Friday, March 20, 2009

The Season of the Dress Continues...

... with McCalls 5615:
Children's and Girls' top, dresses, shorts and pants: Pullover A-line top or above mid-knee dress has faced upper front section, shoulder straps and back elastic casings.... I made View B, the dress without pockets.


I made a size 8 which is pretty consistent with children's RTW, maybe just a smidge on the small side. My only complaint is that the dress is too short for my taste. We will definately add a couple of inches to the next version. For this one, we will be making the coordinating capris from the same pattern out of the pink dot print fabric. (You might recognize the fabric from the Spring Spirit quilt top.)
McCalls has a lot of really cute girls' patterns available, but I sometimes find the construction to be a bit, well... fussy. Not so with this one. I was worried that the thin straps might be aggravating, but they were a piece of cake.
What drew me to this pattern was the cute gathered bodice and cumberbund type waist detail. The front bodice piece is gathered at the top and bottom edges and then sewn to a stay. The waist piece is gathered at the sides and sewn to a stay also. Both are handled as one piece from this point on. There is a separate piece used as a bodice lining, with the straps sandwiched in between. The back is all one piece with a casing formed at the top by folding the top edge down and then a strip of bias tape applied to the inside to form the lower casing. Basically you put the front of the dress together and then the back, attach at the side seams, and then sew the front bodice lining down along the sides and lower edges by hand. This is a quick and easy pattern.
I used quilting cottons from stash. The main fabric is a gingham printed on the bias (cut on grain) with hearts and flowers scattered across it. Very cute and summery. I think this would even be cute for school with a plain t-shirt underneath. The thin straps and light, airy fabric will make it ideal for the heat of mid-summer.
I'm off to cut the capri pants out. I might even have to whip out another one of these dresses!
Can you tell I'm procrastinating on the trench coat?

4 comments:

angie.a said...

That is SO cute. I never picked this one up, but we've got a similar one in a "big girls" pattern. Looks like summer!!

Myra said...

To lengthen it, you could just construct a ruffle, coordinating, of course.

Bunny said...

What a doll and great little dress!

Anonymous said...

She looks adorable in this new dress! I love the soft pink fabric choice and coordinating sash. Very cute. I may have to pick this one up!