McCall's 6612

I've been wanting to do some sewing for myself for quite some time, but more pressing projects always seem to get in the way. So, once I got the wedding quilt basted, the mystery quilt top completed (pictures coming soon), and my sewing area picked up some, I decided to take the plunge and do some cutting.

This dress is the first of three projects I cut. It is McCall's 6612. I made View B, but shortened it to View A's length. I cut a size 16 with no alterations.

The fabric is from my stash, a super-stretchy textured knit that I bought from Hancock Fabrics back in 2007. The picture above shows the front neckline and is the best representation I could get of the actual colors in the fabric-- pretty burgundy, taupe, and black.

I probably should have done a full-bust adjustment (FBA), but the knit was so stretchy, I decided to take the lazy way and go without. It looks fine, but I wish maybe it didn't pull quite so much across the front.

The knit was textured on one side and smooth/slinky-ish on the back. After referencing the book More Fabric Savvy by sewing guru Sandra Betzina, I decided on a size 75/11 Stretch needle and a Teflon foot. No skipped stitches! Yay!

I made a couple of deviations from the pattern instructions. The first was to add the step of stabilizing the shoulder seams and back neck edge with clear elastic (I used a tip from PatternReview as my guide, "Using Clear Elastic to Stabilize Necklines"). The second deviation was to avoid sewing a set-in sleeve by sewing everything in the flat-- I attached the top of the sleeve to the body and then sewed one long seam from the bottom hem all the way to the sleeve hem. Much simpler!

The one other minor change I made was in using a 3/4" seam allowance for most of the sleeve, because of a little cutting mishap that left a notch a little too close to the 5/8" seamline for my comfort. But I tapered back in to a 5/8" seam a couple of inches before the underarm seam.

Overall, I'm thrilled with this dress. I already have plans to wear it for a couple of holiday events, and I can even see myself making another one in the future. Success!