McCalls 7922 - The Super Fuchsia Dress

This, my friends, is a tale of what happens when you fall completely and utterly in love with a fabric, and use it despite the fact that it might not be the most suitable candidate for a pattern.

At first glance all seems well in the Jorth world of sewing, right? The dress fits, the knot feature is pretty amazing, and boy - does that colour pop! But scratch a little beneath the surface, and you'll find a story of tweaks, adjustments and alterations. So much for quickly whipping up an easy dress!

The fabric, is, amazing! I loved it the minute I spotted it at Fabric Deluxe. It's a crinkle viscose in the best fuchsia I've ever seen, and it had to be mine right away. I thought it would look pretty spiffy done up in McCalls 7922, so I set to work, forgetting two little words: crinkle viscose. You see, anything with a crinkle will act somewhat like a stretch, as the crinkles provide the fabric with a LOT more 'give' than a standard woven. As soon as I got the dress to try on stage, I realised it was huge - so I took it in, tried it back on, then took it in some more. Normally I rarely have to do that, so consider my mind blown!

The fabric is also quite sheer, so I decided to ditch the interfacing pieces for the neckline, as I didn't want it to show through. Instead I did a tiny hem around the neckline - it's not the most elegant solution, but it worked for me. I wanted this dress to be an easy summer frock I could throw on for stinky hot days, as the fabric is so light and airy to wear, so I wasn't too fussed about doing couture-worthy finishes on any edges.

I also bid adieu to the front pleat - something about front pleats gives me the heebie jeebies, so I sewed that sew up instead.

The origami knot took me a white to figure out, and I kept needing to bring the seams in closer and closer until I finally got them sitting tightly without slipping out. The notches, for this fabric, were no guide, but I'll blame that on my fabric selection, and not the pattern.

One quick word to the wise: because the origami knot makes the dress rather voluminous around the midriff, it can add a few inches to the waistline. In some of the shots we took I look like a skinny minnie, and in others I look quite impressively pregnant. So heads up if you don't want people asking when your little one is due!

All in all, I absolutely love how this dress turned out, even if it did involve lots of adjustments. Does it look like the pattern photo - um, no... I feel like mine looks more like a slinky evening dress, but I think I can make that work for me! All I need is a better, less visible, bra and me and the super fuchsia dress will be ready to take on the world! Put your sunnies on - this bad boy is BRIGHT!

Project Details:
Pattern: McCalls 7922, view B
Fabric: 1.4m crinkle viscose from Fabric Deluxe
Notions: 55cm invisible zipper