Category: McCall's

Mom Got it Right Jacket - McCall's 6044 and McCall's 7447

11/7/2017

There's nothing better than when you sew and gift and you know they like it and it fits! But when it's for your teenage son it's even better. That's what we have here...Mom got it right on this one.

Our son is very easy to please but he also doesn't like to have a lot of "things". This is a wonderful trait (I wish I was more like this) but it does make giving him a gift a little bit tricky. Our family went to NYC for my husband's show a couple of weeks ago and I was so excited we were going to have everyone in the family together I decided to make something new for everyone in the crew.

My original plan was to make my son a flannel shirt so I cut out McCall's 6044 (my go to men's shirt pattern) but as I started constructing it, I realized he has a flannel hoodie in his closet that gets tons of wear and honestly could use a little break. So I made the body of the shirt using 6044 and I made the sleeves and hood from McCall's 7447 out of sweatshirting. The patterns were perfectly interchangeable (the sleeve popped right in and the hood was the exact length of the neckline). The only changes I made were lining the hood and adding twill tape to the neckline. This was a fast shirt. It's amazing how much faster a hood is from a collar and a knit sleeve is from a cuffed sleeve with a placket. Win, win here!

This post isn't picture heavy but I'm not complaining since he was okay with me at least taking a photo and posting it.

It was a dream trip with the family in NYC and the best part was seeing my husband's paintings up and on the wall in a beautiful space. Love!

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"I Had To Have That Fabric" Dress - McCall's 7381

6/1/2017

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One of my students brought this fabric into class and I immediately fell in love! Not with my student (although she's wonderful and has amazing taste) but with the fabric. I thought about sliding it into my work bag when she wasn't looking or offering to buy it from her but instead she told me she got it from Craftsy and I was giddy to discover it was still available! Yay! For those of you that haven't purchased fabric from Craftsy, all of the their fabrics either come in kits or in precut lengths. I purchased a 4 yard cut so I still have enough for a blouse or shell.

I made McCall's 7381 View A in a size 12 straight out of the envelope but ended up making quite a few changes after I wore it the first time. This is a polyester/spandex knit and although I usually sew with natural fibers, I love the way this dress looks, feels and washes (which is a good thing since I purchased another knit just like it.) The dress calls for a woven fabric and has quite a bit of ease built in, so sizing down to a 10 would've minimized the alterations I needed (and the amount of time it took to take it apart!).

Here are the changes I made:

Made the shoulders 1" narrower (more flattering for me).
Took the sides in 1" on both sides.
Stitched the elastic casing to the dress instead of having it feed through in the seam allowance. A stitched down casing looked less bulky.
Fused knit interfacing to the front neck so it would hold it's shape.

I'm happy I took the time to make the changes even though it took me almost as long to make the changes as it took to make the dress. Every time I need to make changes that require a lot of ripping out I spend days deciding if I should do it or not. I'm always happy when I take the time. "Unsewing" can be very discouraging but I highly recommend taking the chance sometimes.

I've been sewing faster than I've been blogging so I have more to share with you. Summer sewing is in full swing and I couldn't be happier.

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Green With Envy Dress - McCall's 7534

1/31/2017

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This is a brand new pattern from McCall's that I picked up at the, you guessed it, pattern sale. When I walk outta the store with a new stack of patterns in hand I feel like I just made money and that feels great! Especially when I pick up one I can use over and over like this one.

It's McCall's 7534 and although I was thinking ahead to spring when I made this it is truly a seasonless dress. A simple cardigan would make this great in the fall. The pattern in suitable for woven fabrics although I chose an ITY knit. It's not a fabric I choose very often even though there are plenty of them out there but it turned out to be a perfect choice for this dress. It's comfortable, flows nicely and washable.

The pattern is really simple and goes together quickly. The most time consuming part of putting it together was matching the graphic design before I cut it out. I added 4 inches to the length as I'm a knee length gal but other than that I made it just like the pattern.

I can certainly add this to my TNT pattern list. I'm excited to make it again. Wouldn't it be cute in one of those drapey linen/rayon blends in a pretty color?

Happy Sewing Friends!

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"Bottoms-Up" - 3 Skirts in 3 Weeks - Week 2

11/3/2016

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It’s week #2 of the “Bottoms-Up” skirt series. Last week I made a gray and black Ally Skirt but this week I have a wintery but colorful plaid skirt that’ll spice up my closet.

This beautiful wool boucle from Fabricland was one I couldn’t pass up. Clearly, it would make a stunning jacket but I would wear a skirt so much more. Chanel boucle jackets often have fringe trim so why not add some trim to my skirt as well?

I used McCall’s pattern 7096. It’s fairly new pattern and has front and back seams that would lend themselves to fringe. I made view A in a size 12 because I found it ran a little big and it still sits too low on the hip for me. I figure by the time Thanksgiving is over it’ll be just perfect.

I took my time cutting the plaid (for obvious reasons) and cut all pieces in a single layer to make sure I got the match right on. The best way I found to ensure everything lined up was by using my 24” quilting ruler across all of the pieces. And after all of that painstaking work lining it up, I used the Accufeed on my machine (essentially a built-in walking foot) to keep those plaids in place.

The fringe may look difficult and time consuming and it may make you think I’m clever, but it’s so simple you won’t think I’m such a genius. I sewed the front and back seams wrong sides together, pressed them open from the front, and did a long zig-zag stitch down the center seam to stabilize the seam for fringing. I simply pulled threads (while I was on the phone with my sweet mom) and it was done! It really is that easy.

This is an unlined skirt pattern and for sure a wool skirt needs to be lined. I wrote a “How to Line an Unlined Skirt” post to show how to make a pattern for a skirt lining. The lining was made without the front and back seams to eliminate bulk. I then attached it to the yoke. Check it out!

I have a purple skirt in the works for week #3. Doesn’t every girl need a purple skirt?

Happy Sewing!
Diane

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How To Line An Unlined Skirt - A Tutorial

10/20/2016

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Deep down inside, I must be a little granny because I love to line my skirts (I've been known to wear a half slip but don’t judge). Cotton, linen or otherwise, making the the inside as pretty as the outside is part of the fun of sewing. I recently made McCall’s 7096, a six gore unlined skirt, out of a wool boucle. Needless to say I wanted it lined. Since I have a skirt blog series coming up soon, A "How To" for skirt linings seems appropriate.

A lining should be as smooth as possible as the last thing we want to do is add bulk to the inside of a garment. Making a lining with as few seams as possible is the goal. I turned this six gore skirt into a simple one piece front and one piece back lining. Here’s how to do it:

Draw the stitching lines on the front and side front pieces along the front seamline.

Overlap the stitching lines and pin together. Go as far as you can while keeping the pattern pieces flat. They will spread into a “V” near the top.

Place tracing paper over the pinned pattern pieces and trace the outside and the “V” at the top of the pattern. This forms the new dart or pleat.

Make all the pattern markings on the new pattern and repeat for the back. Cut off the hem allowance from the original pattern (in my case I cut off 1 1/2” as stated on the pattern.)

There it is! Easy peasy, right?
Enjoy!

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Match the Pattern on a Pocket...and Stitch It.

8/29/2016

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I made the tiniest little boy shirt out of this fabric and since the shirt was so small, I wanted to minimize the busyness of the pattern by matching the pattern on the pocket. Actually, if I were to be completely truthful, I really wanted to match the pocket because I love matching patterns and probably would never have another chance to line up "googly eyes". Learning to match a pocket is quick and this method works for prints, stripes as well as plaids.

Here's how to do it:

1. Transfer pocket placement dots to front of shirt.

2. Place pocket pattern on the shirt so dots match.

3. Trace design of fabric onto tissue ( I marked the "googly eyes" of the crab using a water soluble marker just in case it bled through the tissue and onto the fabric. This may or may not have happened in the past. Hmmm.)