Hi all. So today I am going to be talking to you about a McCalls dress pattern. I haven’t made a huge amount of McCalls patterns until recently, however I really like them and am starting to us them as much as Simplicity and New Look.
This pattern is for a fit and flare style dress (#M654) which has four different styles of dress to choose from. They all are made from panels; one with a ruffled front, another for different coloured/patterned panels, a third option for sleeves and the final option has a asymmetric hemline (longer at the back). I choose the option with the sleeves, which was option C.
For my measurements I choose the size 18, however I did find that it was too big, so I did have to make some amendments. For the option and size I choose you need 2¾m of 60inch fabric. There are several different fabrics you can choose from when making this dress including cotton and blends, cotton lawn, linen and chambray. I used a stretch cotton, which holds the shape of the skirt well and gives the curves a nice shape.
You will need a hook & eye and a 20inch zip for all the designs and for the sleeves there is the additional notion of 2 buttons, one for each sleeve (I personally omitted these).
The style of dress is really nice; it has a full skirt, which has a lot of body but twirls wonderfully. It nips in nicely at the waist and has a very stylish and flattering neckline.
There were several alterations I made to this pattern both out of choice and necessity; firstly I omitted the hook & eye, which I tend to do on a lot of garments as I prefer having the zip finish at the top of the garment and in this case it worked really well (I will admit on occasions it goes wrong and I have to add it back in when I make the pattern again).
Secondly, I found that the sleeves were way to small for my fat arms so I had to leave them off as I didn’t feel confident enough at the time to draft a new set of sleeves. However this is something I may revisit in the future and something to bear in mind when making this dress. It may be worth if you have enough material to cut the sleeves out first and check them on yourself before choosing the sleeve option. Or draft your own! The issue I had once I made the decision to leave off the sleeves was the fact that there were horrible exposed edges, so in the end I folded them to the inside and finished the edges with a twin row of stitches. On the outside it looks fine but it is a little unsightly on the inside.
As I said before I did have to make some amendments due to the size I made including taking in the side seams (from the arm hole to just below the waist) by 1cm each side and I changed the hem so it became a 1in hem instead of a 5/8in advised. The final change I had to make was to the bust area, as when I sat down the front gapped very indecently. Now I didn’t realise this problem until I wore it out and about, as when I was stood up it didn’t gape. Therefore I had completed the dress including the inside facings, trimming seams etc. In the end I had too unpick the acing either side of the zip and add one dart (removing an inch either side) to each panel on each side of the zip. and the reattach the facing. This did work as the bust fits wonderfully however it was a nightmare to achieve.
A few tips I would give when sewing this dress are:
- I added the zip to the centre back before joining the side seams which made it so much easier in my opinion
- I would try the dress on sitting and standing before attaching the facing
- Check the sleeves fit before choosing the sleeve option
- Using an invisible zip looks really nice
Having said all that I do really like the style of dress and I am planning on making it again, only this time with the actual sleeveless option possible as a Christmas dress. I will also be attempting to draft a pair of sleeves that fit for a future attempt at a sleeve version.
Happy sewing everyone! see you soon x
Into the sewing box 