McCalls Dresses M8281

My second attempt and this dress I made in a nice cotton viscose - assuming that, unlike the corduroy in my first make - it would lend itself to a sundress more effectively and have a bit more shape. Like another reviewer has noted - the waistline is meant to be curved (in the picture). I had thought with the initial cord, the stiffness of the fabric swallowed the curve and that I had done a dodgy job of gathering as the cord was difficult to pucker evenly. I think the design has been so badly drafted that a lot of things got lost on the way, along with a waistline.  This time around I also chose the sleeve (option A) as a way to circumvent the mismatched arm hole facing debacle from last time (option c). The picture makes it appear to have a turned up cuff but there is nothing in the instructions that outlines this so I winged it to good effect. Also the design has a dropped shoulder but the sleeve pieces are slightly curved like a set in sleeve - really strange - and after sewing and wearing a few times still looks odd. The front placket is also overly fiddly at the V and bulky/puckered no mattered how thin the material or carefully you sew. I can't really understand the need for it with a summer dress in lightweight material. I went down a size after my initial attempt was very roomy and even the medium size was shapeless and baggy. I was hoping after a few wears it would grow on me but despite positive comments I've received when I've worn it (which I think has more to do with the colourful material), I won't be sewing this again. Massive thumbs down.

The PDF front armhole facing is not only (significantly) wider than the back piece it joins to, but the length is off as well.  I made a large and had to add approximately 2 inches to the length of the facing piece to get it to fit into the armscye and match at the shoulder seam. This was after I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what I had done wrong in the printing, piecing together and cutting of the PDF pattern.  Note that McCall’s doesn’t give you a test square to verify that you’ve used the correct printer settings.  As far as style goes, if, like me, what drew you to the pattern was curved waist in the line drawings, take a closer look at the photo of the actual finished garment.  The curve is negligible to non-existent, just like my dress turned out.  Very glad I did a toile before using the expensive fabric I had chosen for the project.  I will also say that if I were to try to make this again (and I probably won’t) I would size down.  My finished dress was a boxy, shapeless tent!

I've been sewing for over 20 years and feel like I am a competent seamstress. I've always found McCalls and Simplicity patterns pretty good and never had an issue. Until now.  I sewed the Option C in a printed corduroy as I had a good amount of the fabric and didn't want to have to do a toile and wasn't too attached to it if it didn't work out. The instructions are straight forward and understandable with diagrams. The front placket technique was a bit weird but I put that down to working with cord making it a bit more bulky than the suggested fabrics. I omitted the pockets as I felt it would be too bulky in the cord but the pocket technique outlined is simple and one I have successfully done in the past. The biggest takeaway from this pattern is there is a MASSIVE glitch in the armhole facings in that they are different widths and don't really match up with the bodice notches at all -  so I trimmed them down and winged it. I got really confused and thought I had stuffed things up with cutting out the pattern pieces and thought I had maybe cut one piece out back to front but the only other review of this pattern I found online also had this issue so it maybe was a problem when it was printed. Apart from that it is a really straightforward project. I did the large but will make the medium next time as it is roomy and shapeless. I am also thinking about converting the gathered skirt section into inverted box pleats as it was a bit billowy at the front but this also could be due to the corduroy and my dodgy gathering. I switched machines at this point in the make because my first one really needs a service as the tension and alignment is way out and the sewing had been a dogs breakfast of broken thread and wiggly lines.