McCalls 6886 - Fitting the Pattern Again

I've used this pattern several times to make my daughter a couple of dresses. Once I made a series of dresses for her to wear while working in a salon underneath her smock. This is my favorite version of the dress for her - made in a stretch woven - and made to match the grandbabies:

From the Fashion Show two years ago...

My daughter sews and sewed a lot when she was younger.  However, with a full time job, four kiddies, a partner and a household to maintain, my daughter has stopped sewing.  Her sewing machine is still set up but she uses it to fix a hem or take up a seam for the kids.  She's worn all of the dresses I previously made into the ground.  She's also lost ALL of the baby weight and then some, so she's been belting them and wearing them with a cardigan.

I agreed to sew a couple of new dresses from ponte & ITY knit from the collection...gotta love that fabric collection!  She picked ten different pieces of fabric. We had to adjust the pattern slightly because she is smaller in the top but wider in the hips (babies) and barely has time to eat. 

This is part one of the possibly two or three posts about her new dresses, because I don't think I can get all of the dresses, fitting and construction information into one post.

Fitting Changes ~
I had to make some alterations to the original pattern pieces for her post babies body:

Side view - that back fold lies flat when she puts her arms down

Back adding space for her hips

Front pinned at the sides

Close up of the front neckline

Here is the pile of fabric I will be using to make new dresses for her...

There are a number of fabrications here and we will be changing up the length, necklines and sleeve lengths. Also, there are two wovens in the pile that I will add a little ease to the pattern, use a zipper and add a lining. The good thing is that she's not expecting these all at once. So I'm sewing a couple at a time. This is what I was referring to in my last blog post.

I didn't sew for the grandbabies this year because they grow to fast! However, I am sewing for their mother and her sister in 2018. So look for finished versions of the dresses on the blog sooner rather than later!  

...as always more later!

McCalls 6886

My daughter is starting a new job. It's been over a year since she's worked because having Miss Sammy was a little challenging.  Now that Miss Sammy is seven months old, is happy and healthy, her mother has found a new salon to work at.  Which means my daughter needs a few new easy outfits that will work for now as well as carry her into fall.  Trying to sew with three children five and under is challenging to say the least...and since I had some time this weekend...we decided to stack and whack!

McCalls 6886

We started with McCalls 6886 because it's a simple knit dress with two pieces - one for the front and one for the back. She wanted the sleeveless version for its versatility. You know add a cardigan or shirt over it, or a turtleneck, or a button down with a belt and the dress is a hardworking garment. 

First I tissue fit the pattern pieces to her. A process that she was unaware of...how is that possible when she took sewing classes in high school? Anyway, I made a few changes to the pattern.

• For the back pattern piece I made a petite adjustment by folding out 2" inches.
• I used a size 14 for the shoulders, neckline and bustline area and a 16 in the waist and hips.

After cutting out, I used a small zigzag stitch on my sewing machine to baste the dress together so she could try it on.  After trying it on, it was a little loose. I made most of the changes to the back of the dress since she is smaller in the back than in the front. The alterations were made by having my daughter wear the dress inside out. Then I pinned out the excess fabric and serged it off using the pins as a guide.

Pinned the cut off piece to the pattern piece

Pattern Piece after it's been adjusted 

and new cutting line added

• Then the dress was serged together. 
• I used stay tape at the shoulder seams for stability.
• The neckline and armholes were turned under and stitched flat.
• Stitch witchery was used in the hemline.

Here she is wearing the black version made from a black ponte knit from Fabric Mart...

Subsequent versions of the dress took about 70 minutes (yes I timed it!) to make and only one yard of fabric...a perfect sew.  I made five of these in one day. Three (Two from the black ponte & a black 'n white herringbone ITY) she took home and the rest she'll pick up later this week. 

These two are also from a ponte from Fabric Mart

We  used both sides of the fabric for two new dresses

Now I'm scouring the fabric collection to see if I can come up with five more. Two weeks worth of dresses that can be dressed up, down and around will make getting dressed in the morning so easy...especially since she's got three little kids to wake up and get ready too!

I think I have another couple of weeks of unselfish sewing going on.  I bought a pair of leggings for Miss Lena this weekend and I want to compare them to McCalls 6457 (sorry it's out of print) to make up some leggings for her along with a few tops.

McCalls 6457

Then I'm finally going to get back to those Deer & Doe t-shirts for my co-workers! So there's going to be a lot of sewing going on during the next couple of weeks, just not much for me.

However, I am making up my fall/winter sewing list and I can tell you that there isn't much quick and easy on it. I have a lot of clothing now so I feel like I can take my time and really enjoy the sewing journey. Though I have to tell you it was awesome turning out five dresses in one day!!!

...as always more later!

Some Shorts for Danny...

My daughter and her family are going to Myrtle Beach for a few days of vacation later this week.  Danny is growing by leaps and bounds and needs some new shorts.  So while she and the grandkids were visiting today, she waited for the babies to go down for a nap and then hightailed it to the sewing cave.

This is a very bad picture of her and Lena sewing (after the nap) and a link to a better one on Instagram...cause you know I grabbed my phone, took a quick picture and posted it...never thought that since the phone is dying, I would be unable to get the darn pic off the phone! 

But back to those shorts...
My daughter grabbed my Kwik Sew's Sewing for Children booklet and looked for the pattern pieces for quick shorts. 

Before I knew it she had the tracing paper out and was copying the shorts. 

Then after a quick trip through the fabric collection, she had a denim, asked for some of my blue & white seersucker, a khaki linen and a gray linen for a total of five pairs of shorts...just enough for each day of their vacation.  

She did ask for some help adding a little width and length for the shorts...but she was moving fast trying to get at least one pair made before the little ones awoke from their nap. She did actually get a trial pair made up and tried on Danny before his sister woke up.  But there were a few adjustments that needed to be made...which we made together...and then the baby woke up.

So I finished them up for her and told her that I would make the other four pairs for her on Tuesday.  Want to see the shorts?

...and on Danny...

Finally, there was a little accident in the sewing cave this afternoon...a little hand picked up the rotary cutter from the wrong end and there was a boo boo. Thank goodness it was a little boo boo and he didn't manage to slice his finger off...please know he was banned from the sewing cave for the rest of the day...*sigh*

That's how I spent my Sunday afternoon.  How did you spend yours?


...as always more later!

Sewing with my daughter

It is too hot for man and beast on the East Coast right now.  So as wise women we stayed inside with the air conditioning blowing (though it went out for about an hour - can we say panic time!) and we sewed. 

My daughter wanted a simple tube maxi dress from a matte jersey border print (Fabric Mart) that she found in the fabric closet.

So after pinning the two sides together (because it was really sheer)...

To cutting out and sewing up...

Adding an elastic casing at the top...

And leaving it as is at the hemline...

She was finished and modeling in about 90 minutes.  Now does this look like the mother of two children...

back view

side view

She's got another one cut out in a black ruffly fabric with some nude tricot lining but a little one needs to be fed so I'll have pictures of that one as soon as she's finished.

...as always, more later!