Merchant & Mills Francine Top and Dress

I usually like Merchant and Mills patterns as well drafted.  Although an experienced sewer I did find this fiddly mainly as I never insert sleeves on the flat always in the round.  This is where I went wrong as when it came to the armhole top stitching, it was a complete pain to get dress under the needle!  Managed in the end but was sweating buckets by the time I had finished!

Cut out according to the finished size but found it too tight across the upper chest area plus sleeves are tight too and I do not have fat arms.  To be able to wear it I would have to put a gusset in armhole seams but can't do anything about the tightness across chest.   I wish I had read reviews about this before cutting out as have found some others had the same problem.

A great looking dress but not for me.

This was the third Merchant and Mills pattern I made up, and it was tricker than the pattern grading suggested, largely because of the construction of the collar. I misread the instruction (basically didn't read them properly....) and sewed the front facing on first rather than just staystitching and cutting the front opening.
The collar construction is interesting and not difficult but you really have to read every step properly. I didn't interface the collar as my fabric is heavy (the instructions don't include it but I would probably interface any fabric that isn't very stiff already).
I was surprised that the collar wasn't sewn together, I am pretty sure the seam allowances will move and rumple after washing, so I sewed through the join between collar and body, which is invisible and holds the collar together.
The instructions do need careful reading, and are not always entirely clear. The side splits were not entirely clear to follow.

I have read several reviews on M&M patterns being large but have found all true to size. This is quite a slim fit design, so if you need any adjustments for eg a full bust, high round back, then make them to ensure the top hangs well at the front. Despite matching the body measurements perfectly and not having a full bust, I find the top "tents" a bit at the front. I will try a high round back adjustment next time or even add some bust darts to prevent the tent effect. I'm 5'8" and could probably do with another inch of length so will add that next time. As suggested by another reviewer, I will also lower the button on the front opening slightly.

Overall, it looks much nicer in real life then any photo suggests, and I will definitely make more.

This was the third Merchant and Mills pattern I made up, and it was tricker than the pattern grading suggested, largely because of the construction of the collar. I misread the instruction (basically didn't read them properly....) and sewed the front facing on first rather than just staystitching and cutting the front opening.
The collar construction is interesting and not difficult but you really have to read every step properly. I didn't interface the collar as my fabric is heavy (the instructions don't include it but I would probably interface any fabric that isn't very stiff already).
I was surprised that the collar wasn't sewn together, I am pretty sure the seam allowances will move and rumple after washing, so I sewed through the join between collar and body, which is invisible and holds the collar together.
The instructions do need careful reading, and are not always entirely clear. The side splits were not entirely clear to follow.

I have read several reviews on M&M patterns being large but have found all true to size. This is quite a slim fit design, so if you need any adjustments for eg a full bust, high round back, then make them to ensure the top hangs well at the front. Despite matching the body measurements perfectly and not having a full bust, I find the top "tents" a bit at the front. I will try a high round back adjustment next time or even add some bust darts to prevent the tent effect. I'm 5'8" and could probably do with another inch of length so will add that next time. As suggested by another reviewer, I will also lower the button on the front opening slightly.

Overall, it looks much nicer in real life then any photo suggests, and I will definitely make more.

This was the third Merchant and Mills pattern I made up, and it was tricker than the pattern grading suggested, largely because of the construction of the collar. I misread the instruction (basically didn't read them properly....) and sewed the front facing on first rather than just staystitching and cutting the front opening.
The collar construction is interesting and not difficult but you really have to read every step properly. I didn't interface the collar as my fabric is heavy (the instructions don't include it but I would probably interface any fabric that isn't very stiff already).
I was surprised that the collar wasn't sewn together, I am pretty sure the seam allowances will move and rumple after washing, so I sewed through the join between collar and body, which is invisible and holds the collar together.
The instructions do need careful reading, and are not always entirely clear. The side splits were not entirely clear to follow.

I have read several reviews on M&M patterns being large but have found all true to size. This is quite a slim fit design, so if you need any adjustments for eg a full bust, high round back, then make them to ensure the top hangs well at the front. Despite matching the body measurements perfectly and not having a full bust, I find the top "tents" a bit at the front. I will try a high round back adjustment next time or even add some bust darts to prevent the tent effect. I'm 5'8" and could probably do with another inch of length so will add that next time. As suggested by another reviewer, I will also lower the button on the front opening slightly.

Overall, it looks much nicer in real life then any photo suggests, and I will definitely make more.

Great design and I'm happy with out the final outcome, but I found some of the pattern drafting and instructions to be a wee bit on the sloppy side, especially for a Merchant & Mills product, hence 4 out of 5 stars.

Made this in a slightly stretchy, light to mid weight denim. This was my first time trying this pattern so I went for a more subtle top stitch thread color in teal - should have gone bolder. Because of the stretch in the material, I sized down to 8 and that was pushing it. Suspect this is pretty true to size in a non stretch fabric.

I had a couple of small issues with the pattern/instructions: 1) No interfacing is suggested for the neck facing and collar even though light fabrics like chambray are recommended for this pattern. I added some lightweight fusible interfacing and I'm glad I did. For heavier fabrics like traditional denim, this is probably not necessary. 2) The pattern is missing some useful notches (but chock full of notches throughout), such as joining the facing and collar, joining the facing to the neckline, and joining the shoulder seams, the last of which is particularly troublesome because there appears to be about 3/4" difference between the length of the front and back shoulder seams without any mention in the instructions about easing one to the other - a notch would have been helpful here as well.  As a result of these admittedly picky issues, I believe a Confident Beginner (as this pattern is rated by M&M) would be challenged. Note - I'm being picky here because I usually find M&M patterns to be outstanding.

I made a couple of modifications including lowering the side split (usually find these to be too high and I have an average length torso) and added an inch in length as well with a hem facing. I also did my usual narrow shoulder adjustment which actually served to mostly address the shoulder seam issue cited above (happy accident).

I would like to make the dress version at some point, maybe in dark green denim. On that version, I'll move the button loop down about 3/8" - looks a tad high to me now. I adore the design lines and 70s vibe of this pattern. This will get a lot of wear.