McCalls 6201, a New TNT Pattern

McCall's 6201

I'm quite happy with how this simple sheath dress has turned out this week.  McCall's 6201 McCall's 6201 is a simple sheath dress in their Made for You line of patterns.   These are the patterns which have alternative front pattern pieces for A, B, C and D bust cup sizing.
A darted sheath dress has been on my mind for several years now.  I was wowed by Annette's dress in the Patternreview 2009 Little Black Dress contest Little Black Dress winners and always love reading Carolyn's blog with her beautifully fashionable dress wardrobe Carolyn, the sewing fanatic.  I made a dress in October that I was pleased with but wanted something with even simpler lines and this McCall's is just what I had in mind.

I did my fitting muslin last week and used this fabric for my alterations.  It's a size 14 at the shoulders and 16 by the high hip area.  I did make separate right and left pattern pieces but since this is one front piece and two back pieces I didn't mind that too much.  I'm still not totally pleased with the large side darts on the D cup pattern and will refine them a little as I sew more of these dresses this summer.  I'm relatively narrow shouldered and narrow in the front so that dart doesn' have a lot of room before it peaks, if you know what I mean.  It would be better for fitting purposes changing this to full length shoulder princess seams (which I will do eventually) but some prints, like this one, need an uninterrupted pattern piece.  Since I have a few of these planned specifically to wear with some of these cardigan sweaters, the bust dart is less crucial right now.  Other alterations: reduced the width of the front and back mid section darts, added to the front armhole area to cover some that bulgy stuff peaking outward on a sleeveless dress, lowered the right shoulder and underarm area for that right side body dip and added about 1/4 inch to the front and back high hip area on my right side as well with a 3/4 sway back adjustment as well.

Isn't this fabric fun?  It's cotton pique with some lycra from Fabric Mart, of course.  I made one of my many Kwik Sew jeans jackets from it and had lots left over so it's been on the muslin fabric pile for a while now.  I was pleased enough with my alterations to go ahead and turn it into this dress.  To give it a little umph, there's piping on the neckline, with some bias of this very soft tone on tone fabric, I think a rayon, cotton, silk blend also from my beloved FM.   I had already installed an invisible zipper or else I would have lined this dress.  Instead, I did a bias binding on the armholes with the same fabric.

So why is there brown paper on our much photographed hallway?  The master bathroom project is still underway....delayed for more than a week for one more sheet of the shower border tile, special order, of course.  No problem, it should be finished soon and it's quite a transformation.  
Ok, tired and it's time to sleep.  We're pet sitting for our neighbors this week but going to their house at least three or four times a day to walk, feed and play with their two year old dog.  Some evenings we take Lucky the rescue dog and they run around for a while but Sam the 12 year old guy is not up to managing two rambunctious dogs in his space.  Instead, Sam got to head downtown for an afternoon concert today and enjoy being the only dog again, briefly.

The Dressmaker's Handbook of Couture Sewing Techniques: Book Reviews, Sewing and Non-sewing Related

I'm doing an invisible happy dance this morning since my McCalls sheath alterations have turned out quite nicely and muslin 2 is worthy of being completed as an actual dress.  So no clothing pictures yet but I've pulled out my latest sewing book to use for the neckline and armhole binding on this dress.

I'm a sucker for a new sewing book although in recent years I've been able to refrain from purchasing many any.  I'm not into aprons or children's fashions or remaking thrift store items into trendy outfits....which would only look bizarre on me.  But I thought the price and content of Lynda Maynard's was a very worthwhile purchase.  I have the Clare Schaeffer  and Roberta Carr detailed couture books but I like the pictures and easy to use spiral binding of this latest one.  I'm also visually drawn to the fashion pictures which are more current than in those other books.

The pictorial index in the front of the book Couture Technique Selector seems like a useful idea as well.  Sometimes I just want a visual reminder of how to do a particular binding or hem and this is a good quick reference.  Many of the techniques can be found in my other sewing books but there are some here that I had not seen illustrated before :  ex. boned cuff....something I'd like to try on one of my JAM jackets this year.   I think this one will be at my right hand side as I decide what details to add to a garment to make it more personalized or special and yes, maybe even more "couture."

I've been reading up a storm in the last month so here are fiction titles that may interest some of you.

I took two paperbacks on our New Zealand trip, intending to drop them off along the way after I had finished reading them.  Well, the trip and our companions were all so enjoyable that I did far less reading than I had imagined so they both came home with me.

Belong to Me by Marisa de los Santos was an enjoyable, beach type read.  Interesting developments among several women friends, perhaps improbable but still a fun read.  I do like books written from the point of view of different characters.  This one is told from the POV of a new arrival, Cornelia, who has a hard time fitting in with her new suburban acquaintances,  from Lake, the new friend who seems to be holding back some her life story and from Piper the seemingly perfect, brittle leader of the neighborhood.  Good chick lit.

The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny was something I picked up at our church book sale and has been a fortunate discovery.  Louise Penny lives in a small village outside of Montreal, Canada and this is part of a mystery series starring Chief Inspector Gamache.  This book, with its slow methodical investigation and domestic undertones reminded me of a more serious version of the PBS Mystery series that Mr. Lucky and I enjoy, Midsomer Mysteries.  Small village life, people's lives intertwined, unspoken pettiness, jealousies and greed abounding.  I'm going to look up the first novel in this series and start from the beginning.

Sometimes you just need a light, happy read and for those days I've always enjoyed the latest Jan Karon Father Tim books.  Again, they remind me reading my beloved British Miss Read... books of a few decades ago.  The latest one leaves North Carolina and the small town of Mitford and sends Father Tim and his artist wife to Ireland for vacation.  Now, my mother's family is as Irish as they come but personally I'm not that sentimental about my Irish roots.  Maybe what I mean is that I'm not so nationalistic about my Irish roots.  The Irish English conflict looks like another tribal war to me.  Yes, I know about the oppression and horrors but I imagine that some of my Irish ancestors would have been just as happy if the shoe (or money and power) were on the other foot.   Which partially explains the Irish neutrality and cozying up to Fascists during WWII, in my opinion.  So this might explain why this book didn't particularly speak to me.  No it didn't dwell on any of that history but I do find that overly romanticizing your Irish ancestry is something that can grate on my nerves.  So while I usually enjoy these simple stories of redemption and hope for all of us, this one was not my cup of tea.

I've definitely saved the most intriguing and most powerful one for last.  I wasn't one of those raving about The Corrections when it was published nine years ago.  But I am thoroughly enjoying reading Franz's latest novel Freedom.  It's certainly long and certainly preachy in parts but he's a master at spotting the contradictions and hypocrisies in the lives of upper middle class families.   It's reminding me of Tom Wolfe nailing the 1980s in Bonfire of the Vanities.   I'm only 1/3 of the way through but am enjoying (maybe appreciating is better word) his take on these characters and their self-justifying motivations.  Sometimes a little too close to home but isn't that what makes for a good novelist?  Is it the great American novel?  No, I don't think the characters are real enough to be that long lived.  They feel more like composites of the issues that bother him in our American society today, which is what I thought Tom Wolfe was doing as well.  Fine with me.  I think our lack of humility about our inherent contradictions and self-justification is what leads to problems and conflict, in families and in politics.  So I'm enjoying this one and curious as to where it is headed.

Target Straw Bag Transformation

Target products have not yet inspired a full hacking site like Ikea products ( IKEA Hackers site  ) but perhaps there should be one.  My creative sewing friend Michelle often does the most creative things with Target T shirts, turning them into expensive RTW knock offs.  (I'll wait while you visit her blog   Sew Inspirations.....)  Her fabulous purses were the inspiration for this makeover which I completed today.

This bag started out last year as one of their $2.50 seasonal items.
I removed the poly lining and used it as a pattern.   I quilted some leftover silk remnant to a flannel scrap to make a new lining and hand stitched it to the bag top through the straw, just the way the previous lining had been attached.
 

Then I used Beacon Fabric Tac glue to attach the fringe....leftover from the guest room project.  I cut panels  from that retro print from my recent shower curtain project and zig zagged it onto turquoise leftover tencel fabric to make panels.   Looks like it might have come from one of the chic little expensive boutiques here in town.  All for $2.50, leftovers and my time.....priceless.

PS:  I love this wavy blade rotary cutter, like having rolling pinking shears!

Finished lining and pockets

The wonderful Fabric Tac

Craigslist Score: Necchi Supernova

Yes, I should have been inside sewing on a hot day today but instead I was cruising Craigslist and ended up bringing a new baby home with me this afternoon.  Reading Brian's enjoyable blog Brian Sews  (should that be Brian Sews and Enables?) had me thinking about a new vintage machine (an oxymoron, if ever I heard one) and then this listing showed up just a few miles from home.  It belonged to the mother of a friend who gave it to the local gal here in town who thought she might start sewing again.  Well, she never has taken up sewing so now that she's downsizing and is moving into a much smaller place.  There I was so proud of myself last week for cleaning out fabric and taking it to the ASG meeting....guess it means that I have room for a new machine.  I've never owned or even operated a Necchi but for $50, in a cabinet with a stool and all accessories, there's sure to be lots of fun in my future.  Once again, just like with my vintage Rocketeer, I'm so attracted to the styling on this classic machines.  I don't want to wear vintage clothes (at middle age I think I would just look frumpy, not chic) but I can at least sew on machines from the past.

McCalls 6201 in the Works

McCall's 6201  is one of their Made For You patterns which have bust cup sizing in the pattern.   I've made a muslin of view E's scoop neckline in a sleeveless version.  It fit relatively nicely out of the envelope....which used to mean that I would have settled for it in RTW.  But thank goodness I sew and can get a fit for my body.  My delightful sewing friends made some subtle but important changes to the six darts yesterday.  Now I'm going to make separate right and left patterns because of my asymmetry but it's not too difficult on a sleeveless sheath.  I have several printed cotton lycra blends that I would like for summer wear with little knit cardigans.

Muslin #1 of 6201

Now I'm off to make a decadent potato casserole for tonight's pot luck and movie discussion group.  It's an old one but thought provoking...Richard Dreyfuss in Whose Life Is It Anyway?  Mary Tyler Moore won a Tony for her Broadway version and more recently Kim Cattrell played the patient in the London show.   Among this group of friends I doubt there will much difference of opinion on the movie's main theme.   Those topics of medical intervention, quality of life and even doctor assisted suicide are ones that are discussed often in a region largely populated with retirees.   So not the most uplifting movie night but enjoyable surrounded by friends and good times...and isn't that the point of the movie anyway?