Sewing Vloggers

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

The Green Dress McCalls 6116

     The Pattern says on the front cover "The Perfect Shirtdress". I agree. This dress makes me happy in so many ways. Let's start with the sleeves. I detest long sleeves and if I wear them I push or roll them up. I detest short short sleeves. They do nothing for my vertically challenged figure and don't hide enough. These rolled and tabbed elbow length sleeves are perfect. . They cover my arms just the way I like, hiding the floobies and showing off my better lower arm.
     Next are all the verticals, the V-neck cut at just the right "low-ness". No decollete here, a very frequent problem again due to my height. Then there are all the princess seams, more verticality.  Another vertical is the buttons all the way down the front. And they don't split open when it sit, Hooray! Also having some length is the collar which extends partway down into the V.
     Now we get to the waistline. The wide sash shows off probably the last thing this grandma doesn't have to be engineered into. Love a good bra, but I don't think I could handle spanx and thanks to genetics haven't had to yet. I wasn't sure about the sash  but once on I liked it. Looks better with than without.
     And last but not least, the COLOR! What is it about wearing color that just makes you feel so good? I will definitely get more color in my life. I've never thought of green as a color that "works" for me but I wanted to get out of the box color wise and this did the trick. Love it.

Here is a closer shot of the details. They do tend to get lost in the print in the photos  but still add some panache to the dress and were worth the effort.
                 
Now for some construction details.  The pattern does not call for a lining. This is completely underlined with some anti static lining except for the sleeves. The linen edges  were all serged to the lining prior to construction. For the sleeves pattern instructions have you do a 1/4 inch hem and roll up the sleeves.Then you bring the tab from underneath and button it to hold in the "roll-up". Na, na, no! That means you see the wrong side of the fabric and that won't do. What I did was serge the bottom edge of the sleeve. Then I folded it to the inside  about 2 1/2 inches. I now stitched on the serged edge to hem the sleeve. The sleeve was then able to be rolled up with the right side showing instead of the wrong and the machine hem is hidden in the rolls.
  
For the fit I did a muslin, something I am now addicted to and highly recommend. Your wadder count will decrease tremendously if you start doing muslins, promise. I cut an 8 above the waist and a 12 below.
  • Removed 1/2 inch between shoulder seam and princess seam in armhole. 
  • Scooped out the back of the armseye from the notch to the side seam about 1/4 inch. I have been doing this for years to take out some of the fullness happening in the upper torso. 
  • Did a swayback adjustment about an inch and a half above the back waist, removing a healthy 1 and 3/4 inches at center back and tapering to nothing at the side seam.
  • Removed a 1/2 inch across the top center back piece. 
  • Cut the armhole a half inch lower to accommodate removing the length in the bodice. 
  • Interfaced the sash with a fusible tricot, mostly to prevent show-through but also to give the sash just a little extra oomph. 
This is a now a tried and true pattern for me, a great princess seamed dress. I've been thinking and a new goal of mine is to search out some more tried and true garments. I have Carolyn envy. In the meantime, unlike the pattern envelope, I will call this the  "The Perfect Shirtdress for Petites"....Bunny


29 comments:

  1. I love everything about this dress. The workmanship is great, great combination of fabric, cut and style. Wear and love it.

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  2. This is so gorgeous and you look fantastic in the green. Where did you purchase that fabric?

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  3. GORGEOUS, GORGEOUS, GORGEOUS!!
    Thank you so much for sharing!!
    Sophie

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  4. The dress is a winner. It makes you look taller, thinner and very elegant. The workmanship is wonderful as always. It definitely has the makings of a tnt dress.

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  5. Thanks so much, everyone. The fabric is 60% linen and 40% cotton and from good old Joanns, nothing high brow here. I believe it is on sale right now for 60% off and they have it in a couple of other colorways. I remember gray and white and a bright blue and white. I like this blend of fiber as it is totally natural but barely wrinkles. It washed great but stick with cold water. I put vinegar in my rinse water so it wouldn't run also.

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  6. Could you please explain a little more about the sleeve lining and the serging? Maybe a little more about the underlining construction. Where do you purchase anti-static lining? I'm learning so much from your blog. Love what you do!

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  7. Beautiful dress, I love it and it looks great on you.

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  8. When I first opened this page, I gasped. That is a BEAUTIFUL dress! It looks fabulous on you.

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  9. Bunny, that turned out FANTASTIC! It looks wonderful on you. I agree - it's a new TNT pattern!

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  10. That is a lovely dress, and looks terrific on you. Perfect fit. I like that elbow-length sleeve on myself, also. My arms are not pretty anymore, and at my age, I'd rather be having fun that working out.

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  11. WOW !!! Bunny that looks great, love everything about it.

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  12. I'm so loving the dress! The color, the fit, the details...it is just perfect! And I laughed at the Carolyn envy ~ really? why when you sew such wonderful things?!

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  13. Beautiful and you look great in it. Floobies huh? That made me laugh right out loud.

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  14. I brought this pattern on yesterday from Hancock's. I was looking for another McCall's pattern and just on a whim decided to pick up M6116. I hope my dress looks as good on me. Your dress is fabulous.

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  15. FABULOUS DARLING! You are awesome and so is the dress. I think this may be one of my favorites from you.

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  16. Great fit - this is what makes it look so good on you. Fit is everything and this has ease in all the right places and fit in all the right places for a classic shirtdress.

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  17. WINNER!!! I love it, Bunny! Everything about it. Now why can't I have this sense of satisfaction with the clothes I make?!

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  18. Bunny, I have been reading your blog for a long time, but never commented. Now after reading all the alterations you do to the muslins, may I ask how long does it take you to make a garment? And wouldn't it be easier to draft a perfect pattern from scratch instead?

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  19. Fabulous! The green is such a gorgeous color for you. Looks like you've made all the standard adjustments - and know them well. I agree, after making muslins and knowing your own body, all the adjustments come easy.

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  20. Beautiful dress. The pattern lines are very flattering, and the color/print is gorgeous!

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  21. It's beautiful, very lovely. And you look wonderful in it!

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  22. Ta-Da!! A knock-out winner, for sure! I think the color makes you love it so much because its softened by the white. It has a hint of turquoise in it...my most favorite shade.
    GREAT fit...I give you an A++ for this one.

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  23. Beautiful dress! Looks great on you. Skilfully constructed, as usual. Thanks for the inspiration.

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  24. I have Bunny envy (in addition to the Carolyn envy). :-) Thanks for the detailed review of 6116 - I'm hoping to start working on mine next week.

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