McCall Me Mellow Yellow!

I just completed my vibrant version of McCall's ruffled shirt!


Ruffles are "in"!









Yeah! I finally completed my blouse for the fitted blouse contest on PR!

Maybe it is not as top notch as the other entries, but at least I gave myself credit for working on a blouse with 6 panels below the upper bodice, a ruffled front, a shaped lower hem, and cuffed balloon sleeves! I do not have the fitting expertise as many members do. That's just something that comes with more time, willingness, and patience. Also it would be hard to "figure" out consistent alterations, if I choose to alter my figure by losing weight.

I was hesitant to enter this in the fitted blouse contest because of the silly goofs I made in this blouse with $16/yd fabric, but I thought I would motivate myself and get it completed anyway. I think of the contests as motivation to do something I have not done in awhile or have never done. I was so unsuccessful with a blouse that consisted of several lower panels (Butterick 4985) that I mustered up the courage to try this McCall's from my stash.

This is labeled "4 One easy pattern", which is misleading because McCall's has easier patterns that are not labeled as such. I would label this as "easy, but somewhat time consuming."

Just when I pulled out this pattern, I see a number of ruffled tops online!
Ruffled front top by Pink Tartan at Nordy's

MARC by Marc Jacobs Ruffled Bib Tank


Pattern Description
"Shirts have front gathers, princess seams with topstitching, front bands, collar (stand up or pointy collar with collar band) and sleeve options) and sleeve variations (bubble, gathered with cuffs, pleated with cuffs)....." I sewed view B that has the ruffled front, gathered sleeves with cuffs, and the collar with the collar band.

Size
Misses' 12-14-16-18-20 with separate pieces for A/B, C, D cup sizes. I sewed a 14, cup C.

Fabric
From EmmaOneSock, a Dolce and Gabbana fun flowery print in cotton. "From Dolce & Gabbana, made in Italy, this is an exquisite cotton lawn with a lovely floral in brighter and softer yellow, a sprinkling of muted orange, with outlines in greenish-black."

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes, except my sleeves billowed out more!

Were the instructions easy to follow?
Yes and the illustrations helped. However, there was an error on my pattern piece #5, which was labeled lower back which should be lower "front." It was easy to discover this from the layout and the directions. I am uncertain as to whether McCall's corrected this in subsequent versions.

It's been awhile since I have sewed a blouse with these many pieces! They were the upper front (x2) and upper back bodice (x1), lower front (x2), lower side front (x2), lower side back (x2),lower center back (x1), front band (x2), ruffle (x2), sleeve (x2), sleeve cuffs (x2), collar (x2), collar band (x2). I interfaced the bands, the sleeve cuffs, one piece of the collar band and both of the collar pieces (instead of just one to add more stability) with a lightweight fusible. Although the cutting took some time, the pieces fit together nicely as they were sewed in each step.


What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?

Overall, I like the princess seams and the ruffled front.

This is the first top I made that more closely resembles a tuxedo shirt due to the ruffles in the front which were very easy to make. One end of each ruffle is gathered and the other has a narrow hem. Each front band is then attached along raw edges of the ruffle and front edge of the shirt, right sides together and turned in prior to topstitching or hand sewing.

I like the options for cup sizing. I sewed a "C" to be on safe side, although one side of me is a "B".

I like the simple collar/collar band construction. I have to constantly remind myself that the collar is inserted between the two collar band pieces prior to stitching them together since I am used to collars without the band. except it seems a tad larger than what I expected. McCall's seems to draft collars larger than what are on the pattern envelopes, from my experience with current patterns and patterns from several years ago.

Whoa, talk about sleeves that made me think I could fly in the air! The ones illustrated on the envelope suggest otherwise. If I ever sew another version of this blouse I would decrease the circumference of the sleeves. They add a certain character to the blouse, but I'll just have one version.

Escada top with puffy sleeves, but not as puffy as mine!


Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made:
I found it strange that there was a 12/14 size on each lower piece! I added 1/8" seam allowance to each lower panel of the shirt and the side seams because I did not want to take away too much from the ruching/gathering below the bustline. This helped somewhat, and of course silly me, was remiss in placing the needle on the front band resulted in stitching the first buttonhole off-center and so, instead of ripping out stitches, I stitched the other four buttonholes in the same way. Maybe I did this subliminally thus increasing the width of each front band by 1/2", making the blouse less snug. I would have preferred to make other modifications, but I do not want to spend more time on already a multi-pieced lower bodice.


Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
Maybe one more in a few months or so. This as an easy pattern which I would recommend to sewists who have experience with collared and button-down shirts. I found this top straighforward to make, but somewhat time consuming (one evening and one afternoon of sewing time).


Conclusion:
This is a stylish and versatile shirt with collar and sleeve variations.