Well here we go the first dress! As the title says it’s from the pattern above a 1962 McCalls pattern. When I’m making garments from patterns I try to make them look just like the picture and if anyone has ever made a garment from a store bought pattern you know this can be a challenge. From the excessive ease in them to not looking much like the picture at all. This pattern was no exception! Although with the belt the dress does look like the picture. I think it still has more ease than it should but I liked it in this instance.
Now don’t think I did no adjustments, I did! But before I get to that, did you notice the “Easy Mark” label on the front of the envelope? This was a short lived “experiment” MacCalls tried. It is a multi-blue transfer lines that could be ironed onto the wrong side of your pattern pieces so no more hand-tacks to sew! Sounds like a good idea, no? Well could you have imagined what would have happened to my lovely lawn linen! Needless to say because of the age of the pattern it didn’t work.
So onto the adjustments:
- Measured my bust measurement and made sure the pattern pieces only had 2″ in total ease around the bust.
- The waist had a ton of ease as well, but because todays bodies are not quite the same as back then, I decided not to change this portion of the pattern.
- In order to create a flat front I needed to take off about 3/8″ across bodice from between the gather.
- Rather then making the sleeves narrower (like the picture) I opted to cutting the sleeves on the bias, which I’m so happy I did! It does make them look narrower but also keeps the mobility.
- Lastly I took in the skirt side seams. The pattern had a flare and that picture does not look like it has a flare! All I took out was the flare (11″ in total!) but because of the skirt pleats, it gives it an even more narrow feel.
Well there we go my very first post! I hope you enjoyed it. If you stumble across this post and have some ideas, helpful hints or suggestions please feel free to post!
Just before I go, coming soon, I will be creating a page you can click to see all the patterns I own and will be drawing from in future projects.
Thanks for your time,
Angela
eltelier 