Pattern Review Of My Summer Dress Using McCall’s 7742

Here is a pattern review of my summer dress using McCall’s 7742. I wanted something that would be easy to sew, cool to wear, and cute! I went through my fabric stash and found this lightweight denim chambray. It was perfect for this dress. The material is soft and cool. It washes and dries well and seems like one of those things that will get softer with time.

For my dress, I made View B. As you can see from the photo above, it’s a shorter dress. I wasn’t completely comfortable with dress that length and I wished I had made it longer from the time I cut it out.

Wearing M7742 before alterations — *Before pic*

As you can see, it’s really not that short. It’s just shorter than most dresses I would wear.

So, I changed the hemline by cutting a 5″ strip from the selvedge edge of the fabric and adding it to the bottom of the dress.

M7742 front with selvedge hem detail — *After hem* *changes*

That way, I have the added length I wanted that really makes it more comfortable for me to wear AND I have an interesting feature at the hemline. I left it raw because that’s actually trendy, and I could hem it later if I chose to.

Styling

But I also styled this is a couple of different ways. Of course, I can wear it as is much like the pattern envelope shows.

I also show it belted. I used a scarf I had that also adds a bit of color to the outfit.

I also decided to do a more beachy look with a beach tote I’ve had for years.

Summer dress using M7742 with beach tote

Additional Pattern Details

There are some sleeve options for the dress. I made View B which is the ruffle edge sleeve. There’s also a longer sleeve (it may be 3/4 sleeve) as well as no ruffle and another type of flutter-type sleeve. This might be cute in an eyelet fabric as a swimsuit coverup.

It’s an easy pattern to make and it’s comfortable to wear. I made mine in a large, but I probably could have gone down to a medium. The pattern is XS-S-M or L-XL. There is no bust measurement on the pattern envelope (and not on the pattern tissue itself). It’s an easy pattern that I think is beginner friendly. You will want to use some type of woven fabric that is soft and lightweight.

Using a pattern I already have and fabric I already had in my stash is in line with my previous blog post .

I recommend this pattern, but you might want to consider how loose it is when choosing you size. That would be my only caveat.

Until next time…

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Creativity During Covid-19 and Social Unrest

These past two weeks in particular have been tough. Like many Black Americans, my heart and soul hurts. I have gone from worrying about family and friends because of the pandemic to worrying about those same people being affected by senseless violence. That last part is always a concern. I have been emotionally exhausted.

I have been cautiously optimistic to see so many people of all races come together to fight injustice, and I can only hope that continues. I have been happy to connect and reconnect with old and new friends. Over the past few days I have felt as though I have renewed my creativity.

For anyone who thinks that I should just “stick to sewing”, I can only say, I wish I could. But as a Black woman in America, I (and my family) deal with these issues on a daily basis. For my mother and her sisters, sewing was a necessity because Black women were not allowed to try on clothes in boutiques. If you bought something that didn’t fit, the store would not take returns from Black customers. So they made their own. Sewing has always been how I express myself. So I’m finally feeling as though I can and should express myself through my craft again. That being said, I want to share with you two of my latest projects.

The first is this dress from Simplicity 8178. When I bought the pattern, it was actually number 0929, but whatever… I bought it for the jumpsuit (which I still haven’t made). But the dress was an easy project to make. I used a lightweight cotton blend that was easy to work with.

It should be a nice addition to my summer wardrobe. I realized that I really haven’t made many dresses lately, so I want to make more this summer.

The next item that I just finished is this Butterick top 6685.

I bought the pattern (twice by accident) for the sleeve options. If you are familiar with this, there are various sleeve and style options for this pattern. If I’m going to buy a pattern, I want there to be other options for me to make it worth my while.

I like the top unbelted as well. I used a leftover piece of chambray fabric I had. Originally, I had used this to make a shirt for my husband. I had enough left over to make View A of this pattern. This is another quick make. I also need to add more solid color tops to my wardrobe, so this worked out perfectly.

One positive thing that sewing during this pandemic has done for me is I have been able to use up some of my fabric stash. But believe me, I still have PLENTY of fabric left! I have also been able and motivated to use some of the hundreds of patterns I already have.

So, I hope you all are well and will continue your own creative adventures.

If you want PEACE, work for JUSTICE.

Pope Paul VI

Thanks for reading…

Terrific Summer Dress Patterns To Sew

I’ve been wanting to write a post like this for a while. I just wanted to feature some of my favorite summer dresses that I’ve made previously and give you some pattern information or information about the process of making these. These are some terrific summer dress patterns to sew.

Vogue 8997

I made this dress a few years ago and I still have it and love it. I’ve seen some other bloggers and sewists use this pattern lately although I don’t know if it’s still available. You can read the original post here.

I did find that when making this dress, I had to reconfigure the layout in order to have room for the pattern pieces to fit.

BurdaStyle 05/2019 #107

Another favorite. pattern of mine is this BurdaStyle Magazine dress from 05/2019 #107.

BurdaStyle magazine pattern 05/2019 #107 in lemon and navy blue — **BS 05/2019 #107**

I made modifications to the pattern with this dress (short-sleeves and added pockets). That original post is here. I truly love this dress! It’s a fairly basic shirtdress style, but I think my love of this comes from the lovely lemon fabric. It’s a stretch cotton (it’s almost sold out, but here’s the link from fabric.com). The fabric has a good weight for a dress like this and washes really well.

BS 05/2019 #107 in navy and lemom print back view

Simplicity 8384

My last one for this post is one that I’ve made twice. It’s Simplicity 8384.

As you can see, the pattern had another number when I first bought it, then they changed the number when it was issued later.

S8384 front view in green and white — **S8384**

This one is made in a green polka dot stretch cotton.

S8384 front view in ankara fabic — **S8384**

The last one I made was in this African wax print. Both of these are cool and comfortable to wear in the summer. The last post I wrote about this pattern/dress is here.

The one thing about all of these patterns is that the styles are all classic and uncomplicated. That’s why they can be made from a classic print, a more vibrant print, or just about any solid fabric you could choose. That’s another reason they are favorites for me. I really like versatile patterns and these all fit that category for me.

I hope I’ve given you some ideas for some things you might want to make for yourselves. Any of these patterns (or something similar) are great options!

*This post contains affiliate links.