Like the Rising Sun - McCall's 6887

Hello everyone! It's been quiet around here this month but it's only because I've been busy making and crafting and enjoying it! :-D That also means that I have quite a few posts coming in the next couple of weeks ;-) (also, this post is pic heavy but it also has some fit questions :-))


Today I have a dress that I made by force of the one that gave birth to me lol I had a different project in mind at the time with completely different fabric but after I let her in to what was in my recent fabric purchase, she "insisted" that the yellow fabric in the box would be what I was making next. Why you ask? Because SHE had a yellow dress that she was planning to wear and of course I needed to properly coordinate. I love her.

After submitting to her suggestion (lol) I set off to find a pattern that would go with the Thred&Needles challenge for March which was Michelle Obama inspired fashion. I went through a long google search of the FLOTUS in yellow dresses and I found one that I thought I could pull off. Usher in McCall's 6887. I made View C which is better know as "business in the front and party in the back" LOL. The front had all of the design elements that I wanted to pull off the imitation dress (scoop neck, princess seams in bodice and skirt, sleeveless, straight skirt... ). I cut a combination of the size 12 and 14. I cut a 12 D in the bodice. On both center skirt pieces (front and back) I cut a 12, on accident really. I was supposed to grade out to a 14 in the skirt so I just cut a 14 in the side skirt pieces (front and back) and added the SA back to the side bodice pieces that would make them match up with the skirt. I cut a 12 at the top of the bodice back and graded out the a 14 at the skirt join. Are you still with me?

What is this fabric? It is a Maggy London Cotton Embroidered Eyelet from none else than Fabric Mart. I lined the dress with a remnant of polyester voile that I got from JoAnn Fabrics. The eyelet pressed and sewed very nicely. It feels almost like a soft linen. I think it almost breathes the same way as well.

I ended up skipping the back closure like Lauren did and just sewed the band closed. I add buttons for show. I got the buttons from a big bag of miscellaneous buttons that my mom had because apparently she was secretly collecting buttons lol. I got the invisible zipper from Fine Fabrics in Atlanta while I was there a little more than 2 weeks ago. I am extremely proud of my zipper insertion! It meets at the top perfectly! I veered away from the instructions to get done. I made sure to interface both sides of the zipper area and inserted the zip BEFORE sewing the lining and the fabric together. I don't know how to explain the whole process, but I get a clean connection between the fabric, the zip and the lining.

I want to talk about the fit I got for just a second. The dress is comfortably loose. I erred on the side of bigger first because I knew I was using 100% cotton and I didn't want the dress to be skin tight. Especially considering where I was planning to wear it. Now that I've made the dress, I will say I def could have gotten away with making a straight 12. As you can see from the pics of the back (above and below) that there is space around the cutout where the dress should be lying flesh to the body. I did add 1 inch to the bottom of the band across the back to ensure bra coverage. I don't know if THAT is the cause. I can see how it is a possibility but I also know that I normally need a 1inch swayback adjustment on all McCall's patterns so that may also be the issue. And I'm not sure there is an easy fix for that on this particular pattern.

forgive those loose threads. I got them when I got home lol

I did try to sew a bigger seam allowance on the for the back bodice where it joins to the skirt which helped it to lie flat but at some point I was rushing to get in my car to go somewhere, sat down and hear *TEAR*. My face = O_O. luckily it just the stitches that popped *thank God* but that leaves me with the question: If there is no ease of fabric in that area, how (with the straight skirt view) are people supposed to sit comfortably or without major caution? In my google search, I only found one person who had done the cutout view with the straight skirt (Elle L Silks) and she didn't mention having any problem.... I don't know. I just made sure to be careful when sitting and what not. What someone (the photographer in fact) did offer as a suggestion was to put elastic around that part, and I think that is a great idea. I'm not sure I will do it on THIS dress (I could though so I haven't ruled it out) I think that is definitely a good idea.

Any other ideas??

My only other adjustments were to add a 1/2 inch to the length of the dress (not the lining) and I moved down the top of the "vent" opening by 1 inch.

In the pic below, you can see how there is a pooling of fabric where my hand is on my hip. I think that next time I can cut a 12 at the top of the skirt and grade out to a 14 in the hips because it is a smidge loose at the skirt back where the zipper starts. Any looser and people may be able to see DOWN my skirt. Awkward. Other than that, I think the bodice fits quite nicely and I will probably use it for other outfits.

ANYWAY, let me wrap this up quickly. The dress is fully lined. I hemmed the lining with iron-on hem tape that was in my stash. Pleased that I had it available because the polyester voile was ridiculously slippery and was fraying at every look, let alone touch. I liked the way the lining attached to the skirt at the little "vent". I did good this time around. I followed all of the pattern instructions (except for the zipper) and I was pleased with them. Oh! One thing I ran into, though was that the pattern envelope and the tissue paper did not line up when it came to the 14 A/B cup size for finished garment measurements. I contacted McCall's and they told me to go with what the tissue paper said. (That's why I went with the 12 D cup).

forgot to attach my label to the bodice back so I hand-sewed it down with the bodice lining.

 I'm using this dress for this month's challenge over at TMS which is "Sew Hot Right Now" where we were supposed to make a garment based off a trend. I chose eyelet as my trend.

Oh! and about that Flotus knock-off :

All Torpedo Factory Art Gallery photos taken by CCP Photos
I wore the dress for Resurrection Day this past Sunday for church. Hence the title of my post ;-). I hope you all have a great weekend! See you back for lots more!

Me and Mom