McCalls 6696 Shirtdress

I finished my dress for the sew-along!  It was a big challenge for me. I wanted to use all my learning about fitting and pattern alterations to make sure it fit well.  I made a muslin of the bodice alone first, but it was much too small. I jumped up to a large size but it was much too large. After four muslins I found my sweet spot - the back yoke, back bodice and sleeves were a size 16. The front bodice (altered), the waistband, button band and skirt pieces were size 22. Strange combination.

The fabric was a $3 twin-size sheet from Deseret Industries, a local thrift store. Score!

I don't love the extra ease at the sleeve cap, but it adds a retro vibe. The center waistband pieces didn't meet at the center once I added the front button bands, which is really annoying, but the belt hides it fairly well.

When cutting the pieces, I made the mistake I ALWAYS MAKE and didn't lay out all the pieces at once. If I had done so I may have laid the pattern pieces differently to make sure I had enough for everything. In the end I didn't have enough for the collar and collar band facings, so I cut them out in white and told myself to make sure they get sewn up on the underside. Didn't happen. Then I realized I quite liked the contrast, so I added contrast white bands to the sleeves (which I also altered to make them longer) and I love the result.  I need to hunt for a white belt to complete the look, but in a pinch the brown belt worked.

I had intended to leave the skirt hem length 2" longer and even sewed it up using a bias hem facing. Loved it.  Then when I went to add the button band I realized my dress wouldn't be the right size to match, so I had to take it up the 2" anyway. Waste of my time, but oh well. Something else to plan ahead for next time.

I wore it to church and got a lot of compliments, which just tickled me when I followed up with "Thanks, I made it!"

What I've Been Doing

I know I haven't posted much, but I have been sewing lately. I've been working on my shirtdress for this sew along. I have made about 4 muslins of the bodice to get it right (this is my first time making a dress for myself that has bust and waist darts). I finally got the bodice right, then had to move on to the sleeves. I am now in the stages of making my test dress. I plan to post pictures when it's done.

Also, my husband majorly scored at a local suit shop that is closing their outlet locations. He now has about 12-14 new suits, so I've been hemming a lot of his pants. I've now perfected the blind hemmer foot on my machine.  He's also issued me a challenge to learn how to shorten the sleeves on a couple of the suit coats. I watched this YouTube video that seems like it will be a big help. I'll test it out as soon as I'm done with my shirtdress.