Sewn: McCall’s M7946 Sundress

Swept along by the Great British Sewing Bee I made a purchase of M7946 - a dose of summer sewing. There are four versions, and I can probably see myself making views B and C, but this time I chose view D to make a strappy sundress.

I had purchased some lovely white Swiss dot fabric with a blue floral print from Heathcoat Fabrics in Tiverton earlier in the year. In my mind, I really wanted to recreate this beautiful (but not beautifully priced) dress from Anthropologie.

The dress is just a pull on dress with three pieces of elastic forming the figure hugging bodice. There is no other shaping to it. Because I wanted to recreate the Anthropologie dress, I thought I would dispense with the elastic and shirr instead. My machine thought otherwise.

I had already fallen out with my overlocker as I changed threads and it wouldn’t work, so none of my seams are overlocked. (Thankfully, with the help of a YouTube video and a younger pair of eyes, this is now fixed).

Anyway, I sewed up a straight size 14 and I think the fit is fine. The only thing I changed was in attaching the lower ruffle. Rather than having the top of that outwards, I preferred to sew it on right sides together so that the seam is hidden.

It is so lovely to wear, especially in this lovely summer weather we’ve been having.

My only real issue is that it is quite hard to distinguish the front from the back. I also have worn it sideways when I tied up the two front ties and two back ties together. I couldn’t work out why I had a seam running down my centre.

So, a summer success!

Love Mrs Jones x