McCall's M6141

Now on to dress number 2 for the medieval Christmas party.



We went with the adult dress on the left.  For the pink portion we used a silver blue velveteen and the contrast was in a grey satin.  I have made many McCall's patterns in my day and usually I am very happy with them but this time they really dropped the ball!  I made the dress in a straight XL as my friend fitted the sizing for this perfectly.  This has never happened for me before.  I have never sewn anything where the dimensions were so perfectly created.  This should have been my first clue that things were not going to go well.  With this dress there is a lined bodice with a lace up back.  The sleeves are fitted at the top with a fitted under sleeve and then a bell sleeve over top.  We left the lower sleeve out and just went with the bell portion as she was concerned about over heating in this dress.

I began both dresses with muslin's that I mailed off for them try on.  I most worried about the Simplicity muslin because I had made so many alterations to it.  I thought this one would fit fine.  She put the dress on and it was a disaster.  The bodice was huge!  The neck was huge!  The sleeves were perfect.  Turns out that if you make the dress as patterned you will have 4" of fabric bulk at the laces in the back.  Add to this that the neck is so wide that the shoulders of the dress fall off and this dress is just waiting for a wardrobe malfunction!

After some questions (thank heavens for Skype) I had her place the dress on the shoulder line and line up the side seams to confirm that the bulk was limited to the back and to be sure that the falling down was limited to the width of the neck not the shortness of her shoulders.  Sure enough it fit perfectly.  I needed to take four inches out of the back of the dress!

Modifications

Well this one proved a real struggle for me.  I had to redesign the back of the dress.  My friend decided she didn't like the laces up the back and decided she wanted a zipper instead.  Can't say I blame her.  The dress doesn't have a facing underneath the laces you are just to tie it up so the edges come together.  The next problem was the bulk in the back.  I spent a whole day trying to figure this out.  My challenge was that the shoulder points were in the right place as the dress was designed.  So I needed to take some out at the centre back and some out under the arm without altering the armhole cause the sleeves fit perfectly!  Oh my, my brain hurt.  I ended up taking out 1 1/2" from the centre back and 5/8" out from just before the arm hole but after the back dart.  This kept everything in the right place but gave the back a smooth finish.

The next problem was the neckline.  If you make this dress in any fabric heavier then a lining weight fabric there is no way with the quantity of sleeves that this dress is going to stay up.  The finished width of the shoulder is 1 1/2".  Not much room to work with.  I ended up just adding a straight 1" to the front shoulder piece that I tapered into the neck scoop so that it was back to original drafting by the bib.  On the back I added one inch to the entire top of the neck opening from the zipper to the shoulder seam.

I removed 1 1/2" of length from the skirt.

Construction

The instructions for this dress are very clear but not a very nice way to construct it.  It has you create a lining for the bodice and attach it to the outer fabric at the neck line to the bib.  Now the first problem is getting the lining to line up while still being able to insert the bib.  The next problem is getting the bib in and catching both layers of fabric when sewing in the bib.  The final problem is the sleeves.  You go to all the trouble of inserting lining in the sleeves but when you attach the sleeve to the bodice you don't cover the sleeve seam!  Maybe I am missing something here but if I am sewing in a lining I want nice arm holes!  So this was just not going to work.  On to attempt number 2!

For the second try I made the bodice of fabric and sewed in the upper sleeves.  Then I sewed the bodice in lining and attached the bib and the upper sleeves.  I then inserted the lining into the dress bodice and sewed the lining to the bodice at the neck edge.  I slightly set the lining back from the neck edge of the dress so the lining wouldn't show as we weren't adding the trim to the neckline.  This worked perfectly.  Everything else went together exactly as per the instructions.

Comments

I will never make this dress again!  The finished dress looks okay but I know that I could have done better if I had spent more time remaking this pattern but then why should I remake a pattern to this extent.  There has to be something better out there.  It looks beautiful on her and the additions at the neck make the dress fit much better which is good with all the weight in those sleeves.  The concept of the dress is beautiful but the design of the neck and the back are just all wrong.  I have to believe that if the model turned around in the picture you would see piles of clothespins holding this dress closed.

I had to use clothespins just to keep it on the hanger.  Anyway it is done and my friend looks beautiful in it.  The colour is perfect for her and it turned out nicely fitted to her.

Now I think I will move on to sewing something with straight lines!  I think I needed a quilting project.

Simplicity 4940

Well I am back from the sewing room!  I have spent the last three weeks working on two dresses for two dear friends.  This year they have decided to have a medieval Christmas party.  I agreed to make them dresses for the party.  I did have that moment where my rational brain said this is a mistake and you are going to regret saying you would do this.  But I didn't listen to that brain (when do I ever!) and instead listened to my heart and I wanted to do this for them.

Now making dresses for other people presents its own challenges but making dresses for other people who live two hours away is a whole other kettle of fish.  So after going back and forth on email and checking out pattern reviews we settled on two patterns.  The first is the Simplicity 4940 and the second is a McCall's that I will post separately.  (It was that bad!)

Dress number 1



She selected view B, which is the beige outfit in the picture.  We did the dress in a dark navy and the bodice in a baby blue.  Both were a polyester blend satin.

Modifications:

I needed to make a few adjustments.  I am sure glad I took that pattern fitting class at Ultimate Sewing.  I sure needed it for both dresses.

Shoulders:
I took out 1" in shoulder width.

Bodice:
I tapered the pattern from a 14 to a 12 at bust, back to a 14 at waist and flared out to a 16 at hips.  I also took 1.5" out of the bodice length.  I did this to the bodice of the dress and the bodice overlay.  I was a little worried about these adjustments because at the time this was the most adjustments I had ever done to a pattern.

Arms:
I didn't adjust the pattern pieces for the arms but when I did assemble the lower sleeve portion I made the seam allowances 3/4" which I will explain later.

Hem:
I changed the hem to 1 1/2" from the 5/8" on the pattern to accommodate the finished length required and to give the finished hem a nicer finish.

Construction:
This dress actually went together very well.  The instructions were very clear and the assembly was very straight forward.  The hem at the neck line in the organza was a little tricky to get it to look nice when making the transition from front yoke to back yoke but I think that was an operator issue not a pattern issue.

The one construction change I made was to the channels for the trim on the lower sleeve.  The instructions have you sew the seam with a 5/8" seam allowance.  You then press open the seam and stitch down each side of the seam 1/8" from the raw edge to form the channel.  First this doesn't look nice and secondly this fabric frays too much for that to work.  I ended up sewing a 3/4" seam allowance which left enough to fold under the raw edge a 1/4" to get a much nicer look and still have lots of room for the 1/8" cording.  It looked much nicer.  The sleeve bottom also fitted the upper sleeve much nicer with the removal of the extra and prevented easing being necessary.

Comments:
Holy wow there is a lot of fabric.  I didn't think I would ever get around that hem!  Not a fault of the pattern or the dress just not used to sewing this much of an item.  I was able to apply the trim to the bodice with the machine instead of sewing it on by hand which was a huge relief.  I have seen the dress on now and it looks good if I do say so myself.

Sorry about the quality of the photo.  There was NO way this tiny little dress was going to fit on my dress form!  

Review of my First Day

Well I had mixed results yesterday.

I blame the cat!

That will serve me right for opening the craft room door!

I did manage to get the Kwik Sew shirt done.

The good is that it fits and it is finished and it is purple.  For next time I would do the hem differently.  The instructions have you just fold it over but this fabric frayed way too much for that.  You just looked at a cut edge of this and it started fraying.  So I did a double fold hem but it ended up bulky.  Maybe this would be a job for my new serger when I get it!  I think the rolled hem would have worked fine if it had been a bigger hem.  I will also interface the little pieces that go on the opening of the sleeves.  I know they have a name but it escapes me.  With a 1/8" seam allowance they kept fraying on me as I handled them.  

All in all I am happy with my shirt and will make this pattern again.  My next version will be long sleeves and I think I will modify the long sleeve version to have a cuff.  But sticking to my rules I have other things to complete first!

The second job for the day was the Urban Log Cabin quilt.  I came close.  I got all the strips together and the first boarder on.  Then I couldn't make up my mind.  Originally I was going to have three boarders but now I am not sure.  I am still leaning to the three but I need to think about it. 

This is strips sewn together but without first boarder.

Bella being useful as a fabric weight!

And so it begins

After reviewing my list, which I may post later, I have decided on a plan of attack for today.

First:

I am so close to completing my first fitted shirt so I think that will be my goal for today.

I recently took a class at the Ultimate Sewing Centre in Oshawa using Kwik Sew #2849

I am working on view C with the view b button cover.  Now for me this shirt is a whole lot of firsts.  I am not normally a blouse person.  I don't usually wear things that tuck in!  But this had a nice hem line meant to be worn over the bottom layer.  Secondly this is a standard size pattern.  I normally need a plus size pattern for the bottom half.  Lastly through the class I had my pattern fitted for me.  

How have I ever sewn anything without knowing about custom fitting.  I have lengthened and shortened but never widened and narrowed.  I also took a class in October on pattern adjustments for the upper body.  What an ah ha moment that was.  Turns out I can sew all kinds of things that aren't plus sized now that I know how to adjust them.  This was such a thrill to me.  My mind is going a million miles an hour with all the things I can sew now.  

Secondly:

I took a course WAY back in June at said sewing store for a quilt for the child for the trailer.  It is called an Urban Log Cabin and that has been sitting in its box since.  I just need to sew the strips together and put on the borders.  Of course then I have to quilt it but lets not dwell on the that.  

So there it is.  My goals for today.  Now to execute.

A blog of the Creative

A blog!

  My mind is happiest creating something.  My goal is to fill this blog with my creative escapades.

I recently made a list of my outstanding craft projects in an effort to get some completions.  I did this list for two reasons.  The first being that my crafting has had to have a budget attached to it now that I am a stay at home mom.  This means that I just can't go and get the fabric that appeals to me or go off to the scrapbook store to get the latest paper line.  I have to be more specific in my purchases.  I also don't need to purchase more when my bins are full!  The second reason is I have too much on the go.  I do many different kinds of crafting.  Unfortunately that can mean many different projects on the go at once.

Of course as to lists can only do, I successfully sent myself over the edge with all the things I had to get finished. This left me with the thought that I am never going to be able to start something new.

So Dramatic! (I wonder if that is where my son gets it!)

To counter the dread of the list, I tried to remind myself of the things I have completed.  This was harder then I thought.  Not because it has been so long since I completed something but because I have created so many things.

So to keep myself motivated and accountable I am going to blog what I am working on.  This will help me reflect on the success on my crafting and keep me focused.

We shall see how well I do!