M6952

Hello Hello!

Happy friday everyone! Today I'm posting about McCall's 6952, which is a very easy to wear dress I have gotten A LOT of use out of! McCall's describe it as a"Pullover, sleeveless dress (fitted through bust) has princess seams and narrow hem. A: Self-lined, contrast applied back yoke and back cutout"

 

Pattern: M6952 view A

Fabric: Tropical rayon crepe from style maker fabrics.. I think this might be the same fabric in a different colorway?

Listening to: Limetown

I made this pattern with steamy summer days in mind! The rayon has a great drape and is very breathable, also, (as mentioned with my Arum dress, a necessity) doesn't show sweat that easily. I cut a 12 for the bust and 10 for the waist, and french seamed all seams except the NECKLINE FACING. This dress came together very easily, but I have a pretty deep loathing of neckline facings. In this case it's pretty unavoidable, since the neckline facing connects to the back yoke strap pieces that form the cutout so I just sucked it up and went with it. I think I might be missing something in the directions though, because I could NOT figure out how to get the facings connected to the dress nicely without doing some hand sewing. The instructions make it seem like you can do it all by machine but I couldn't manage it! 

You can see the back yoke piece a bit better here, as well as an errant bra strap. Oops! This rayon did have a sort of open weave and I think stretched out a bit as I was sewing, the straps and bust are a bit loose. But, the name of the game for this dress was comfort so I don't mind a bit of ease in the bust, especially with the elastic waist bringing everything in. 

I sewed the pattern as is, but added a bit of length to the back pieces. I like my skirts to be a bit short, but sometimes like to have the extra length in the back so when I sit down my legs don't touch stuff like subway seats. A subtle high-low!

I liked this pattern so much I decided to go for round 2. When I first started out sewing I LOVED to sew 50's silhouette dresses with nipped waists and full skirts, but realistically they aren't that comfortable for me for every day wear, and they often feel a bit too formal. This rayon elastic waist dress really became a work horse in my summer wardrobe and I figured I could add another one!

Pattern: still M6952, view A

Fabric: Shibori double border print rayon challis from style maker fabrics

Listening to: my family play cards against humanity (I played too in between trips to the iron :D)

I ended up cutting out the pieces for this dress and then taking them with me on a trip back home to sew, which was a great activity for home! This rayon came from style maker fabrics and it is GORGEOUS. It's not quite as fluid as the rayon crepe in the other dress but the texture is so smooth and I love the border prints. This rayon is also not as.. spongy? as the other dress and as a result I think it didn't stretch out quite as much, and the overall fit is a bit better, despite them being cut exactly the same! I also considered sewing view B with the bodice flounce but ultimately decided that the flounce wasn't very "me" and I worried that I wouldn't wear the dress as much with that detail. 

I obviously cut the border to hem the skirt, but I also cut the neckline facing with the border print which is a detail I really enjoy! I thought that since this was the second time I sewed up the dress I would manage to get the back facing right without hand sewing but I seriously couldn't finagle it. POSSIBLY my problem solving was impaired by a few glasses of wine :P Either way, they got sewn together and the hand stitching was pretty negligible. 

Overall, I am pretty pleased with these dresses! they are both very comfortable and pretty but casual which was perfect for my wardrobe! Something for me to consider the next time I am sewing up a dress like this though... They would be even better with pockets! 

Thanks for reading, now time to enjoy my friday evening :)