Saturday, June 22, 2013

McCalls 6460, Version 2.0

If you read my blog (and God love you if you do because my following is near zero lol), you will remember this blog post about my first version of McCalls 6460 for my oldest daughter.  Let me tell you, I LOVE this dress, but her version was a bit on the short side for me.  So I set about making the same dress for myself with some fabric in my stash.  (More specifics on the pattern itself, my issues with design and construction, and specific fitting alterations can be found at the blog link above.)

Here is McCalls 6460, Version 2.0 for me, dear old mom:

The main dress fabric was a beautiful blue/black mystery fiber fabric that I picked up in NYC during Pattern Review Weekend 2007.  I have fond memories of that first PR Weekend trip meeting many new sewing friends for the first time in "real life" as opposed to hanging out in cyberland.  There must have been 2-3 yards of the fabric in my stash so there is plenty more for a fancy skirt or jacket, and it's possible to use the reverse side as well.  It's just as pretty, but definitely a different look.

The top part of the dress (fabric from shoulders to upper bust) was made with um...a sheer from Walmart. lol.  Sometimes it's really hard picking out the right fabric from the Internet, and on a trip to Walmart to pick up household stuff, I checked out the sewing department and found this fabric which was suitable for my dress.  The feel and shimmery look was spot on for the dress, although it's not an easy fabric to work with (think chiffon regarding difficulty).  Flimsy, flimsy, and it frayed like mad so I had to work fast. 

Again, one of the issues I faced on the back was how to handle the zipper, which was by omitting it entirely (on the upper bodice piece) and using a hook and eye.  More details on that can be found about that in my first version from the blog post link in my first paragraph of this review.

On this version for me, I took out an additional inch in CB length in the upper bodice of the flat pattern.  My daughter is shaped a little differently than me in the upper back so I tweaked a copy of the pattern to fit me.  This involved making a horizontal slash in the upper bodice pattern on the back piece from CB to mid armhole.  I overlapped the CB by an inch tapering to 0 at the side seam.  This improved the fit tremendously on me. 

I handpicked the center zip and added hot-fix crystals in the front main dress bodice piece where the seamline meets the upper bodice piece.  My preference was for a little sparkly bling (shown in the photo below) which would shine in the low-light of the Advent dinner that I was attending last December. 

The upper bodice piece edging was trimmed with some satin mystery fabric in my stash.  Perhaps it was the leftover fabric from my daughter's dress?  I don't know--it's been well over 7 months since making this dress.

Anyway, I leave you with at least one crazy lady pic from my dreaded photo shoots lol.  I'm a real jeans and t-shirt gal when I'm at home futzing around doing various sewing and woodworking projects as well as cleaning so photo shoots are always a big drain on my time and so NOT me.  I don't know how models do it. 

Anyway, I hope to update you with my second woodworking project soon--a sewing/craft table cut, constructed, sanded, painted, and polyurethaned all by my myself!  I'm really proud of it and am excited to share it on my blog.  It's a great addition to my kitchen and allows me to have a little sewing corner in the hub of my house.  Also, I've started a post on a new addition, my lovely little Kenmore Model 33 (manufactured in 1967) that I inherited from my great aunt, all with great accessories and in mint condition.  I'm very excited to share that post with you too.  And if I'm lucky and get enough time, I'll actually write the article that is in my head to submit to either Sew News or Threads. 

As always, sew much to do, sew little time!  Happy Sewing!!!

2 comments:

Kris C. said...

Great-looking dress! And I'm really interested to see your new table soon...

Cissie said...

Beautiful dress! I need to check out this pattern. So glad that you have enabled your daughter to begin sewing.