McCalls 6163

I have to say, I really wasn't sure about this dress before I started.  The line drawings I liked. The dress on the model...not so much.  She's tilted backwards and sideways all at the same time at an awkward angle all together.  However, the line drawing on the capped sleeve version really drew my eye. I had this ITY fabric from fabric.com that I've been wanting to try out and this seemed like a good choice.

I know everyone seems to love ITY fabric.  For me, the jury is still out.  First and foremost, I do LOVE this dress.  It's very figure flattering.  There are some minor tweaks I'll make on the next dress which I'll share in a moment.  But back to the fabric.  It's very...fidgety.  I went through several, new, schemtz stretch needles because this fabric was a bear to sew.  Ultimately, I used stretch interfacing on the neckline to stabilize it, as well as along the edges of the crossover on the bodice.  Otherwise, I could not get a non-puckered straight stitch!  Maybe this would have been better if I had tried my serger (which I need to go take a refresher class on adjusting the tension because it has not worked right since the move and I can not seem to figure out what the issue is).  But since that wasn't an option and I "needed" a new dress (yep, really, I did) the machine it was.  I have this fabric in another color that I have planned for a Vogue top, and I almost dread using it again, except that the finished product really looks nice.

OK, back to this pattern.  I think the neckline is much wider than the line drawing. And as is the trend with everything I sew lately, it is MUCH lower cut than what it appears in the line drawing.  Is this because I'm busty?!  I don't know.  I'm open to suggestions on this issue.  All I can say is, I now own a dozen or so camis in assorted colors to compensate for this issue.  The next dress I make, I will cut a 16 or smaller in the bodice, even though the finished measurements indicated that the 18 should have fit fine.  It didn't end up being a big issue because I can put a cami under it for modesty.  But the collar is a little wonky, even though I interfaced it.  Again, it could be the fabric.  When I make another one, and I definitely plan to because overall, I felt it's very figure flattering to my body shape, I'm going to buy the pattern in a smaller size and see if the fit is a little more true.

You can see how low cut this is in these two photo's.  Sorry about the mirror.  It really "looked" clean until I uploaded these photo's!  And I really love the print on this fabric.  I'm usually not a yellow person, but this print just says 'summer' to me.  I didn't realize it was so bold when I saw it online, and I wasn't sure when it came in the mail, but I'm really happy with it.  And while I didn't like sewing the fabric I really like wearing it.  Does that make any sense?