McCalls 7186 Draped Jersey Dress

Hello!  I hope you had a great Halloween.  It's not really my favorite holiday, but my boys really enjoyed themselves, and we're one step closer to Thanksgiving and Christmas!

I want to share a recent creation, McCalls 7186, which is a great, flattering pattern.  (My hair is a mess in these photos.  I blame the wind.)

 There are basically two versions of this dress in the pattern - both have gathers at the shoulders and a wrap-style bodice.  One view also has gathers at the waist while the other does not.  I used the waist gathers and think they are super flattering.  There are also various sleeve options.  I went with long sleeves, because I have maybe one other long-sleeved dress in my closet, and I had enough fabric, so why not?

Here is the line drawing:

 My fabric is a lightweight rayon knit from Pennie Fabrics in Sarasota.  I really like the not-quite-animal print.  It's a little more wild than I am usually drawn to, but I think the earth tones calm it down a bit.  I received many compliments on this dress today.

 I have one caution if you make this pattern.  This view with the waist gathers has two separate front pieces - one for the upper layer and one for the under layer.  When cutting out the fabric, you need to place one pattern piece print-side-up and the other print-side-down.  I'm not sure if this was some kind of mistake in printing or what, but I'm glad I thought through how the pieces would go together before blindly cutting or I would have had a one-shouldered dress.

One change I made to the pattern was to make the skirt roomier.  I knew this lightweight knit could get super va va voom with a form-fitting skirt, so mine is cut more A-line.  I also need to wear a slip under this dress to feel comfortable with the single layer of knit on the back.

 Close-up of the draping detail.  I needed to do a bit of adjusting of the drape at the side seam, but I knew that was likely and used long basting stitches on the side seams at first.

 Here you can see how the draped neckline becomes the back collar. I like this detail.

 I love this type of neckline.

I am really happy with this dress and think I will probably make another at some point.  It would also be a really cute top or tunic.  We'll see what fabric wants to be another version..