Hi there, friends!
I guess I’m officially back on the sewing blogger wagon sharing my makes again. I have a back-up of them, so I guess I should get a move on! I also have a lot of things I want to sew, so there’s that as well which can be a bit conflicting.
Source: McCall Pattern Company
As soon as I saw this pattern, I had to have it. And as such things go, I didn’t get around to actually sewing it for a while. I knew I wanted to make it in rayon and when I first saw the Cotton+Steel Rifle Paper Co rayon in Les Fleurs, I knew I wanted to pair the two. The print has a bit of 40’s inspiration, along with a 60’s vibe. It doesn’t matter to me whether it’s historically accurate or not, because I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT. Unfortunately for me, I didn’t snap up this fabric when it came out and then of course it was sold out at all of the stores that I usually by fabric from as well as other sites that also carried it. After some googling, I found it at a new-to-me site, Missouri Star Quilt Co, where it was actually cheaper than other sites, plus I got some cool freebies in my package with it.
This dress would have been a pretty quick make, but I spent a lot of extra time with hand sewing and finishing the seams with rayon seam binding. Yeah, that probably made this project about twice as long to complete, but it’s worth it.
Yeah, see? That looks nice inside and out!
This pattern has options for a contrasting fabric on the neckline and at the cuffs. I actually bought fabric for the contrast, but I just love this Les Fleurs fabric SO MUCH that I just went crazy and used it for all of the pieces. Yeah, I know the design details get lost in this busy fabric, but I don’t care. I can see them. Next time I will let them be noticeable, but for this dress, they’re letting the floral design take center stage.
I had a difficult time deciding what color buckle and buttons to use in this dress. I had a few options and shared them on my IG and I opted to go with black. Both the slide buckle and buttons are vintage. The buckle I found at an antique store and the buttons were from my grandma’s button stash. I used Loran’s little trick of securing the end of the belt with velcro. I gotta tell ya, friends, that this easily makes me a slide buckle convert. I usually prefer pronged buckles as they stay in place, but this is a great fix.
Honestly, I don’t recall if I did a swayback adjustment to the back bodice or not. I usually do, but as this dress has a blouson feel to the back, I’d say that I didn’t. I did do a full bicep adjustment to those sleeves and graded the pattern up, but I don’t believe that I did any other alterations.
This pattern has bound buttonholes. I hadn’t made any bound buttonholes for a while prior to this dress. It was a good reminder making these and I added them to the wool coat that I’ll share next. Do you really need to add bound buttonholes to this pattern? No. But if you spent the time to make this dress extra nice on the inside, they’re a great touch to showcase on the outside.
I’m also into pleats lately and I like them on this skirt. They’re partially sewn down and work so well with the drape of this fabric. I wasn’t sure whether I would iron the pleats all the way down, but I decided against it and love how the fabric falls. My Lord, this fabric is wonderful. There’s a reason why everyone in the sewing world seems to be making things with it.
I do seem to have a little bit of gape on that neckline. I’m not sure if my fabric stretched or it’s just me. I think it’s just me. I should probably take a little bit of a wedge out at the shoulders next time. I’m sure there’s a name for that adjustment, but I’m not certain what it is….. I suppose I should refer to my Fit for Real People book again. Or maybe it’s just because I don’t have shoulder pads in?
Yep, I love this dress. So much so that I took new photos for my blog sidebar and “About Me” in it. It might just look like a big florally busy red dress and it obstructs the design details, but think about it — you have to get close to see them and that just makes it more special IMO. Next time I will definitely play on the opportunity for contrasting colors/prints. I’m on the lookout for another rayon that I adore. The next version will definitely be long-sleeved. I’ve been on a mission to add more cold weather appropriate attire to my wardrobe and this pattern is definitely high on the list for that!
Happy Sewing,
- Dress: McCall’s 7433 in Cotton+Steel Rifle Paper Co rayon, made by me
- Shoes: Swedish Hasbeens
- Earrings: BaubleBar
So beautiful Tanya! I think your use of the same fabric all over (instead of adding contrasting fabric) is true to the way women wore this popular design of a dress in the 1940’s. A great fabric is enough! I’m so glad you showed the details of your perfect inside finishes. I don’t think this level of craftsmanship is shown that often on sewing blogs. Once a sewer has mastered the basics, it is this attention to detail that takes your garment to a couture level. That is so satisfying. Learning to sew is like having a super power! Thank you Tanya for your beautiful creations.
Thank you, Denise! I know I love to see the insides of what other people have made as I find it just as inspiring as the exterior. Beautifully finished garments also last longer, plus, it’s refreshing to see it when you put your dress on. 🙂
Gorgeous! I love the dress on you first off – absolutely stunning fabric (perfect for a dress!) and those Hong Kong seams – WOW. I always mean to finish garments with those seams but I haven’t yet. They are so gorgeous – a client arrived the other day wearing a coat with Hong Kong seams inside which made it so classy and beautiful I’m sure she paid a fortune for it (she didn’t make this herself) but the look of those seams just stopped me in my tracks 🙂
Thank you, Kathleen! They are such a beautiful way to finish seams and well worth the time!
Absolutely stunning! My new fav! 🙂
Thank you, Carlee!!! 🙂
Absolutely gorgeous! The styling on the pattern envelope really doesn’t do this dress justice, but I bet there’s going to be a sudden rush of people buying this pattern now you’ve shown how beautiful it can be.
Thanks, Kate! I do like the dresses on the front of the envelope, but yeah, they’re a little bit bland. 🙂
I love this dress so much! I’m not even a red sort of person, but that fabric is amazing. Such a beautiful floral. It looks great in this shape, and with the hasbeens!
Thanks, Kelly! It also comes in two blue colors if you ever feel the need to pick some up. 🙂 I was never really into red very much, even though I knew it looked good on me. I think I’ve become a convert!
Love it!!
Thank you, Sara!
My goodness, I think the is the most stunning dress you have ever posted. I love it so much. Congrats Tanya. Well worth it.
Thank you so much, Jessica!! It was well worth the time to sew it, that’s for sure. 🙂
this dress is stunning, it would have been great with contrasting details but I totally understand you wanting to let this fabric shine on its own!
Thanks! Yeah, next time I will showcase the details with some contrasting elements. 🙂
What a fun dress. Good work on the belt. I totally use velcro too for belts–I started doing it because my sons’ waists have always been too little, and regular belts were too hard for them to undo for the longest time.
Thanks, Elizabeth! Yes, the velcro on slide belts is like the greatest invention ever. lol
I love this so much, Tanya!! I really want this fabric too but haven’t made firms plans for it so have been holding off on buying it. I have such a red complexion that I normally avoid red fabrics, but I think it comes in navy too. This dress is amazing!
Thanks, Megan! The navy will look so gorgeous on you! I’m tempted to buy some more as well, but I’m also kind of waiting to see what other Rifle prints come out in this rayon as it’s such fabulous fabric to sew with.
What a fantastic dress! Great match between pattern and fabric and you always accessorize perfectly. I love it!
Thank you, Lety! 🙂
This dress looks absolutely amazing! And thank you for listing your source for the Les Fleurs rayon–I was slow on the ball on that one, and it’s been sold out everywhere. Thanks to your post, I’ve already placed my order with the Missouri Quilt co.
Thanks, Michelle! I can’t wait to see what you making with yours. I’ve so tempted to buy some more in another colorway. That print is fantastic!
Oh! Oh oh oh! I am putting that pattern on my list. I love it! And your red print is fabulous on you! Thank you for sharing the details, your posts are always fun, inspiring and educationa. 🙂
Thank you, Nita!! I look forward to seeing our version sometime!
Beautiful …. Inside and out.
Such a lovely dress. I keep looking at this pattern and umming and ahhing about it but you have just sold it to me!
Holly
Thanks, Holly! I enjoyed sewing it. It’s a little different to sew, so that makes it more interesting to me. 🙂
OMG! Everyone has said it already-it looks stunning on you. And I’m in awe at your sewing skills. I’ve already said this but red is definitely your color. I would have passed this pattern because it looks to difficult. It’s such a lovely dress.
Thank you, Bonnie! It might look a little difficult, but it has very good instructions and I’m confident that you could sew it! 🙂
It’s GORGEOUS! You did such a beautiful job, I love it! I have that pattern, too, and I love it, although I haven’t made it yet. I’m still working on my beginner level skills. The fabric is just so stunning, I can’t get over it. I went and checked my fabric.com account and realized I put in my order for that fabric in on 9/17/16. That means it’s been backordered for two months! I’m going to buy it from the place you linked to, they seem wonderful. Their website is well done, easy to navigate, great photos, etc.
With this dress that you made, I’m curious, do you think it would look okay without the belt? I’m not a big fan of belts in general. I’m a very apple-shaped plus sized person, and belts just make me feel confined (usually). I’d certainly be willing to give a belt a try, but in general I like to know that a dress will still be okay without it before I dive into the pattern.
Thank you! I can’t believe that it was backordered for so long! Well, actually I can as that’s one of the sites that I searched for. I had a great experience buying from Missouri Star.
I do think it would look fine without a belt. It has some ease in the waist and isn’t too fitted, but fitted enough that it won’t look like a sack.
That dress is AMAZING! I love the fabric. I’ve been eyeballing it too. I have a small piece in a different colorway that I might make a bag out of. Really, Tanya the dress looks so good on you. The fit is perfect. I hope you will make more of those.
Thanks, Natasha! A bag would be cool out of that fabric. I’d also like to have some pillows for my couch out of it. I think the les fleurs comes in canvas — not sure. It’s such a vibrant, happy print.
Stunning! What a beautiful dress! Totally worthy of new “About Me” photos 😉
Thank you, Meg! Yes, it definitely was!
What a great make! Thank you for sharing the details, such as the bound button holes. That’s impressive.
Thanks so much, Brenda! They get easier the more you do them! I hadn’t made any for a few years before this project.