McCalls 6886, with a twist:)

"Therefore The Lord Himself will give you a sign: the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel (translated: God with us)."

Isaiah 7:14 (written approximately 700 years before Jesus was born).

 

        Merry Christmas all!:) Man, its been awhile since I've posted anything! I've been busy with a few gifts (which I will blog about soon!). This cowl-neck dress was my second attempt at a dress for the holidays. My first was a red turtle-neck sweater dress (which was a fail, bah). I'm pretty happy with this modified version of McCall's 6886. I picked up the pattern some time ago but I knew I would have to make some kind of sway-back alteration. I used another pattern to help with the curve. I'm not entirely satisfied with it but it'll do! The belt really helps!:) I'll have to make another adjustment next time.

     

         For the "shifted cowl", I got the instructions from my "Singer Sewing with Knits" book. The cowl is a rectangle of fabric, the neck's width on the opening of whatever dress/top pattern you're using,  and 15" high, plus SA. The cowl piece ends up being a tube with a center-back seam. I folded the cowl wrong sides together, first lining up the CB seam, then "shifting"it a bit. The two white pins (below) are pinned at either side of the CB seam of the cowl. I didn't record how much I shifted the pieces, a few inches I guess. I tried it a few times, and put the cowl piece around my neck to see how I liked it, before basting the sides together. Once I get a chance I'll show some photos of my Singer Book. Describes it better than I can:p

       The fabric is some I got from my mother-in-law!:) Its a green knit that looks like terry-cloth on the right side, and feels like fleece on the inside. Its very stretchy and easy to sew with.  I erred on the side of cutting it on the bigger size (since my last attempt at a Christmas dress was too small). I think I cut a 12. I'd definitely size down next time. I sewed the sleeves in flat so I could take in the dress a bit at the side seams if I needed to. I'll remove the sleeve-cap ease next time as well, seems unnecessary. I may also shorten this dress a few inches, since I'll likely wear it with leggings anyway. I was in a rush, so I didn't really have time to make many adjustments before Christmas.

    

My little Jonny:)

 


   

All the best to everyone in the New Year!:)


*** This is the book I used. I *love* this series of books! I picked up some at thrift stores & others on amazon!:)