Hi Everyone!

We are back from a lovely time in Javea, Spain, with some photos to show the garments I made to take with me, in action. (BTW, I have also updated my last post, about McCalls 7624 with a couple of new photos taken on holiday).

So, today I want to talk about McCalls 7745, which I chose to make up in this beautiful blue floral viscose which I got from Sew Over It a couple of years back (sorry, sold out now). I actually won their monthly #SOIshowoff on Instagram, sharing my silk pussy bow blouse, and the prize was a £20 spend in their online store. I purchased 3 metres of this wonderful quality viscose. I have mixed feelings about the dress, and I am not sure if I did the right thing or not using the fabric for this particular pattern.

 

Whilst I love the fabric, print, colour and feel, the main thing throwing me off this dress is the bodice fit. Kisha also talked about her issues with this pattern on her blog. This is one of those multi-cup sized patterns so I didn’t do an FBA, cutting a D cup, which normally works for me. I did do a tissue fit. I dropped the bust darts by 1.5 inches, but I think that might have been too much? The fit through the bodice just isn’t right, and I am also not sure about the sleeves and the back of the neck either.

I will say that, neck aside, I did like the fit of the back bodice and the skirt…which led me to making the skirt portion as a stand alone skirt (see below).

To preserve my modesty, and save the dress, I ended up sewing in two press studs into the front bodice to keep everything secure. But you can see from the picture below it is really not ideal…

Anyhoo, as I say, I liked the skirt portion enough to decide to make the skirt as a stand alone piece. Now this I love! I love the ruffle hem (even though there is 5.5 metres of narrow hemming to do on it, it’s worth it!)

The fabric for the skirt is again from stash: a polka dot viscose purchased locally to me. You really want something with drape to show off the movement of the ruffle. My version ended up being a true wrap skirt: the left hand side tie is longer to allow it to wrap around my waist and there is a buttonhole in the waistband on the right hand side to allow the wrap to pass through.

Here’s how I wore the skirt (with a new silk Ogden cami – review still to come) on a day trip we made to Valencia. I do love this skirt and I have already worn it multiple times.

Pattern Review 

Pattern Description: 

Close fitting wrap dresses have neckline and sleeve variations, and ribbon ties. A, C, D:Shaped hemline, wrong side of fabric will show. Includes separate pattern pieces for A/B, C, and D cups.

I made view D and then used the skirt portion only from view C to make a wrap skirt.

Pattern Sizing:

6 – 22

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

Well, I don’t think the bodice fits correctly, the way the illustration shows. I don’t love the way the neck and sleeves sit.

Were the instructions easy to follow?

Yep.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?

The only thing stopping me from saying this dress is a dud is 1. the fabric and 2. the fact I sewed 2 press studs in at the front bodice. The bodice, sleeves and neck fit is off. I am going to keep the dress and hope to wear again (probably to something where I am just standing up, lol), but I have already purchased a new Simplicity pattern which doesn’t have raglan sleeves and is a wrap with flounce hem which I am hoping will be better than this one.

I liked the fit on the skirt enough to make the skirt from view C as a true wrap skirt with a ruffle hem and I LOVE it.

Fabric Used:

Viscose prints for both the dress and skirt.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:

For the dress:

• I used the D cup pattern pieces
• I self lined the bodice (yes, this bodice is lined – 3 metres of fabric still let me self line the bodice BTW)
• I dropped the bust dart by 1.5 inches – maybe this was too much
• I wanted to keep the length of view D in front, but the back was way too long. I free hand removed approx. 10 inches from the back of the skirt (I am 5’3″ FYI)
• I did a 5/8ths inch sway back adjustment, adding the removed length back to the lower hem
• I added 1 inch wide bias interfacing strips to the bodice front to try and prevent stretching
• I made self fabric ties

For the skirt:

• I made a true wrap skirt
• The left hand side tie is longer to allow it to wrap around my waist and there is a buttonhole in the waistband on the right hand side to allow the wrap to pass through
• I wish I had perhaps interfaced the wrap ties as they buckle a little when worn

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?

Nope, I will not sew the dress again. I might sew the skirt…if I can face sewing the 5.5. metre long narrow hem, lol. Most of the other successful versions of this dress seem to have made view A…I don’t know if I recommend view C/D.

Conclusion: 

Both items hold special memories now and I love the skirt but the dress was somewhat of a disappointment.

Onwards and upwards! Enjoy the week ahead.