McCalls 7429 Twist Dress shortened to a Tunic

This project gave me a bit of stress, but it all turned out well!  This is McCalls 7429, from the recent Early Fall collection.  I almost got this post up before the newer McCalls Fall collection was released, so I was almost on trend.  Oh well.

My fabric for this is a rayon/cotton jersey from Mood Fabrics that is now sold out.  That is very sad because this fabric is a dream, and at $7.99 a yard, the price was right.  I have decided that rayon/cotton blends are my favorite jerseys.  Just enough heft, just enough sheen, and just enough comfort.  The first picture in this post accurately reflects the color - a bright, rich red.

I made a few changes in the end.  I lengthened the short sleeves a bit to hit right at the crease of my elbows, and I shortened the whole dress to tunic length.  Truth be told, that was my plan at the outset, but I was concerned the proportions would not look right, so I made the dress full length first.  It turned out to be uncomfortably short as drafted (I am 5'6", so taller than average, but not too much).  It was several inches above my knee before hemming.  That's when I decided the tunic was happening, and I am really happy with the result.  I think the proportions are fine, and I could use a comfortable tunic top in my wardrobe more than a red dress.

I like the twist detail on this dress.  Twist tops were everywhere 5-10 years ago, and then they were less in fashion.  I kind of hope they are making a comeback.  I think they are really flattering and elevate a basic tee shirt.  This knot being at the waist is a bit different from the usual center bust placement.  As with many twist top patterns, the instructions had me scratching my head a couple of times.  I think there is just no way around it.  Interesting patterns will be a bit more challenging.  I just followed slowly step by step, and everything turned out fine.

There is a center back seam on this pattern, which makes for a great fit, and would make a swayback adjustment simple to do.  Mine fit fine, though.  Oops, you can see the back pockets on my ponte pants through my top.  I will generally wear this over leggings or jeggings, but I was going for a slightly dressier look today for my anniversary dinner.  :-)  Here is my whole look - leopard print pumps and all.

Make a Lace-Up Top from a Plain Tee Shirt Pattern

I am quite pleased with myself about this one!  I wanted a top with a lace-up detail that isn't tedious to wear.  Here are some examples of what I'm taking about.  I decided I just wanted the look of the trendy lacing, not ones that actually function to hold the neckline together. 

I started with a plan tee shirt pattern that I like.  Mine is McCalls 6886, but any tee would do.  For the neckline, I bound the back neck edge and drafted a simple facing for the front.  I used a lightweight fusible interfacing on the front facing, attached it and understitched.  Voila!  That's it!  The last step is adding the metal grommets, which was really easy to do.

I have had the fabric in my stash for a while.  I think it was from Gorgeous Fabrics, but I'm not 100% sure.  It feels like a rayon jersey, very silky.

I tried both this silk cord and a thin leather strip for my lacing.  Both are a little stiff.  Other options would be narrow ribbon, very thin rope, or a tube of fabric.  I wore this top a LOT on my recent travels (nothing fancy, alas, just visiting family).  It is super comfy but just a little elevated from a plain tee shirt.  Now I want to make McCalls 7391 even more than before!

Vogue 8379 in Liberty of London Jersey

I have no idea why I look so grumpy in these photos.  I love this dress!  I kind of can't believe I haven't blogged about it yet.  I finished it to wear for Easter, so it's been in my closet for a bit, and I have worn it a few times already.  The pattern is the perennial favorite Vogue 8379, and the fabric is Liberty of London rayon jersey in the Heidi Maria print, eggplant color.

I have made two other versions of this pattern (although the first, dotted one, has been retired).  I love it!  The fit is great, and the style is flattering.

The only change I made was to make the ends of the ties angled instead of straight across.The sleeves look more elbow-length than 3/4 and I can't remember if that was a lack-of-fabric issue or what.

The fabric is heavenly.  Very silky but stable enough for easy cutting and sewing.

I would love to make another Liberty jersey dress in this fun summery fabric, but it will be a bit before the fabric budget can handle another go.

McCalls 6886 shortened to a T-shirt

I bought 2 yards of this lightweight striped wool/cotton jersey from Gorgeous Fabrics.  I had a vision in my head of a striped wrap dress, but it is so lightweight that I would have had to line it, and I was concerned that the tiny stripes would be too much on a whole dress, so I decided to make a simple tee instead.  I already had McCalls 6886 out from making my recent Breton dress, so I decided to give it a go in t-shirt form.

This fabric is Heaven.  So soft and not at all scratchy, despite the wool.  It feels like the comfiest, luxurious t-shirt.  The pattern worked splendidly, too.  I made it very long and  gave it a slight shirt-tail hem.

There's not really anything left to say.  This dress pattern also makes a great little top.  I still have a bunch of this fabric left over, and I think the soft drapiness of it would lend well for another version of McCalls 7186, this one shortened to a top also, and probably sleeveless.  This is definitely McCalls week.

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..

Purple Faux-Wrap Tee

Here is my final tee for the Pattern Review TNT tee contest, ending tomorrow!  I often have grand plans to enter these contests and seldom follow through, so this is a little victory for me.

The final tee is a faux-wrap look (or criss-cross neckline or something).  I drafted the neckline from the crew-neck version.  I think the original pattern came with a variation that looks a lot like this, but I have no idea what happened to the "front" pattern piece for that.

 The fabric is a ribbed, very stretchy rayon jersey that I've had in my stash for years.  I don't have many garments in this deep purple color, but this top reminds me how much I like it!  You can see from the back view below how drapey this fabric is.  I'm thinking it would have made a nice dress.

 Having made 5 of my TNT tees in the last month, I can really see how different knits behave with the same pattern.  Typical tee shirt knit fabric makes structured, comfy tees (here and here).  A firmer RPL with little stretch makes for a very form fitting (borderline tight) version.  Drapey rayon yields fluid, loose results like this purple one and the yellow one.

Luckily, unlike the red one, I do have the perfect cowl for when temps finally cool off.

 You can really see how I made my long sleeves super long.  I always do this.  I have super long arms and grew up with long sleeved shirts that were never long enough, so I not-so-subconsciously overcompensate now! :-)