Thursday, August 13, 2009

Since I had a blue zipper - McCalls 4444



I have had other favorite dresses - here, here and here - but this one supplants all of them - this is my new absolutely-favorite dress.

I had cut this pattern out, but I didn't have enough of the fabric I wanted to make it in (the black fabric I used to make this skirt.) I therefore rooted around in the stash, found a blue invisible zipper, as well as this fabric I bought in Nigeria, and voila. Easy peasy.

Here's a review.

Fabric: This beautiful tie-dye. 100% medium weight cotton, bought at-least five years ago from a market in Lagos. I've hoarded it until now, but this is the perfect use for this fabric.

Pattern: McCalls 4444.

Pattern notes: This is a pretty easy sewing pattern. Stuff that's worthy of comment:

- I made a size 10 at the top, and 12 at the waist/hip. This has perfect ease, I love it.
- I thought the pattern adjusting lines were really convenient, since I always need to adjust the pattern anyway to petite-size it.
- The instructions call for the bodice to be self-lined. In my case, I used lining fabric to line the bodice instead, my fabric is medium-weight, and a double layer would have been too stiff.
- The back required a bit of pinning and adjustment to get the dress to fit right. Nothing major - the vertical pieces were shortened, and I pinned the neck piece in place until it felt secure.


(Picture of the back.)

Apart from that, this is a nice, beginner pattern - very easy sewing, though a ton of pieces. (It was a bit of a pain cutting out...)

Time taken: About 4-6 hours, split over three evenings. I'm a very slow sewer though - this is an easy pattern.

And there you have it - my new favorite dress. I feel very sexy in this - I love it!

8 comments:

Summerset said...

Another winning garment! I love this style and color on you. I think you've done a great job chosing the right pattern for the fabric, too.

Patty said...

I've enjoyed reading about your summer dress sewing, and this one is my favorite too. I can see such improvement in your sewing with each project. Nice job!

Sew Shy said...

Reethi, this is beautiful! You can't go wrong with the Naija fabrics - your items will always be one-of-a-kind.

anuradha said...

WOW!Stunning Reethi!

Denise said...

Very lovely. Well worth 4-6 hours and even more!

Tany said...

You look great in this dress!

(love the refashioned dress too!)

Anonymous said...

This dress looks fabulous on you! I love the fabric, and the color and the style of the dress fits you so well. And also great fit, I want this pattern! Thanks for the review!

Chicago Sarah said...

You look fabulous. My husband suggested I buy that pattern, after seeing you. :)