McCalls 2401

I’m particularly interested in making myself some dresses and skirts for spring and summer. I find that they tend to keep me cooler than long pants when it gets really hot and humid around here. But that’s going to be awhile because the weather here has been anything but spring-like. Today was a good day, so I went out and took some pictures.

This is McCall’s 2401, which is a basic sheath dress.

Although I’ve made the dress before, I’ve never made it with sleeves and the square neck.

I used stretch cotton twill which is pretty lightweight. I didn’t make any adjustments to the pattern. I did take the back dart all the way up to the neckline. I found that the back of the dress was too lose and I needed to reduce that somehow. While that worked out fine, if I make this again, I would just make the adjustment before cutting it out (like you’re supposed to).

Anyway, I like it and I like the print. I knew the dress was going to have to have a simple design with such a bold print.

Very Easy Vogue pattern 8824

This is my latest completion. It’s Vogue 8824 knit dress. It really is very easy. Actually, I’m really not sure if this is supposed to be a knit or woven dress. The material list says jersey, linen and crepe. So, I went with a charcoal gray ponte knit. I made the dress in a medium, so I figured the stretch would be a good thing.

The dress does have a very deep V in the front so something needs to be worn under it (unless you’re very brave). So, rather than have to wear another shirt underneath mine, I chose to add a panel in the front to cover most of the V. I don’t always want the additional layers of another shirt. But, here I show that it is easily done.

This picture is with a self-drafted quick cape that I made last year (I think). It’s about 30 degrees and breezy, so I was freezing.

This dress is simple enough to dress up or wear casually. It can also be made with 3/4 sleeves and longer at the bottom (more of a midi length dress).

Quick and practical…that’s my kind of sewing!

Burda Style Dress 10-2014 #105

When I first saw this dress I was really intrigued. I liked it, but I was wondering if I could really have success with the pattern. If any of you have ever made a dress from the Burda Style magazine, you may know what I’m talking about. I wasn’t concerned about the tracing (I’ve gotten the hang of that for the most part). But, the directions for these patterns are minimal, at best. It’s just very different from using a pattern from the “big four”. But I was determined to get it done!

And I’m so glad I did! The lines of the dress are very simple. And there are only three pieces, so I figured as long as I didn’t put the sleeves in some weird place, I’d be okay.

I think this dress could be made from a bold print (obviously) or a more subtle solid. It’s up to you. I think that’s what makes the best patterns and makes those patterns classics.

The sleeves are about 4″ longer than normal according to the pattern, so I actually shortened those when I traced. I actually didn’t have enough fabric and I really wanted to use this piece, so I wanted to make sure I could fit everything (I also don’t like super-long sleeves). I actually couldn’t get the neck/shoulder right because I couldn’t understand what the instructions were saying to do. But I knew what it was supposed to look like, so I basically had to work backwards for that section. After that, the dress was really easy. This is the kind of thing I can see myself making again. And maybe I’ll get it right next time – LOL!