McCall-ey Flowers

A month ago, I made a dress from McCall's 6069 and kept it in hiding until I wore it out of the house recently.

Pattern Description:

Pullover, above mid-knee, semi-fittted straight dresses A, B, C have elastic waist casing, stitched hem and bodice variations; dress A is sleeveless; dress B has three-quarter sleeves; dress c is leeveless with self sash; dresses A, B, C have optional back strap; optional purchase belt.

Pattern Sizing:
Misses 6-14. I sewed a "12" at the shoulders and at the draped neckline. I sewed a "14" elsewhere.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes!

Fabric Used:

Polyester knit.


Were the instructions easy to follow?
Yes. Things to take careful note would be the pleated markings on the front and back bodice, the fold lines, and the triangle marks where the optional back strap would be placed. As I was cutting the fabric, I cut out little extra notches or protruding triangles to represent the start and end of a pleat.

Special thanks to the delightful Catbird for her helpful reference to a tutorial for making those itty-bitty spaghetti straps or button loops without those loop turners (which I never obtained proficiency in using) and a safety pin, whose name is one of the biggest paradoxes.  I used this blog tutorial to create the back strap. It really does work!


Favorite Features
*The front and back drape. Although the back is a bit low than what I am accustomed to, I like its "daring-but-still-modest" style.

*The dress is not boxy or sack-like due to the elasticated or elasticized waistline at the junction of the bodice and skirt pieces.

* The slightly fitted style reminiscent of certain early 1960's sheath dresses. It seems to flatter any shape and size, especially one as not well proportioned as myself.

Questionable Features

There is nothing much to dislike, except for watching ...

(a) the length of the bodice, especially if you have a short torso. But the style is "forgiving" especially after adding the elastic to bring up the seam between the bodice and skirt portion.

(b) the low back revealing the back of your bra, which could easily be remedied by occasionally pulling down the back of your bra and pulling the front of the bodice a little forward, or simply using adhesive cups. Very long hair pushed to the back a la 70's Cher could help.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:

My usual:

*One-inch petite adjustment at the length adjustment lines

* To shorten the upper back, I folded out an inch in alignment with the lower armscye.

*Instead of making an elastic casing, I sewed elastic directly to the seam allowance using the stretch and stitch method, since nobody would be able to see the non-encased elastic from the outside. I recall doing this for a New Look knit dress years ago. Also without a belt or sash, there would be less conspicious "bunching" than from using the casing method.


Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? Yes! Now that I sewed it once, it will be much easier. I highly recommend this pattern especially for beginners and/or as a "first" dress project.

Conclusion:

I became convinced to appreciate this dress after wearing it out of the house for the first time.  Although the sewing time for dress took longer than an hour for me, it is one of the "easiest" dresses to put together. For me, the cutting took longer than the sewing!

Photo taken by my 7 year old daughter