Pattern Review - McCalls 5974

McCall's 5974 ~ Palmer/Pletsch The Perfect Knit Dress

Pattern Description: Ladies knit dresses with scoop neck or mock crossover with self-ties. Bodice has front pleats, self-faced midriff, pleated skirt front, back zipper, and three lengths of sleeves. I made view "C" - the mock wrapover with 3/4 sleeves.

Pattern Sizing: 8-24W - I made size 8 based on my chest m'ment which is also my typical size for tops. Since the dress is fuller through the hips, I didn't alter the waist and hips for my m'ments.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes!

Were the instructions easy to follow? Yes, they were such great instructions. Having taking a Palmer/Pletsch fitting class from Marta in Fall 2008 and being a fan of the FFRP books by Pati & Marta, it was great to see the fitting addressed in the pattern sheets. The first sheet (both front and back) discussing tissue fitting, how to get the tissue ready for fitting, trying on the tissue, and common alterations you might have to make for this particular pattern. It is a mini FFRP course right in the pattern envelope! My only disappointment is they show how to make a FBA (full bust adjustment), but no SBA (small bust adjustment - they don't really discuss this to any length in the book either so I should be surprised).

Throughout the instructions there are helpful tips to guide the seamstress along so that the outcome is as professional as possible. The only thing I find utterly rediculous is that they don't have you put the sleeve in flat. This pattern is for knits only and they have you set in the sleeve - so dumb! One nice "tip" they offer is suggesting you try on the dress during the sewing process to see if you really need a zipper for your body shape. This is such great advice because putting a zipper in a knit dress is down right nuts (well unless you need it to be able to put it on).

One last interesting tidbit is that they give you 1" seam allowances in the sides to give you a little extra wiggle room when you're fitting.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? There are lots of positive reviews about this dress so I decided to give it a whirl. I really like the look of wrap dresses on my figure so I thought this might be a good on to have in my wardrobe. Beware, if you're making the mock wrap dress, it requires 2 5/8 yds - 3 5/8 yds depending on your pattern size ~ a hefty chunk of fabric.

Fabric Used: I used some poly/lycra knit I purchased at Joann's that was in my stash. I had almost 2.5 yds and was able to eek out the dress with no fabric to spare.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: I altered the pattern tissue by giving myself a 1/2" broad back adjustment and a slight swayback tuck. I also shortened the dress by 1". I probably didn't need to shorten it, but when I pinned it up that is where I liked it.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? I might sew the dress again. It was easy to sew (took me about half a day or so from start to finish). I decided Saturday morning I should have a new Easter dress for church and then had it done by 3pm. This included doing a little tissue fitting as well to make sure the bust fit. Unfortunately it ended up being too big so next time I will make a SBA on my tissue. I should have known better, but the tissue fit well (duh the tissue is not knit! LOL). Thankfully it doens't gape open, it's just a little bit fuller in the bust area (I'm a 32B for reference).

Yes, I'd receommend the dress.

Conclusion: Cute knit dress with great pattern instructions.

Pants for me

I finally got my pants finished today - talk about s-l-o-w progress, but nonetheless, they are finished and I even wore them to my daughter's Christmas concert this afternoon. I'm pleased with how they turned out (tho they could be a tad longer, but I used every square inch of fabric so this is the best I could do). The pattern required some tweaking to get them to fit my tush, but pants are not the easiest thing for me to fit so I wasn't at all surprised. I even made two muslins (something that is rare for me)! The final pants were still a little off in the waist and I think that is due to the stretch of the fabric (it's a stretch woven with some lycra in it). So I ended up pinching out some in the back waist to get a better fit which resulted in scooping out a little more of the crotch so I didn't have a wedgie. All in all, I'm very pleased with how they turned out and I feel like the style flatters my figure. I really do need to get myself a TNT pants pattern that I can have as my master pattern and then change up the design elements to create different pant styles. If you have a swayback, you know what a pain pants fitting really is. Anyway, here is my review on PR if you'd like to know more.

Of course I just had to make my daughter a new dress for her Christmas program at school. I bought some panne velvet at Joann's a few weeks ago to make myself a dress for hubby's work Christmas party, but decided that fabric might not be the most flattering for me so I didn't make the dress. DD fell in love with the fabric and kept wrapping herself in it and begging for me to make her something so I decided to make her an Olivia hoodie dress (it's a European pattern brand called Farbenmix). It's such an easy and cute dress and she has several more in her closet that she loves so I knew it would be a hit. Well it was definitely a hit and she hardly wants to take it off!

Last, but definitely not least (and the reason why I didn't finish my pants sooner) was because I was making the kids their Christmas pj's. I started a tradition a few years ago of making the kids pj's for Christmas that they get to open on Christmas Eve right before bed. The above picture is obviously DD's pair (the top is a basic t-shirt from Ottobre and the pants are McCall's 4708 ~ I made these for her last year too and she really liked them. For the boys I used Simplicity 8493 for the pants (also made of flannel - a race car print) and the shirt pattern from my favorite KS knit pj patterns. Sorry no picture of the boys pj's - I must be sneaky so they don't see.

Next up is.....I haven't a clue! I seriously have this huge long list of things I want to do, but I need to be realistic. We leave for our cruise in a month so I should be thinking ahead to that. Problem is I haven't a clue what the weather will be. We're going from LA to northern Mexico and according to the average temperatures it will only be mid 60's (brrr!). So I guess it will be more like a summer Alaskan cruise! LOL I honestly haven't a clue what to take. I doubt I'll be lounging poolside in my bikini. When we're a week out I can see the forecast better, but until then I guess I'll have to think warmer things, tho mid 60's may feel like a heatwave to me in a month! ;-)

Tomorrow I think the kids and I are making a Gingerbread Train so no sewing will probably be happening. Hopefully we can get the train made with minimal mess - go ahead and laugh, impossible with four kids!

Ta-Da!

I finished my McCall's 5471 blouse yesterday. Overall I've very pleased with how it came out. I had a little trouble with the collar and stand, but it was actually my first time making a collar & stand (all the others have had a collar only) so really I can't expect perfection (tho I always want it!). The directions for the blouse were very well written, so no problems there, just my novice-ness getting in the way and possibly the fact I was trying to work on it while a bored preschooler was being a twit! ;-) I also liked that the pattern had separate cup sizes - A/B, C, & D (it's McCall's Make For You line). It does confuse me a bit that there aren't separate ones for both A & B since there is a big difference between an A & B cup (ask me how I know!). So I had to alter the bust area a bit to accommodate me, but it really went together very smoothly. I posted a review on Pattern Review.

Also, I made two aprons last Friday for my mom & sister's upcoming birthdays. I entered them in the Pattern Review Holiday/Gift sewing contest. A new apron is always a welcome gift and since my mom and sister haven't received one in a long time, I figured it would be much appreciated. I used my TNT apron pattern that is my late grandma's. I posted a review last year on PR, so if you'd like to read it, here it is ~ apron review.

I'm not sure what is next up. I have a few things I'm toying with and Jack is in desperate need of pants again. Suddenly he only has two pairs in his closet, ugg! So the good mommy would sewing him at least one pair of pants first, right????

A Blouse & Christmas Sewing Ideas

I had a fairly productive weekend. We went no where (which was fine by me, I'm happy staying home), so I worked on something for *me*! I have wanted/needed a white blouse or two in my wardrobe for ages (tho I might regret white since I have four messmakers that live with me - five if you count daddy). I recently picked up McCalls 5471 because it's a great blouse (pieces for A/B, C, & D cup sizes) and lots of great variations for the sleeves. I made view B with the puffed sleeves and it's turning out lovely. I have to finish the collar and then add the buttons so I'm on the downhill slide. Maybe it will get finished today after I get my housework done.


The countdown is on for Christmas and it's time to start sewing for your friends & loved ones. For the month of November, Sew Mama Sew will post a new gift sewing idea each day (30 in all ~ 5 have already been posted). So pop on over and check it out, there are some great ideas and tutorials available!

Also, I'd like to bring your attention to a podcast I recently found and absolutely love. It's called Sew Forth Now. A fellow PR member (LoriV) hosts this podcast and each show has a wealth of information for sewing fanatics like myself. You can visit the Sew Forth Now blog to read the show notes for each episode as well as download prior episodes and sign up to have the upcoming shows downloaded when they are available - all for free of course! Her most recent show was also on Christmas sewing so there are lots of good ideas there too that you'll want to check out too.