A little Vintage Casual | McCall's 8194

 Hello Friends! Can you believe that it's almost JUNE and the weather still doesn't know what it wants to do?! Now that my sew-jo is back, I've been going back and forth about what to make but I have to keep pushing back summer dresses, and it's a little too warm for the camo jacket I want to make lol.

But I will never tire of making dresses, I just needed one that would work for this awkward weather transition, but ALSO be multi-functional. I wanted something that wasn't TOO fancy that I'd feel weird pulling it out to hang out with friends on the weekend, but fancy ENOUGH that it could be dressed up for a classy event.

That's how I've come to make this dress that is giving me such a cute vintage flair!

This is McCall's 8194, View A in the length & sleeves of View B. I cut the size 16.

This fabric was gifted to me by Carolyn on one of my visits to the north! It is a Ponte knit that I'm sure she got from Fabric Mart. 

I wasn't sure for a long time what I was going to make out of it because the print was kind of small, but it also was very impactful. I didn't want to get swallowed up in it. But when I saw this pattern, what really made me pair the two together was the length of the short sleeve. I know that sounds weird, but it's a length that reminds me of some dresses my mom gave me from when she was my age. It looked vintage in a way, and the print would solidify that aesthetic.

And the other reason the sleeves attracted me was that 89% of the dresses in my closet are sleeveless. Casual, dressy, and in between. So it's been difficult for me to find something I can throw on casually without thinking about whether I would need some type of cover-up.

As far as the pattern is concerned, it is VERY straightforward to sew up. I did sew the sleeves in flat instead of in-the-round. I still mostly like to go with the flat technique for knits.

Obviously, there is a major difference going on with my version than the original pattern lol. Once I had sewn up the entire dress, I was already getting annoyed about having to make the markings to overlap the two fronts. I also knew that the dress would fit EXACT and even though that would show I had BAWDY, I knew it would make me reach for it less. So I decided right then, I was going to just put an exposed zip on it. PROBLEM SOLVED!

I still have TONS of zippers from Panama and I had multiple zippers that were the EXACT length of the markings for where the top and bottom met on this dress! I had an option between black, red, and white tape and I just decided to go with the black. I literally just topstitched the edge of the fronts on top of the zipper tape. Easy peasy!

What I ended up with is a dress I LOVE and that I'd even feel wearing sneakers with to walk around the city. It's classy, it's a little sexy, it's easy, and I will probably make more lol

Let me know what you think down in the comments! Have you made this pattern yet?? Am I off the mark when I say it looks a little vintage-y?

Talk to you soon!

xoxo,

Tasha