The basting! The endless, endless basting!
This is McCall’s 6754 in a cotton/lycra knit from Girl Charlee.
In order to match up all these stripes in all the crazy ways, I had to baste, check, rip, baste, check, rip, baste, check, rip, etc. And, because it’s me, some of the stripes only sort of match up.
Plus, the pattern has a LOT of ease. I should have made a size smaller than my measurements indicated. As it is, I had to sew the CF, CB, raglan, and princess seams at something like 3/4″ and the side seams at 1″.
I am really surprised at how much I love this dress! It’s a little overwhelming with all the stripes, but it’s so fun! And the skirt–so full and lovely.
One thing I would change were I to make this pattern again would be to bind the neckline rather than turn it under. Also, I would raise it about 1/2″. It’s not too terribly low, but I’d like to play it a little safer if I’m going to wear it to work.
If you’re not matching stripes and if you get the sizing right, sewing this up would be very easy. However, if you’ve never sewn with knits before, I would not recommend this be your first pattern to try. I’m not a fan of the directions; I did my own thing. For instance, rather than do an elastic casing at the waist, I simply sewed clear elastic to the bottom edge of the bodice front and back. It works beautifully and was very simple.
However, I do have some sad news. I wore this dress once with a white cardi and belt and when I got home discovered that the blue had bled into the white stripes and onto my cardi particularly at the underarms (was I super sweaty that day? I don’t remember being very warm. . . ). I had prewashed the fabric and I have since washed the dress and cardi twice with no luck (I didn’t put them in the dryer–that would be madness!). I have one last trick I’m going to try. On the dress, it’s not super noticeable, but I’m afraid the cardi will need to be retired 😦
Besides the Lady Skater (which we all know I already love), do you know of a great pattern for a knit dress? I’m always in the market!
All that work was worth it, because those stripes are PERFECT, and this is such a fabulous, eye-catching dress! I LOVE IT! Well done, you. 🙂
Thank you so much 🙂
This is so cute! I love what you’ve done with the stripes! I’m just about done with the new Tilly & the Buttons Coco dress- it’s way cute!
Thank you!
That’s a good suggestion! Was it hard to find the right kind of knit for it? I haven’t ventured very far outside the realm of jersey. . .
I used a sort of French terry/sweatshirt knit that I had in my stash. It’s pretty thick, but still has some stretch to it, so that worked really well. I shouldn’t have done the version with cuffs as it was really too bulky for that, but I still don’t mind. 🙂 Ponte is a good choice for it, if you have access to that at your local fabric store.
Thanks–I’ll keep that in mind!
HA, that first line sounded like a horror flick! and, i guess, what with your murdered blue bled cardi, it was…
but those stripes look perfectly matched. killer, indeed.
I did feel pretty murderous every time I had to redo a seam. . .
Thank you!
Lovely! And, perfect, perfect chevrons on the front.
Thanks 🙂
I think your stripes look pretty damn good! I love the chevron effect on the front! Gutted that you had to sacrifice a cardigan though! Navy cardis with this from now on, then? Looks great though! I love it!
Navy or any other color that won’t show the blue. Thanks 🙂
white cardy – can you over dye it?
Such a great idea! And I actually already have some dye on hand.
Whoa! I think you matched the stripes perfectly! The cardi story is so sad!!!!! I’m so upset when that happens because I love white garments, but my favorites always seem to get dirty or stained so quickly!
Mine, too! Or they just get dingy and sad 😦 But I cannot resist them!
Those stripes look amazing! Sad about the cardi though…could it be overdyed maybe??
I love this idea! I’m totally going to give it a try.
Loving it! Can I steel this from your closet? Great make, worth all the effort!
Haha! You can try 🙂
Thanks!
I’ve been thinking of stripes and a similar dress and then I found yours. It’s so cute and the stripes are great!!! Hope you manage to save both the cardi and the dress, it will be a shame after all that hard work.
Thanks! I think the dress might be okay–hopefully the bleeding isn’t too noticeable. And I can always wear the cardi at home.
Ooh that pattern matching. Amazing!
Thank you 🙂 I’m glad all the basting was worth it!
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