February 12, 2013

McCalls 6713 x2

 This was the last thing I made before taking my sewing machine to the doctor.  The problem with things electronic is that you can't fix them yourself.  Hopefully it's just a dirty sensor as the doctor thinks, but since I haven't heard from him yet - well fingers crossed.  The good news is that I have a back up machine and sewing *will* happen over my 4-day weekend. 

This is the second version of McCalls 6713 - this time with the flounce.  The brown spotty version was the 'muslin' for this fabric.  And honestly - that brown dress has become a favorite and while I hate wearing the same clothes often - I've already worn it twice! 

This fabric was a very lightweight, but heavy (if that makes sense - and if you sew you know what I mean) knit.  I would guess that even if you don't sew you have some items of clothing that are very thin, but the fabric itself is heavy.  Anyway - because of that it stretched and hung different that the more stable brown spotty fabric. 

Again - no changes to the pattern, I just cut it out and sewed it up - mostly on the serger - remember, my machine wasn't playing nice. 

I cut the flounce in a single layer, rather than the self-lined and instructed in the pattern.  I felt this would be okay because the back of the fabric is a nice grey (is it grEy or grAy?)  and if it was visible it would be okay.  I chose to leave the edges of the flounce raw and unfinished as it's a knit and won't ravel and I didn't want the added bulk of another layer at my waist were everything is joined. 

I wore the dress with red pumps, red cardigan and red jewelry.  JB was less than impressed with this make.  He couldn't really verbalize what was different, but he said it looked more casual than my other dresses.    Looking at the photos - it's not nearly as cute as I thought it was when I left the house in the morning. 

The one major 'fix' was to serge a dart out of the center back.  Umm - yea - seriously.  When I first put this dress on, there was about 3" of extra fabric at the center of my back.  Remember - light but heavy fabric.  The back is cut on the fold, the neckline was already finished and it looked horrible.  Possibly a belt could have saved it - but it honestly needed some sort of adjustment to the back to make it fit.  So I folded the dress in half at the skirt center back seam, laid my french curve down on the dress marking about 1 1/4" at the waist seam - down about 5" and all the way up to the neckline but not through it.  I then took it to the serger, said a little prayer and serged with the left needle on the chalk line.  Let out breath, try dress on and the back fits!  Win!! 

15 comments :

  1. Ooo!! I really like it! Love that colour and the swishy bit looks like fun to swirl around in with your shiny red shoes. It's definitely on my list for this Spring!
    (traditionally in print UK is grEy, US is grAy, but we can read them both us clever gals)

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  2. Thank heaven for darts! I don't know how many times they've saved me. I understand about heavy light fabrics. They are such a trial, because they never act quite right, and you always end up doing something to save the garment. I like the red shoes with that dress; it needed color!

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  3. I get the thing about heavy light fabric. What a pain. I use grey just because most people use the other.

    Has the doctor called with a diagnosis yet? Good thing you have a backup.

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  4. Oh la la! This is a fabulous frock! I hope your machine feels better soon :D

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  5. Your dress looks great! I know what you mean about the different fabrics reacting differently. I have had the same response but worse as the top ended up being too small - nothing you can do about that! Scary when the baby machines are sick - hope your gets well soon.

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  6. Wow, I love this dress and the fabric you used. It's very flattering. Nice job!

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  7. I feel as though I'm in 5th year French all over again. I recognize most of the words, can even pronounce them, but jumbled together... totally foreign.

    Maybe I need to spend some time with my sewing machine soon. Maybe NEXT weekend.

    And I use whichever gre(a)y my fingers type. Same with canceled vs. cancelled.

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  8. Love the dress, and that pop of color with the shoes??? LOVE!
    You are so talented. Love seeing your creations.

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  9. After your last version, this pattern went to the top of my 'want to buy' list - just waiting for a sale.

    I can see where this one looks more casual but I like it ! It is too cute. Ok, how the heck do I write that so you read 'it is cute, even though you think it's not' rather than 'it's much too cute' LOL

    The shoes though really grabbed me - RED !!! I'm liking shoes these days - DH is thinking I might be turning into a real girl *smile*

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  10. I really like this dress! This is totally a dress I'd make! Nice work! I like the red shoes with it, too.

    And P.S. I've nominated you for a Liebster Award :)
    http://kathhhhhysews.blogspot.com/2013/02/liebster-blog-award.html

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  11. I'm sure this dress looked very cute with the red sweater and red pumps....nice job!

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  12. LOVE the red shoes. Love them love them love them...

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  13. Thought I had already commented on this one, but--I LOVE this dress/shoe ensemble! So adorable. The shape of the dress is so flattering and the red really just pops the whole outfit!
    <3

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  14. Ooh, I like that pattern! That's one I overlooked in the catalog. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. I think the blue-grey (gray?) dress looks fantastic with the red pumps.

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  15. That is such a pretty dress on you! I love a wrap style. I think they are flattering on all of us. And, oh, those sexy red pumps! Perfect!

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I appreciate you coming to see me. It may take me a bit to publish your comment - but I will get to them by the end of every day. If you leave a way for me to get back to you, I will. Thanks for taking the time to comment and share your opinions. g

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