Birthday dress – McCalls 7929

Pattern: McCall’s 7929 – David Tutera – Fitted lined dresses have deep plunge V front with or without inset, gathered forward shoulder, and invisible back zipper, with length, sleeve and fabric variations. A, D: Semi-fitted skirt. B, D: Full trumpet skirt with front slit and train. Wrong side of fabric will show. A, C: Contrast overlay.

Sizing: US AX5(4-6-8-10-12), D5(12-14-16-18-20) – for my dress I made size 12 (this is one size down – my body measurements put me in size 14)

Fabric: 5m of printed satin fabric and 5 m of black premium antistatic taffeta dress lining

Notions: One 22″ (56 cm) Invisible Zipper (black), Hook & Eye (I did not use one in my dress though).

Modifications: I made views A (wearable toile) and view C (final dress) with the modesty panel. First I shortened bodice above bust 1 cm and did 1.5 cm swayback adjustment. Then following the muslin test, I shortened the bodice further (front and back) at the waist by 1.5 cm. After making the wearable toile I decided that the modesty panel in the V neckline needs to go 1.5 cm lower in the final dress. I modified the skirt by taking about 39 cm from the back panels, which I blended to the front to take only 4 out. The longer back would make it impracticable.

Fit: with the adjustments made it’s perfect. (see the previous point)

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?: yes

Watch out for: construction is a little complicated, but the instructions are quite good to guide you through it.

Make Again?: yes, I’ll be making the shorter version again as a cocktail dress and if I ever get married again I’ll use this pattern for my wedding dress.