The Lady in Red With Mccalls 7047

Hey, do you remember that I posted plans to make this dress? Well, I have done it!

                       

It made with McCall's 7047 a "Create It" patten with mix and match options. It allows you to create lined, pullover dresses with or without peplum have close-fitting bodice, back neckline, skirt and sleeve variations, and elasticized waist. Peplum and long skirts: narrow hem. Long skirt with train, wrong side shows on hemline.    
                    
I was asked to make this dress for a friend who will be celebrating her 60th birthday this month. She wants to enter the next decade with pizazz  and va-va-voom! I was so excited to work with her. She knew what she wanted! She chose, bodice 3, with no sleeves, and skirt 9 made in sparkly "Ga-Ga Red Sequin". This Poly/Spandex blend has a 2-way stretch and a whole lot of shine.



In a rare moment of rule following, I made a muslin shortly after she commissioned the dress. I tested the fit and tweaked it as needed and waited until now to make the real one. She wanted to tighten up her already fab bod and successfully dropped a dress size. I began working on it and it can together relatively fast. Well, let me restate that. I had uninterrupted time to work on it while the darlings are in summer camp.  

Have you worked with speciality fabrics like all over sequin? There are a few tricks to make things go smoothly.

• Use a new rotary blade at the start of the project for clean cuts.
• Use a new ball point needle for sewing knits. 
• Use pattern weights not pins where possible.

• Tailors chalk, not disappearing markers show up well and dissolve easily with a touch of heat.

• Always press with a press cloth on the lowest setting.   
• When sewing, keep the sequins side facing up with the smooth side, or lining fabric on the feed dogs.
• Stitch/edge finished the seams using a seger and use a 3.5mm stitch length when sewing on the machine.
• Expect a lot of sparkly debris in your work area.

Here is the finished dress on my custom dress form. I have pinned the dress to it so you can have an idea of the drape. I cannot wait to see my friend in it as she sizzles and pops in all the right places to make this dress sing. 

Back of the dress with wide draped cowl. 

Cowl front

Full Front

Drama in that drape!

I love the puddle train (still to be hemmed).

One shoulder drape variation

I have written a pattern review that you can read here.

I am anxious to see her in this dress! I will post pictures of her in it at the party. The dress code for the party is white attire for the guests. I am still deciding on the outfits for myself, my daughter, son and hubby. The party is in two weeks, so I need to get on it.  I am happily taking suggestions on a dress for me. If you have good ideas, please share!

Update! Here is the lovely birthday girl in her show stopper! She wore white for the first half of the night. When she stepped back into the room there was an audible gasp! She was stunning! My camera did not do it justice, but she glowed! I had goose bumps and teary eyes most of the night! I am so glad to have had the privilege to make this for her.

Happy Sewing,
Bianca

High Waist Skater Girl Skirt by Special Request.

I recently had a custom order to make a skirt that was inspired by my African Print Maxi Skirt. My customer wanted a skater length skirt, but with a wide removable belt. She wanted  the option to have it worn belted to give a high-waist look. The trick with this project was that she lives states away and I had to make it based on her self reported measurements. I have heard it said, "Never lie to your seamstress about your size of you doctor about your symptoms". Luckily, she reported her measurements accurately and I got to work.

She choose a cotton tropical print fabric from choices from my stash. I used Mccalls 5631 view "C" and omitted the border.

Here are photos of the completed skirt on my custom dress form and on the owner!

Un-belted Skirt

High Waist belted.

Belted Back

Worn by my happy customer.

Here is a review of the pattern:

Pattern Description: Pattern Description: Flared mid-knee skirts have self or contrast yoke, contour waistline, side zipper.

Pattern Sizing: 6-20

Did it look like the photo envelope once you were done sewing with it? I think it does

Were the instructions easy to follow? Yes they were.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I loved the fullness of the skirt. It is made using pleats first and gathers after. I disliked the sizing on this one, I found it ran small. My customer is a size 4 RTW and based on the measurements, needed to cut the 12.

Fabric Used: A cotton print from my stash.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: This was a custom order that was inspired by my African Print Maxi Skirt.. She wanted a skater length skirt, but with a belt. I added a 5 foot long belt, so it could be worn to give a high-waist look.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? I have no plans to make it again, but I am not opposed to it. Because of the sizing issue, I hesitate to recommend this one.

Conclusion: My customer loved it! She said it is perfect for Salsa dancing. She liked the removable belt and fullness of the skirt. I think she looks great in it. I am very proud of the fit considering all communication was virtual. She is a fit size 4, so it would have been hard to mess this up.

Mother Goose Nursery Rhyme Costume

A friend came to me in distress over her 5-year old daughter's school assignment. She had to choose any character from a Mother Goose nursery rhyme and come to school dressed in that costume. They needed my help and I was happy to oblige. With all of the typical little girl options like Bo Peep, Little Miss Muffet, Jill and Old Mother Hubbard,  I expected to make a pretty dress. I was delightfully wrong. She wanted to be the clock from Hickory Dickory Dock!

My first thought was, let's paint a cardboard box and call it Christmas! Turns out, that would not do because she would wear it all day and would not be able to sit in cardboard. It would need to be fabric, but still maintain the shape of a wooden object. I did not know how to begin, but I was intrigued by figuring it out.

I was doubtful I would find a pattern so I decided to make one. After ruling out cardboard I quickly ran to Kroger and grabbed a few brown paper bags. With my "Little Miss" as a stand in, I got to work.

Trying a template

Pattern pieces cut

After drafting the pattern, I cut the fabric for the body and the accents like the clock face, pendulum and the mouse.

Pendulum

Clock face and body

I added stiffer felt to the back of the clock top to help it stay up.

The costume is made in two parts with a body and a head piece. I stitched most of the costume using my serger. It gives a clean finish to the seams, is faster than my sewing machine and with the differential feed does not warp the felt as it was sewed. When I used my machine to sew the accents, I used a 4mm stitch length. The head piece has a cardboard platform to stay flat and an elastic strap to stabilize it under her chin.

I used purchased numbers for the clock numbers and made a little mouse to run down the clock at 1 o'clock.
 

Here is the delighted darling in her completed costume. She and her mom were delighted with the end result with one exception. I was told that I missed a crucial detail...

The mouse needs a piece of cheese! That is why she ran up the clock in the first place, right? I quickly ran to my studio, made some cheese and was told it was now "perfect". Could I ask for anything more?

Happy Sewing!