything from this pattern? Nope. It was pretty easy. 

Final Thoughts: This just turned out super classy and professional and grown-up looking.

Pictures:

I was only able to get one picture of this dress that wasn't blurry. Here it is!

McCall's 6696

I was in the fabric store the other day and stumbled across a bargain-basement type fabric that caught my eye. I felt that it had potential so off I went to the pattern counter to find something that I could use it for. This is the result.

Pattern Used: McCall's 6696

Pattern Details: Shirt-dress with skirt and sleeve variations and pockets. This pattern also has variations for bra-cup size, A/B, C and D options.

Fabric Used: Light-weight denim/canvas

View Made: B

What did you especially like about this pattern? It's a classic, and it was SUPER easy to make. I like the waistband (Usually shirt dresses have a belt or tie rather than an actual waistband) and the pockets! I love it when I don't have to put in my own pockets.

What did you especially dislike about the pattern? Not a whole lot. There were a couple of typos in the instructions (ie saying something applies to view C even though it is clearly an instruction for view B), and putting in the collar maybe I was reading the instructions wrong, but they never actually TELL you to sandwich the collar in between the collar band and collar band facing.

Did you change the pattern at all? Nope nope nope. Oh, except for topstitching. In spite of this being a SHIRTDRESS, there are no actual instructions to topstitch, so I added topstitching in a few different places:

• Waistband
• Edge of the collar
• Front band
• Double row of stitching on hems
• Back yoke and shoulder seams

This pattern calls for a lot of slipstitching. I dislike slipstitching. I find it time-consuming and annoying, so I skipped that on this pattern and topstitched instead. :P

Things this pattern taught me: No new techniques were learned on this project.

Final thoughts: I like how this turned out. The fabric suits the pattern, and finally I didn't have to line something to make it wearable. The wooden buttons are a cute vintage-y touch too. I also have fabric to make this dress again in the near future, so look for an update soon! It was super easy and quick, and fits really well, so I will definitely make it again!

Pictures:

Front View

 

 

Back View (With gathering between the shoulders)

 

Close up of some of the fabric and topstitching