Wrap dress, McCall’s 7801
I aimed to make a wrap dress which didn’t gape or require extra pinning and fastening. I chose McCall’s 7801. It has a nice variety of possible finishes to the top and skirt with some requiring a quantity of extra fabric. I don’t like frills and flounces so my version was plain, a combination of views B and C.
As well as some reviews, there are two on line “sewalongs”. What took me several days is shoe-horned into fifteen minutes. The first one I watched was hurried with no evidence of any fitting, adjustment or finishing. The second maker was more thoughtful and modelled the dress but she had problems with the neck and making up the bodice. She had resorted to keeping it closed with safety pins and thought there were too many darts, twelve in all. I think the darts are important for the fitting. This video highlighted a number of issues to avoid!
To ensure fit, I made a toile of the bodice. There are choices of A/B, C and D cups. The bodice is self lined, hence the twelve darts. Whilst the cup size I chose was good, the toile revealed the waist to be so slender that the wrap parts did not extend nearly enough. The pattern gives finished garment measurements for bust and hips but not the waist. I reckon that the size 14 came in at 30 inches. I needed a lot more so went back to the front bodice pattern and drafted an extra piece into it and then into the toile without changing the V part of the neckline.
That worked although I had to fit the front of the skirt by trial and error, trimming the bodice in stages, about two inches in all, to get the waist at the right level. I must have lost some gathering from the front skirt but I think this improved its appearance on me. Tacking (basting) was my friend.
The seam allowance is 5/8ths inch so I was able to French seam throughout, including the sleeve heads. It was easy to work with the Rose and Hubble cotton poplin.
Both sewalongs mentioned issues with the gathering of the sleeves. I didn’t think the markings matched. Like these two sewers I extended the gathered area of the sleeve.
The dress is closed by two internal ribbons and a snap fastener. I didn’t like the snap. The pattern has a tie belt which comes in two parts. It is shown on the pattern images as being much longer than it actually is. I separated the two parts and attached them to the dress as external closures. I felt that made a better finish and was surely what must have been intended for the two lengths at some stage. If I were to make the dress again, I would integrate them before attaching the skirt.
I think that the dress fits well although it stands proud at the back of the neck. I didn’t spot that on the toile and another time I would make a slight shoulder adjustment. I like the sleeves but they do finish exactly at the point where my elbows will crease them.
Despite the V neck, I can see this as a winter dress with all the above adjustments, perhaps with the collar and a long sleeve hack.