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Writer's pictureFaith St Juliette

Spring Dress: McCalls 8035

Hi everyone! I hope all is well with you. Like many of you, I am still staying home and staying safe. I miss the simple pleasures like walking through the mall, and getting inspired by all of the beautiful clothes in the stores. However, we are living in a digital age, and we can now window shop online. The dress that I made was inspired by a dress that I saw at the mall last summer. For me, patterns are foundations, and you can get as creative as you would like with the little details that you create to make a design your own.

Fabric Used

The fabric that I used to make this beautiful dress is a denim blue floral rayon challis from LA Finch Fabrics. The width is 55″ and it has a lot of drape. There is also a slight stretch to it. It is lightweight, but not very sheer. It is perfect for dresses, tops, flowy pants, and lining to a jacket.

Pattern Used

I used McCalls 8035 #brynnmccalls pattern, which was the chosen pattern for the monthly Sew Your View challenge I have been following on Instagram. The pattern has three different views, and I chose to make view C, but I used the tulip sleeve from view A. This dress has a wrap front bodice, elastic raised waist, and comes with sleeve variations to choose from. You can create the tulip sleeve or the elastic hem puff sleeve.

Size Cut/Needle and Stitch Used

The pattern ranges from XS-M and L-XL. I cut a small, with no pattern adjustments. A long time ago, I learned how to find my right size on the pattern. I made a YouTube video a couple of years ago. Check it out to find out how to choose the right pattern size for you. I used a size 10 universal needle and sewed with a stitch length of 2.0. The fabric is lightweight, so you will need to use a small stitch length to prevent pulling and gathering.

Modifications

This is the fun part of this project. I love the design of the #brynnmccalls dress, however, I decided to add a little detail to make it my own. I found a beautiful lace trim at Jo-Anns, and added it to the slit and along the hem of the dress. Next I cut a piece of the fabric 140 inches long, created a 5/8″ narrow hem, and gathered it. I then added it to the end of the dress. Ialso sewed the dress with a French seam, and finished the unfinished seams with bias tape. The inside is just as nice as the outside.

Pattern Review

I absolutely love this pattern. Once you get an understanding of how to cut your correct size, everything else is pretty simple. This is not technically a beginners pattern, as there are certain terms and directions that may trip you up. However, if you want to take a stab at it, google and Youtube is your best friend. The directions are easy to follow, but there are certain techniques that you may want to add to create a cleaner garment. For me, it was the bias tape binding and lace that I added to the fabric.

That moment you think that you feel something crawling on you 😂

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog post, I really appreciate it.

Quote of the Day

“Love yourself first, because that’s who you’ll be spending the rest of your life with.”

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