Floral Linen Shirt Dress

Pattern Review: McCall's 7084 

This dress has been a slow burner and feels like it has taken me ages to finish. McCall's 7084 is my 4th #2018MakeNine garment.   

One of the reasons this took so long to finish is that is that it has around 20 pieces and to top it off I decided to underline this dress. This lovely floral linen was a post-Christmas bargain from John Lewis in Oxford Street, London. It was initially priced around £18 per metre and I managed to snap up 2.5 metres reduced to £5.50 per metre. I underlined the dress with cotton lining from my stash. I didn't have enough blue lining so some patches are purple! 


The linen was only 110cm wide and I didn't have enough fabric for the undercollar and placket facing. So there are some contrast blue parts on the dress. At first I wasn't convinced it would work but I had spent so long cutting out the pieces that I persevered and I quite like it now. 

I knew that the princess seams (not that you can see them due to the busy print), would give me some play with the fit. I cut a size 14 and the fit is pretty much spot on. There is a tiny bit of pooling in the back which signals the need for a small swayback adjustment. There is also a little bit of excess fabric in the top of the front princess seam, from the bust point to the shoulder, but these are trivial points and I love the overall fit. 


The white buttons were picked out by my girlfriend from Simple Fabrics. They were only 5 pence each! I was debating some blue buttons and Alex picked these out and I think they look great. As Alex also picked out my last set of buttons, I think that I am going to make her my official button chooser from now on. 

I found a great tip from Carolyn from Diary of a Sewing Fanatic on button placement to avoid gaping at the bust. I applied it to this dress as it worked perfectly. 

I am delighted with this garment. This fills a definite shirtdress gap in my wardrobe. I wore it out this weekend for a picnic in Queen's Park and it was surprisingly comfortable. There is the perfect amount of ease in the dress which sitting not to cause strain on the buttonholes, but still has a flattering fit. 


You can view my Pattern Review here. 

I am super pleased with my #2018MakeNine challenge. It has given me some fab wardrobe fillers and I have really enjoyed sewing with a focus. 

Anyone else finding focus with a sew-a-long? 

Comments

  1. princess.precious21 May 2018 at 01:18

    It looks great on you! And well done for persevering. P.S.: I hope Alex realizes the importance of her new official role. No pressure... ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. KS_Sews (Dressmakingbacles)21 May 2018 at 13:16

    SO smart to assign that role! :)

    The dress is really nice. It fits well and the fabric is gorgeous. Great summer staple.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Vanessa22 May 2018 at 15:57

    Your shirt dress is lovely!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Marion Skinner30 June 2018 at 16:23

    Great fit and thanks for the tips.

    ReplyDelete

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