McCall's 6711 Dress Pants

***This blog post was written in March, before the covid-19 outbreak, and has been waiting to be published for more than three months! I plan on making this pattern again soon.


In case you guys didn't know, winter is cold. And when you need to look a little nicer in the winter time, pants are a good option. I know what you're thinking, "Beth, this is obvious." Well, it took me like 7 years to sew myself some dress pants.

I used to have many pairs of pants like this, back when I worked in an office. Only one of those still fits now, and even that is a stretch. I didn't want to spend too much money or effort on a pair of pants I knew I would rarely wear, so I dug up a pattern I already had, McCall's 6711. It must be out of print now, so I'm linking to the Pattern Review entry. This pattern has a top, pants, dress, skirt, and a blazer. That's a lot! I made the dress previously, and when I find the right fabric I think I'll make the top, to go with these pants.

The fabric is a polyester/spandex stretch suiting, from the Spot the Bolt bin at Jo-Ann's. There was just over a yard of it left, so I wasn't sure I could get some pants from it or not. I ended up using a stash stretch woven for the waistband facings.

The pattern calls for a center back zipper. For whatever reason, I decided I knew better and put an invisible zipper in the side seam. It ended up being dumb because there are pockets there, and the zipper running along the pockets pulls it in a weird way.

I like the pattern, it has a nice tapered leg and pockets. Those were basically my only two requirements. It was a pretty easy sew as long as you're comfortable putting in a zipper.

I sewed a size 10 which seemed to fit everywhere except through the seat. I used the smallest possible seam allowance, instead of the 5/8" drafted.

I'm happy enough with these to wear them to church. My top choices are limited since I don't gravitate to fancy/shiny/synthetics. If I had a solid black blazer (made from this same pattern perhaps?) there are a few things lingering in my closet, again from my working days, that would work. For now, I'm pairing it with this thrifted sweater from The Limited.

Casual Summer Dress

Someone who loves knits as much as I do should have a TNT dress pattern by now, right? On a warm summer day, nothing beats tossing on a sleeveless dress, but I'm still trying to find my perfect pattern for such a thing. I think with a few tweaks, this one could be it.

This is McCall's 6744, an OOP pattern that I've had for a few years. I previously made a crossover maxi dress version, which sadly ended up in the garbage after the thin fabric developed holes. But I hadn't yet tried the sleeveless version, and decided on the racerback view to keep it casual.

The pattern was already cut in all views (yay!) in XS (boo!). I'm not an XS anymore...so on the side seams I used a 3/8" seam allowance instead of 5/8" which worked out fine. It is a bit low-cut (the light pink you see along the neckline is my bra) but that just means I have easier nursing access. All the edges are finished with a 5/8" single-turned hem. Not the best finish, but it is the fastest, and my coverstitch made quick work of it.

I needed a quick project, since I decided the night before H's birthday that I wanted a new dress! Now I know a sewing mama would normally be making a new dress for her KID on the kid's birthday, but I had already bought her something new ::shrugs:: We went to the zoo for her special day, and this dress worked out perfectly for our weather and activity. I was able to cut it out and sew the whole thing in maybe 90 minutes of time (fabric was already washed, pattern was already cut as I mentioned). Can't beat that!

And oh yes, let's talk about this fabric. It's a rayon/spandex knit from Raspberry Creek Fabrics. Even though it has a white base it's not sheer. Pink and blue are my two favorite colors, and I love abstract, graphic prints. Basically, it's a win in every category. And I have enough left to squeak out a top, I think.

To make the dress a bit more fun (okay, I was also just being lazy) I reverse coverstitched the openings. There was maroon thread in the needles, which pulled through a bit to the right side. It works with the casual feeling but keeps this dress unique.

As far as a TNT pattern goes, this might work for me if I lengthen the bodice so it's more of a drop-waist. Ten months out from my last baby, I'm facing that dreaded mama pooch and the possibility that it might be here to stay. It makes me self-conscious and uncomfortable to have an elastic casing running right over that part of my body. A drop-waist would give a bit of blousing there and put the waist on my high hip instead. Stay tuned for that particular hack! And by stay tuned, I mean, wait three or four years haha!

I admit, I'm already looking forward to the end of Me Made May, so I can wear this again!

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Bamboo Jersey Romper

I don't know who is responsible for the comeback of the romper/jumpsuit, but I'm fairly certain it must be a mom. Easy dressing+practicality=win. I've been pregnant the last two summers and I'm SO happy to finally be able to wear rompers again!

I recently decided to treat myself to some luxurious bamboo/spandex knit (from The Fabric Fairy) specifically for making McCall's 7099. I loved the wrap front and the options for long or short pant length. Plus, pockets!

I would not normally wear these shoes, I think the romper is just a bit too fancy for Chucks, but my backyard is currently in the stage of spring known as All Mud All the Time.

The bamboo knit does get wrinkly, as you can see here after a day of wear. But honestly, if I don't have snot or spit up on my clothes, I call it a win. I've had a lot of knits come my way before, many bad, most mediocre, a few amazing. I would say this falls into the latter category. If you need a good bamboo knit, run off to The Fabric Fairy and snag some (there are lots of colors).

Fit notes:

I was so crazy about this bamboo knit that I actually made a muslin *gasp* of the pattern. Okay, I didn't go too crazy, since I only muslined the top. I'm glad I did. I made a size 6, which is the smallest in the envelope, but McCall's has always run large for me. I ended up removing a wedge from the front bodice, basically from the shoulder to the waist, which you can see here on my altered pattern piece:

I was paying so much attention to the front that I didn't notice how the back was also a bit too big. After making the romper I did go back and alter my pattern for future versions, by removing width from the middle of the shoulder to the waist. I didn't want to mess with the armscythe or side seam.

If I had muslined the shorts I would have seen that they're a bit too wide for my tastes, so I added that alteration to the pattern as well. One note...make these changes to the paper pattern as soon as you're done sewing! I made this over a month ago and to write this post I'm going off my notes in A Sewist's Notebook. It's that easy to forget everything you've done!

My final concern was the waist. Garments with a waist seam always worry me, since I tend to be long-waisted. I cut extra long seam allowances on the top of the shorts and the bottom of the bodice, but it ended up I didn't need them at all. So take note of that if you're short-waisted.

Finishes:

I did not have matching cone thread, as this isn't a color I wear regularly, so I ended up blind-stretch-hemming on my regular sewing machine. It's not my favorite (and boy was it difficult with this fabric!) but it's better than a zig-zag stitch. You can see on the inside that it's kind of a hot mess. It is, however, a super stretchy stitch, so it works for me.

The armholes are finished by turning under and hemming. Not the best, but I can live with it. The rest of the romper was constructed on my serger. You can see a bit of pulling along the neckline band where I didn't stretch evenly, but other than that my serger behaved well with this project.

I did have an issue with the back of the band. It's actually two pieces which dip into a nice V. The pattern has you just sew the points to a dot. I found this difficult, given that the back bodice is also gathered.

Either I should have gathered each side separately, or I should have basted the two band pieces together and then treated them as one. It doesn't look very pretty but my hair probably covers it most of the time anyway.

Boring construction stuff aside, this romper is amazing. The bamboo is so soft and the weight is just perfect, not too thick and not sheer. I do find that the wrap can gape a bit, so I wear a cami with it. You could also sew a snap...actually, now that I think about it, maybe the pattern gave instructions for adding a snap.

One last outtake photo to show you, rompers can withstand anything you throw at them, including gusty spring winds.

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Jacquard Knit Cardigan

I really should stay off of Pinterest. Sometimes I get these ideas in my head, and no matter how hard I try, they don't pan out. That's what happened with today's creation, a kimono-sleeve cardigan from McCall's 6802.

First, fabric. I got this medium-weight jacquard knit from the Etsy shop Urban Rag Trader and it is awesome. And it was $4/yard!! It's thick, warm, and behaved like a ponte. This was one of those times where I had a great fabric and didn't want to screw it up with the wrong pattern, but I think I kind of did. Here are my inspiration photos from Pinterest to show you where my train of thought was going:

I chose McCall's 6802 because it had the fewest seam lines of any of my cardigan patterns. I liked the draped front that could turn and show the reverse, which in this case is a nice speckled black. I've made the pattern once before, so it was already cut, which might have influenced me a bit too much. I had the same problem this time around that I did the last time (slow learner?). There was way too much volume. I made a size 8, the smallest in the envelope. I did not add pockets.

via IG

Sewn as-drafted it looked way too much like a bathrobe. After I took the above photo, I went back and removed 1" under the arm, starting at the sleeve hem and then tapering to nothing at the hip. It gave me a slightly more fitted look like my inspiration photos. But the more I looked at it, the more I realized I should have made a cardigan pattern with set-in sleeves. I had been trying to avoid crazy directional issues with lots of seams but it just didn't work.

It's possible I just have a styling issue. I tried my best here, but perhaps I should have thought of potential pairings before sewing, huh? After finishing, I realized that what I should have made was a Morris Blazer. I still could have gotten the cool reverse black lapel, but it would be more structured. I'm half-tempted to order more of this fabric just to overcome my regret!

An additional note about this pattern: the waterfall portion is not hemmed or finished in any way. There is a center-back seam behind the neck that shows when you turn down the drape.

I covered my seam by hand with black rayon seam tape. If I were more fired up about this cardi I would do the same for the rest of the seams, since they occasionally peak out. And because the drape isn't finished, there is a part inside where the hem meets an un-hemmed part and just looks sloppy:

I could not double-turn this fabric to hem, it was too thick for my coverstitch, so I only have a single turn here. But you get the point.

I will not make this pattern again, I've learned my lesson. I'd still like to decide on outfit options though so I can wear this one, since the fabric is cozy and warm. Am I being too hard on myself or is everyone else seeing what I'm seeing here?

Wool Knit Tunic

A while back I posted my plans for a mini-maternity wardrobe, some sewing to keep me occupied over the next few months.

One item on the list was a green wool knit dress, McCall's 6612 which is labeled as "suitable for maternity" likely because of the ruching in the side seams.

I've had this pretty emerald green wool knit (from Fabric Mart) for a while and decided it was high time to use it. Green is not a color I wear a lot, but when FM had some great deals on wool knit, I couldn't resist.

I made a size 12, which is at least one size larger than I would normally make. I think you can tell by looking that it's a little big, but c'mon, I'm growing a human inside me, surely I'll grow into this tunic soon! Might be time to stock up on half pound Reese cups.

I posted on Instagram probably a month ago that I was making this pattern, and one commenter suggested I lengthen the front facing, that as-drafted it cuts across the boobs and makes a weird line. I took that advice and extended the facing 2" (the wrinkly tissue part along the top).

If you go to the trouble to extend the facing you could even sew elastic to the bottom and create some lightweight support across the chest. I simply serged the raw edge before catching it in the side seams.

I also stitched elastic directly into the side seams rather than create a casing with the seam allowances, which is what the pattern recommended.

When I cut out I wasn't entirely sure about the length, so I cut the dress version, View B. I got mostly done and showed my husband, and he wisely suggested that it was the most boring dress of all time. He was right! He gave me some tough-love advice that I make a lot of simple garments and that I might want to up the ante. Partly it's just my style, give me a loose t-shirt over a button-up any day. But that doesn't mean I can't think through my projects and inject some ~designer details~ into them.

After our conversation, I decided to add contrast cuffs to the sleeves, to shorten the length to a tunic (so it's close to View A but that's not how it started), and to add some elastic to the back to gather it there. Even though I had removed a standard amount from the CB for my narrow shoulders (maybe 1/2"?) the back was still loose and sagging. The elastic cinched it in and also provides a nice detail.

The back isn't perfect (I could have moved the casing up higher but I kind of winged it) but it's much better than it was. There's still some pooling there but at least it's not all falling over my butt, which is what it WAS doing! Barf.

Close-up of back casing

This is about the easiest pattern around, with only three pieces. It was a perfect post-holidays sew to get me out of a funk and moving again. It probably won't have much of a life beyond maternity wear, but I'm okay with that. I like the cowl neck and how the shoulders are finished. The instructions call for a 5/8" single-fold hem on the back neckline, but I managed to double-fold it without issue and it turned out well.

Interior shoulder seam and back neckline

How do you handle feedback from loved ones? A few years ago I would have bit my husband's head off, but I've learned that he's usually right. If he's bothering to give me thoughtful advice, I should listen!

Crazy Print Leggings

"You know you look like you belong in the 80's?"

Apparently my husband meant this as an insult, but I guess he doesn't know that the 80's are totally, like, so in right now. 

I'm not sure I can get into the whole pants-with-prints trend that's happening now, but I can deal with wild leggings. Especially if they only take an hour to make! 

The pattern is McCall's 6137, in XS, which I've made three? other times before (here, here, here). I've even transferred my tissue paper pattern to sturdy cardstock, so consider this a TNT! As a reminder, I've shortened the original in a few places (I'm 5'4"), lowered the rise, and removed a small wedge from CB. Every time I make these I think that I need to lower the rise even more...but I like a low rise. Just keep that in mind.

The fabric is a nylon/spandex knit from Girl Charlee (only 5 yards left at the time I'm writing this!). I ordered it specifically for this pattern, and it worked out perfectly. This type of fabric could be used for a swimsuit (with a lining) so it's not particularly warm as leggings. Okay, it's not warm at all. Normally I prefer more practicality, but every now and then I choose form over function.

The only tricky part of sewing this up was trying to arrange the motifs in a non-bullseye kind of way around the center front. But after staring at it for a while...I kind of just went for it. I'm not the type of person to wear leggings as pants (and you shouldn't be either!) so I'll likely always have a tunic or dress covering the top portion (you can read about the sweater I'm wearing here).

I sewed the seams with my serger and the hems with my coverstitch. I also sewed the waistband elastic to the top edge with my serger (knife disabled!) and then turned it down to the inside and coverstitched over the raw edge. Sooooooo much faster than making a casing!

Finally, make sure you always sew a tag into leggings, it can be tricky to tell the front from the back!

If you haven't tried this pattern yet, what are you waiting for?! Or do you have another leggings pattern that you prefer?

First Spring Frock!

Don't forget to enter the Pattern Pyramid Giveaway! Entries close tomorrow at midnight!

Hey y'all, it's SPRING!

Today is the first day, and I'm celebrating with my first warm-weather dress! Well...I wish I were celebrating, but I'm not exactly sure how I feel about this make. Also, it was cold and overcast and not at all spring-like when I took these photos. Someone better get Mother Nature a calendar...

This dress is McCall's 6711, View C.

The fabric is a rayon challis from the red tag section at Jo-Ann's.

I don't often go for florals, but the colors in this one grabbed me. I've also been wanting to try rayon challis. The bolt said "dry clean only" which I would normally avoid, but I tested a swatch and there weren't any changes.

I should start with the good, right? The fabric is lovely. Only moderately annoying to work with, and easy to press. The skirt is very swishy and fun, and the dress is well-made.

AB is shirtless, of course.

You can start to see the biggest problem in this behind photo. So. Much. Volume.

This is a straight size 6 (the smallest size) and I'm swimming in it.

There is gathering along the back yoke, resulting in poofiness.

If you look at the line drawing you can see that the yoke is forward (not directly along the shoulder) and there are more gathers there (in place of darts). Then the skirt is also gathered into an elastic waist. Which leads to the second problem. The waist on the dress does not match my natural waistline. Here it is with a belt on my natural waist:

And closer up you can see that the belt is lower than the casing:

Soooooo by this point, you're thinking what I'm thinking, that if I had made a muslin I'd be in much better shape. You're right. But if I had made a muslin I probably would have abandoned the whole project.

Does it get any better with a jacket? A little bit.

I'm also not crazy about the neckline. The V in the V-neck should be lower. It looks odd, proportionally. Here's the worst part: I wanted this dress to be an Easter dress, so I spent a LOT of time finishing the insides. LazyBeth would have serged everything, but I painstakingly sewed seam binding to finish the raw edges.

I even hand-sewed a blind stitched hem, which I NEVER do (I actually love the result, it basically eliminates the need for easing the skirt hem since there's extra "give" in the stitches).

Side note: when my husband saw me sitting on the couch, sewing a hem by hand, I think he almost blew a gasket. "Didn't you just buy a machine that sews hems?!"

And one last photo to show how HUGE this dress is when you relax the elastic (it's a drawstring). Instead of being a pretty, floaty dress it's a sad hospital gown sack.

A few more negatives about this pattern while I'm on a roll: the instructions were not that good. They were fine, but if followed exactly you'd end up with a bad product. For example, they never suggested understitching and never told you when to finish seam allowances. If you look at the line drawing, there are vertical seams in the center-front bodice and skirt. From what I could tell, there was absolutely no reason for the skirt pieces to be cut in 2 and then have a seam in front. The front bodice is easier to finish around the neckline if it's in two pieces, but it would have been better if it were finished with a facing instead of a stupid narrow hem (thus eliminating the need for the center-front seam).

Overall, I'm just disappointed. I tried to pass it off to my husband and even he was like "uh..." so I know it's not a winner. I'm sure I'll wear it every now and then to church just because I worked so hard on it. I hope to do a little accessories shopping tomorrow and maybe I can find a more suitable belt (meaning: wider) to cinch it all in and make it passable. And of course, looking over these photos it doesn't look that bad. What do you think? Passable spring dress or circus tent?