McCalls 6355

I would like a slimming dress that wouldn't make me look bigger than I am. The problem is proportion .

I'm short waisted and somewhat chesty. In order to have a fitted waist, my chest sticks out more than I'm comfortable with. But still, I should be able to arrive at a reasonable compromise, wouldn;t you think?

I bought this Palmer and Pletch pattern, McCall's 6355, knowing there would be lots of opportunities to fit the pattern to my shape.

First I made an FBA using the slash and spread method as shown on the pattern. That never works for me . It always ends up being too much and I"M NEVER USING THAT METHOD AGAIN.

The dress I want to make is a sweater knit and I want to add a cowl collar.

I had pieces of a  knit very similar in weight to it and made my first muslin into a pullover. I liked it so much that I didn't want to sew in the front and back waist darts thinking they would show when I undid them. This did show me though that the neckline is too wide and the upper back is as well.  Also the size 12 would be adequate at the side seams which is not always the case for me.

                                                                         

                                                                              

On to Muslin #2. Because my "good" fabric has wide stripes like colour blocking almost ,  I had the bright idea of changing the bust dart and waist dart into a French dart!!! You know.A la Peggy Sagers Webcast. I thought this would just look better, for some reason.

Well, I've got to say. This was quite a process! If you watch the video, Peggy tells you to open the French dart 2/3 of the way down the bodice side. You cut a slanted line from the side to somewhere within the bust circle. You then close the bust dart and the waist dart and this opens up the new dart. I'm simplifying here. You can watch the webcast for more details.

    For my muslin this time I used a dark brown ponte knit that I've found to be very pilly. (Is that a word??)                              so I didn't  care  if it didn't work out. I had to make curved French darts because I had vertical drag

   lines just below the bust area. I forgot to measure the length of the dress and it is a little short. I'll add             three inches to my "good" version.


 I also lowered the neckline to a depth I know to be flattering.

       

                                                                               

     I realized early on that this would be a wearable muslin so  I made the sleeves extra long and tight and  I

      ruched the bottom  as a style element.

                             

I ended up with a really good fit and will use this altered pattern for many other things ,I think.
                                            

After all this work, I've decided to use the original pattern with  back darts and more defined curved seam at waist level for my striped wool dress. I could have tried that in the first place but this pattern alteration was very interesting to do. I'm finding I really enjoy this kind of exercise!

I'll show you the end product next week so please drop by again to see my sweater dress

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Happy Sewing from