McCall 5974

 You might recall my last post in which I tried to straighten the grain on a piece of defective fabric so I could cut out a dress. Well it turns out that I was actually able to make it work. I didn't fight with the fabric too much but allowed it to relax and somehow (Thank you God) I was able to avoid the defective portion and get all of my pieces cut out without too much hassle. Thanks to you ladies who gave me such good advice.

So here's the dress. It's funny I went through all that trouble and now I have a "love/hate" relationship with this dress. I love the fabric and design, but I just hate it on me. Unfortunately this silhouette doesn't work to well on my short-waisted frame. It didn't dawn on me that despite the busyness of the fabric that this midriff design would still manage to cut me in half and make my very short waist even shorter looking. That's what I get for being 75% legs and 25% upper body.

 (Here's the dress. I think the flash made it a little hard to see the midriff. I still have to hem the dress and sleeves. Funny this dress looks better on my dressform than me--especially since it has a longer torso.)

 Pattern Description:
Dresses C has wrapped bodice  with front pleats, self-faced midriff, pleated skirt front, back zipper, long sleeves and self ties.
Pattern Sizing:
Size 12
Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?
Yes it did!
Were the instructions easy to follow?
Very much so. Nothing tricky to it!

(Back View. The dress lined up pretty well until I got to the very bottom. You can see the defect of the fabric causing the center back seam to curve to the right.)

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
I'm a sucker for wrap and mock wrapped dresses. I liked the ties and how they provided a wider wrap look. This dress came with the Palmer/pletsch fit instructions which I didn't even bother with since I knew I always wear a size 12 when sewing with knits with the Big 4 patterns.
Fabric Used:
Cotton knit with a unique print inn dark blue, gray, and white. I absolutely love this fabric.
Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:
I made the view C dress with long sleeves instead of 3/4" and I omitted the zipper since my knit was stretchy enough. I also omitted the self ties. After looking at the print I was working with I just knew they would make the dress just too busy.

(I pinned the side ties on so you could see what I mean. Doesn't that look a bit messy? Maybe it's just me)

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
I would definitely recommend this dress to other but I won't be sewing it again. It took this pattern to make me realize that dresses with narrow midriff's aren't very flattering on my short waisted/long leg figure. This dress just made me look boxy up top. Then it dawned on me that every dress I've ever made in the past with a narrow midriff's never worked out--they always made me look boxy or even worse pregnant. But I can get away with wider midriff's. So the one good thing that came out of this dress was my "midriff epiphany". This is definitely a good lesson learned:) But I do like this dress and think pairing it with a cute jacket or sweater will help balance out my torso. I'd hate to let a cute dress go to waste.
Conclusion:
Great pattern and so easy to sew. It only had 6 or 7 pieces. I recommend this to anyone who looks great in a dress with a midriff!!!