Sunday, May 9, 2010

McCall's 6070/Simplicity 3503 - Brown & ivory floral knit dress

I received the lovely gift of sewing time this afternoon for Mother's Day, and was able to complete the knit dress I started before going on vacation. It isn't maternity, but does have an empire waistline and gathers at the CF and CB, so I thought it would work for my growing bump another month or so. And, I can wear it as a regular dress after the baby is born. (That's the remains of my splotchy sunburn on my legs.)

I LOVE these ITY knit dresses. This is the fourth I have made (see here, here and here) and they get worn and worn all summer. I can wear them with a pair of sandals and look put together, then throw them in the wash and not have to worry about line drying, ironing, shrinkage, etc.

This fabric was a fairly recent (last 6 months?) purchase from Denverfabrics.com. The dress design gets a little lost with the dark color. Perhaps I should have picked something lighter or even a solid. Oh well, I love it all the same. I might add beads to the bottom of the back ties if I can find something suitable in a small quantity.

Okay, so this is actually a frankenpattern. (I think I first heard that term on Trena's blog. What a great word!) What happened was I picked up the McCall's pattern first. I liked the gathers along the tops of the shoulders, the overlapping front a back pieces, and the back neck tie. When I got it home and actually examined it, the instructions have you put a row of elastic along the top and bottom of the midriff band. That seemed a little weird. Then I decided I didn't care for the amount of skirt fabric gathered into the band. I put it aside to think about it for awhile.
Here at the back you can see what those elastic casings are doing to the midriff band. I personally just don't think that's the cutest look.

Somewhere along the line I stumbled upon Simplicity 3503. It has a similar design with gathered drop shoulders and a crossover front and back. I passed over it initially because it's just too darn low for me. But I liked that the midriff band was contoured unlike the straight across McCall's band. Also, the skirt was an A-line cut with gathers only along the CF and CB. I put them both together, using the top of McCall's and the band and skirt of Simplicity's. I used a very stretchy knit, so had no worries about it coming together with any problems.

I'm off to cut out my next project, a cropped trench jacket. Got to keep up with my jacket quota. I hope you all had a very happy Mother's Day.

21 comments:

  1. I soooo love this dress and don't think the print is too much (but I'm a bit biased and obsessed with prints). The color is great on you and I like how you merged the 2 patterns. The McCalls 6070 was actually next on my list to sew. Again this dress is great and it's smart of you to make dresses that you'll be able to wear after your pregnancy.

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  2. I think I should warn you against that Mccall's pattern.I just made and it was almost a wadder as the back is too low,the runching at the waist makes you look preggo even if you are not,also the shoulders keep slipping off.I would exchange the pattern for another one on sale.

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  3. It looks gorgeous on you! I love dresses because they are so easy to wear - just put them on and you're dressed!

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  4. Looks fantastic. I still can't believe how wonderful you look pregnant- you must be the envy of so many woman- my non-pregnant self included;) Thanks for the frankenpattern review.

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  5. Creative thinking to make the band without the elastic, it's a much neater look, not bunchy. Beautiful dress. I like the red shoes, bracelet and lipstick, great accent!

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  6. Cute dress! You look beautiful in it!

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  7. You are looking fabulous - great frankenpattern-ing!

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  8. Cute dress love how you mixed the patterns.

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  9. You did it again! I have this pattern and after many attempts with the elastic at the shoulder gathers and many naughty words--turned it into a skirt. Take that you "easy" pattern! Your dress on the other hand looks beautiful!

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  10. Great dress and it looks so soft and comfortable! Your belly is growing beautifully, Amanda. Is everything ok with you and the little baby? You sure look glowing and wonderful!

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  11. Really cute dress! Great job with combining the patterns, I can totally understand your reasons, and think your version is the best!

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  12. Love the resulting dress from combining those two patterns. I'm also loving your baby bump - you look fantastic! :)

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  13. This might be my new favorite of your ITY knit dresses! I really like the pattern you choice for it. A solid would have been nice, but this is simply stunning on you.

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  14. Cute dress! I love the print!

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  15. I have that Simplicity pattern as well and really like it . . . once I figured out I should go down a couple of sizes due to the stretchiness of the knit. I just wear a cami underneath to keep my girly bits from peeking out.

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  16. What a sweet dress. I love the back, with the ties. Awesome!

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  17. Gorgeous dress - and you designed it yourself!! I love the way you have combined patterns to make this dress exactly how you want it. The result is lovely - very flattering and that back tie is a really nice feature.

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  18. What a great idea to use those two together! I may have to copy you; I think I bought that McCall pattern and didn't notice the elastic. Yuck. Knit dresses are really sooooo easy to wear.

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  19. This came out very nice. This is ironic because I made the Simplicity pattern last year and had some fitting issues. When I saw the McCalls pattern at Hancocks a few weeks ago, it reminded me of that dress, so I looked through the Simplicity catalog until I found the pattern and compared the two side by side. I decided against buying McCalls because they seemed so similar but maybe I'll have better results in the future if I combine them as you've done. Thanks for the inspiration.

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  20. GORGEOUS!! You look stunning!

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  21. I love the print. I actually made the S3503 view you liked, I just overlapped the CF by about 1" and it was good to go. I love the waistband too, though I originally bought it because everyone was doing the V-neck maxi dress last summer.

    LaKaribane
    http://fashionmate.blogspot.com

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