A tale of two dresses

I bought this cute little Simplicity 2615 pattern a little while ago with the hopes of making it out of a seersucker stripe. It has slightly curved seams down the front and the back, so it would be tricky to match the stripes.


Then, I chose this McCall's 4769 pattern instead, since the front seams were straight. Let's see how I did...



Here is the shirtwaist dress! This is the first one I ever made. There were lots of pieces...I do think it needs a belt to complete the look. There weren't any surprises with the pattern. I noticed that the front band pieces are shown to be cut on the straight of grain, but the piece is marked to be cut on the bias. I cut them straight...that turned out pretty well, so I think it was a mistake.

I used a Kenneth King technique to get the break on the collar to stay in the right place. You understitch the front band on the back until you get to the break, then you switch to the front for your understitching after the break. It works like a charm! I'll see if I can post a picture of it later.

I did do a tissue fitting at first and learned that the bust point was too high. It involved lots of fiddling and messing about since it is a more fitted dress.



I went to JoAnn's Fabrics for a zipper and came out with this silky poly fabric. It turned out to be perfect for the Simplicity pattern....it was a breeze to make. The bodice and skirt are one piece of fabric, so the pattern pieces are minimal. The slippery poly fabric gave me a few moments of frustration. I had to resort to french seams, which made it take twice as long as it should have. I love that the belt is attached to the dress. I didn't make any alterations, and I found that it fit me very well.



This is one of my new favorite dresses...it is like wearing a bathrobe all day long! I'm so excited for spring and summer....