A Quick Dress for a Gala | McCall's 8339

 Hello, Friends! So, suffice it to say, I lied. lol I said I was taking a personal sewing break for the remainder of the year and then a few days later I needed a new dress. I was going to a Gala and I misread the dress code and thought it was cocktail attire. I had a dress ready in my closet for that, but something made me look at the event details again a few days before the gala and I realized it was actually black tie. I had one or two dresses in my closet, but not that I was interested in wearing for this event in particular so I did what most of us do... went to my sewing room to look for a pattern and some fabric lol

This is McCall's 8339, View C in a size 16.

I bought this fabric in October when I went to New York for NYC Frocktails (see that vlog here). I picked it up in the Garment District at Chic Fabrics. It is a BEAUTIFUL navy stretch "crinkle" fabric with a gold foil design. This fabric is extremely light and actually a little bit see-through.

I chose this fabric because it was a knit and I needed something very quick. Plus it was the fanciest knit fabric in my stash, so although I just bought it, I went ahead and used it ahead of all of the other options.

I chose to use McCall's 8339 because I have made SO many dresses with the twist feature in the front so I knew I would be able to get through that part really quickly. Plus, with the pattern being for knits, there were no closures at all. It was a simple pattern with enough interest in the details so it was the perfect selection.

The other awesome part about using this knit was that I didn't have to finish the seams. That was very useful as I was making this a couple of hours before the gala. I just pressed all of the seams flat and that worked great.

As for modifications, I added 6 inches to the length of the dress to accommodate my height plus heels. I ended up hemming it 1 inch for it to be the perfect length.

I also lowered the neckline and lowered the height of the skirt slit. I wanted this dress to be very classy, but I didn't want to lose the sexiness of my personal style so I made the neckline as plunge as I felt comfortable with. In doing that, I had to nix the neck facing from the pattern. I just folded the fabric over about 5/8" and sewed it down.

I lowered the height of the slit because I know how it feels to sit down in a dress that has a front slit and it's too high. Your underwear practically shows and you have to sit in an awkward position most of the time. I wanted to be very comfortable and confident, so I lowered the height to where, when I sat, the dress imitated a mid-thigh mini skirt.

The dress ended up being really beautiful for the occasion! The only thing I would do differently if I make it again (honestly, when) is to reduce the width of the elastic for the back waist seam. That really could've snatched my waist a lot more and given an even better silhouette, but I was in such a rush, I didn't want to keep fussing with it.

label by www.stitch-collective.com

Let me know what you think of this dress in the comments below! What's the closest you've cut it to sewing for an event??

I'll be back sooner than you think!

xoxo,

Tasha