McCall's 6163 - Blue + black geometric print faux wrap dress

I have been working on a dress (not this one) for the past 2 weeks with nothing to show for my labor but heartache. The fabric I picked was a silk/cotton blend that was very soft and very delicate. It was labeled dry clean only but, well, I don't always follow those labels. I wash most silks and all cottons in the washing machine with great results. I decided to wash this one too, did a light pressing, and then cut out my pattern. However, while I was sewing it together, I could not for the life of me get the wrinkles out! If the iron was set too low those wrinkles wouldn't press out but when it was too high it would scorch in a second. The more I washed the scorched parts the more it would resist ironing. After two weeks of making a muslin and sewing/washing that fabric I finally gave up and threw it in the trash can. Not wanting to muslin another pattern, I made up this knit dress.

This ITY knit came in a free bundle from Fabricmartfabrics.com a few months ago. They like to advertise their 10 yard fabric bundles as being worth $75 but all I ever get is cheap polyester linings or thin cotton voile that I never want to do anything with but use for muslining. Maybe I've just had bad luck, I don't know. Anyway, this was the first piece of fabric that I actually liked from one of those bundles.

I like this design for the collar and collar stand, the ruching on the side, the gathered 3/4 sleeves and the look of a wrap dress without the peek-a-boo possibility of an actual wrap dress. This is a straight size 10 and has the perfect amount of negative ease, IMO. Usually I size down for a knit dress but this pattern didn't need it. The side zipper was omitted because my fabric was very stretchy.

There is a center back seam that has a lot of shape to it and makes for a great fit - sway back girls take note! I used bias tape to finish my neckline because I like it and clear elastic and I are not friends. The bottom hem is 1.5" as I just do not like skinny hems at the bottoms of my garments. Otherwise I made no other deviations from the directions. All hems were sewn with a twin needle.

The side tie is completely separate from the dress but I think distracts the eye from any lumps or bumps going on in that area. Also it really looks like a wrap dress with it tied up in the front.

I realize that sewing it up in this busy fabric somewhat hides all the design elements that make this dress cute. Well, what I really wanted to do is make it in an expensive silk jersey. But, I didn't want to ruin my nice fabric if the pattern was a dud, so I used the free fabric instead. I guess you could call this a wearable muslin, although I tend to think of those as garments that get worn even though they aren't that great.

Here you can see the bias tape I used to finish off the neckline. All of the seams were finished neatly with my overlocking foot. Gosh, I love that thing! For the silk jersey version I will interface both the top and bottom collar and collar stand as mine, with their single layer of interfacing, are a little floppy. I also plan to cinch up the neckline about an inch since this neckline is a little loose and the collar likes to slide a bit towards the back of the dress. Just minor quibbles.