McCall's 6787- The Last Finished Project of 2013

This is the last thing I finished before the new year.  I think I put the last stitch in on December 31st.  The problem is that it has been excruciatingly cold and wet here lately and today is the first chance we've had to get outside and take pictures.  It's nice and warm today, but very windy...

Anyway, this is McCall's 6787, a girl's pullover knit dress with a gathered neckline and elastic waist:

 I made the size 14, the biggest size in the envelope for my 12 year old.  I added 1/2" of length to the bodice, and 3 inches of length to the skirt.  I also added an additional 3/8" to the waist seam allowances so I'd have a wider casing inside to use wider elastic.  The pattern calls for 1/4" elastic, but I thought 1/2" would work better.

The dress pretty much looks just like the drawing.  I used a colorful "paint splotch" knit print that I found at Hancock Fabrics.  The Princess picked it out and she was thrilled to find that it matches her favorite shoes- the emerald green flats she's wearing in the photos.

The dress was easy to make up.  I do have a couple of quibbles with the pattern however.  First, McCalls did not see fit to provide a separate pattern piece for the overskirt.  I'm not sure how I was supposed to lay the whole dress out at once with both skirt pieces being on the same piece of tissue.  I suppose I could cut the underskirt first and then lay out the over skirt and cut, but then what if I wanted to make the pattern again?  My under skirt piece would be gone.  So I had to trace the overskirt so I'd have both pieces.  Now I trace Burda patterns all the time, but when I buy a McCall's pattern I expect all the pieces to be there and I should not have to trace anything.  Hmph.

My second quibble was with the instructions for finishing the armholes.  Why yes, McCall's, I'd love to narrow hem a tiny little, extremely curved armhole by turning the seam allowance under and then turning again!  I'm sure that would look nice and smooth and neat when it was done... uh, probably not.  So I cut binding strips from the fabric and used those to finish the armholes.  It was much easier and looks great from the outside of the dress.

Other than those two things, it's a great pattern.  The pieces go together perfectly and it's pretty easy to sew.

When I make it again, and I will because I want to make the peplum version above, I will narrow the bodice a bit.  It seems a little bit wide on the Princess.  But then, that has been my experience with McCall's kids patterns- they are drafted short and wide.

The Princess was adamant about wanting the sleeveless version of this dress and I went ahead and made it because it will be easy to put a shirt and tights under it during cold weather.  I expect her to get plenty of wear out of it during the spring and summer, too.  We are planning a shopping trip this week to find some tights/leggings and a cardigan to go with it.  I did not make the self fabric belt, because the princess has an emerald green belt that will go perfectly with the dress and match the shoes.

I've already begun the next Princess Project- the Lisette Traveler shirt dress.  I hope to finish it up this week.  It will also go with the emerald green flats.

There is more in the pipeline, too.  The Christmas holidays gave me a chance to recharge my batteries and my creative juices and I have lots of motivation to sew.  Not as much time, now that I've gone back to work, but the mojo is there.

So how is your new year shaping up?  Are you feeling motivated?