Minerva Crafts Blogger Network – McCalls 7084

TENNIS DRESS

I’m back to making garments for the Minerva Crafts Blogger Network! I had to take some time off from commitments since little guy takes up 99.99% of my time 😉 But he has been letting me sew a bit more lately while he plays, so yay!

Lately everything I make needs to be nursing friendly – button ups, loose shirts and hidden nursing panels galore! When I originally saw McCall’s 7084 I was immediately drawn to the black and white dress on the cover. Since half of what I make is black and white I decided to go the other route I’m obsessed with: polka dots. I wanted something short sleeve and comfortable for the summer. My inspiration for this dress came from Gwen Stefani (shocker!) and her famous Don’t Speak dress:

I made view A in an amazing stretch cotton sateen, I’m a sucker for sateens! When I started this project my measurements were 37 1/2-31-40 so I went with a size 16 (38-30-40). I decided to make a muslin for the top just to make sure it fit properly, good thing because the top was huge. I decided to make a 14 on top and then 16 on bottom. The 14 has a bust measurement of 36″, so I assumed that would have been perfect. If I were to remake this, I would go with a 12 on top then grade to a 16 for the bottom skirt part. I’m not sure if I lost weight or what happened, but the top is too loose and isn’t as flattering as I would like it to be.

Even though it is a bit big on the top I really like the pattern. Oddly enough it wasn’t nearly as time consuming as I thought it would be, probably because it’s not lined. The only thing that takes the longest are the slip stitching parts. I don’t know about you – but I hate slip stitching! Most of the time I just sew close to the ditch and hope for the best.

When I made the armholes the “cuff” part didn’t exactly match up, this could have been my distracting cutting or the pattern, I honestly don’t know. I ended up taking off 1/2″ and then it fit perfect. Make sure to stretch as you go (if you are using stretch fabric obviously). That being said, I think the armholes for view A are just too big. It also seems like they made the dress with sleeves first and the sleeveless option was an after thought that they didn’t exactly focus on. I’ve had bustier friends try on the dress and they had the same issue, your bra seems to show because the armhole opening is so large.

This was the first time I’ve done a collar of this sort and I think I did pretty good! I messed up on one part, where it says to trim. My advice: DO NOT TRIM until you fit things together and know what you are doing! See example of how trimming got me:

But other than the trimming on the collar and the whole armhole issue I really loved this pattern. It was an simple make and the princess seams are always flattering. Just double check your sizing. Then again, I think all of the Big 4 pattern companies are weird with sizing. I think I’ll start focusing on the finished garment sizes to get a better idea of what size I should make. I’m just always so scared of making something too small and never being able to wear it!

Oh and POCKETS! Everything must always have pockets!

The good thing about this dress is that it can easily be dressed up with a white belt and white heels or dressed down with some flip flops or Keds. I plan on making another version of the dress in the future and when time allows. Here’s the mandatory holding the puppy picture – but also with Nikolai, he doesn’t want to be left out!