McCall's 7538

Hi you all! I absolutely wanted to make this dress since I saw some amazing reviews about this pattern on the pattern review site. I have to say, I thought it was going to be easier to make than it actually was! 

I all started with me wanting to try the full bust adjustment technique on knits. I have noticed on some of the reviews that the line where the midriff start was crossing through the bust while in the picture below on the model it starts below the bust.

 I wanted to be sure that mine had enough room to cover all my bust while still allowing the midriff to start below the bust and after 2 hours of calculating, drawing, cutting ,taping and correcting... it did not!! :(  

Yeah, well, I think my biggest problem lies in the fact that I cut a size 10 thinking that those patterns run way too big anyway...wrong!!

So so wrong! I want to cry! This dress is so tight on me! I feel like a sausage! And the line of the midriff cross specifically across my bust.I decided to make the review and the photo shoot anyway thinking  it might be helpful to someone to beware of the sizes. Don't you worry, I wont be heading outside with this dress unless I lose at least 10 or even better 15 pounds. Good thing is I'm already on a diet. 

Also, there's several pieces to this pattern , it's not exactly hard to sew but it can easily get confusing. I kept my pieces pinned to the pattern until I was ready to sew to avoid getting lost. The instructions though are easy to follow and good.

The thing is, I really love the dress except it's too tight.And now that the pattern is cut , what? There's so many pieces that grading them all seems like a big amount of time and energy. I'll end up just buying another one I think . 

For the fabric I used a polyester crepe knit that behaves like a ponte, very stable and easy to sew. It's black and white. I bought it at Fabricville and got it on sale. The whole dress costed something like 8$.

I think the design of this dress is very figure flattering. There's neckline variations, skirt variations and even the possibility to make only a top. A great opportunity to make color blocking and there's no darts! ( is't that awesome?!?), no zipper and no lining. 

Great fit, provided you actually cut the good size. Ah, there's also sleeve variations. In my dress I went for the short sleeve version and shortened by an inch because I wanted to  wear it during the rest of the summer. Wont be able anyway. 

In conclusion, yes , I want and will do this pattern again. I love the pattern. I want to redo the same dress and try the flared skirt and the top obviously in the right size.

In the meantime , I have a lot more patterns in my stash to try so I think I will do something different next time. 

Oh well, I'm in this journey to learn and learning I am. 

Mccall's 7324 top

Hi you all! Last week when I was searching thru my patterns for the pattern stash contest I came across Mccall's 7324. When I purchased it last year I felt so attracted to the flowy looseness of this top. However I never seem to find the perfect kind of fabric and color to do it. Well, one month ago my mother who is a very frugal person brought me to a place here in Montreal where the fabric is so affordable you wouldn't believed it! I bought several yards of different prints for less than 30 dollars, tax included! This one in particular cost me 2.50$/ yard and its a flowy gorgeous rayon challis. I love, love, love those colors. So the minute I saw the view C I knew that was the top I wanted to make with this fabric.

The pattern is stated as very loose fitting and believe me, it is. I made a size small and still find it loose but don't get me wrong , even if it's very loose it's still has kind of a nice shape to it that in my opinion makes it look good. I particularly like the shirring in the back neckline, I don't know why I think it's such a cute detail.

On the other hand I don't like the gathering in the front sides and front neckline because it adds more bulk where I don't necessarily want it. I don't need extra volume in the front part if you know what I mean! I like the center pleat though, I pressed it a lot so it lays flat on my chest to again avoid the bulk.

Also the half placket doesn't lay flat either. The instructions where easy to follow but when it comes to the placket it's like something is missing and I ended up doing my own thing. I turned out well but I think its the gathering that pulls it and if you look closely at the model's shirt it does pucker a little bit too, so I guess it's

a pattern issue.

The only modification I did to the pattern is a little correction to the armscye as quiltfixer from pattern review kindly suggested me to do in my previous top. I added half an inch to the arm opening and  to the sleeve too. I should have extended the top by two inches had I knew it would be too short to my taste. 

Overall, I like it. I'm not sure I'll be making another yet but it's a nice pattern. It's really cool and comfortable for the summer. 

Well, that is my sewing adventure for this week. I gotta say it's an easy make. I did it in less than four hours cutting to hemming. But even only four hours it's sometimes hard to find. Well I'm glad I found time to do this one. Another 2,50$ top. Isn't that awesome? 
Sewing makes dressing yourself so affordable, it's crazy! 
Well I hope you liked it! See you here next time with another project! 
Happy sewing!