McCalls 6696 shirtdress completed!

My first ever shirt-dress, DONE. I wore it for the first time today at work and it fits soooo well, it's very comfortable and the pockets are fab. I have joined in with the Autumn of 1,000 Shirtdresses hosted by the loverly Mary at Idle Fancy.
It may have taken me a little longer than planned but as the new year started my main aim was to complete any UFO's in my sewing pile before embarking on any new dress-making adventures.

Let me tell you about the basics:

• Size: I cut a size 8 bodice, grading to a size10 for the skirt. 2cm added to the length of the skirt
• Changes: I adapted the back piece by removing the gathering at the back yoke
• Main fabric: Liberty's burgundy cotton (with a slight stretch) corduroy from Shakut's
• Inner fabric: Black and white polka dot cotton from Goldhawk Road 
• Fastenings: Black press-studs from John Lewis, black hook and eyes from stash
• Interfacing: Didn't need any for the collar or button-stand due to the weight of the corduroy

A lot of time was spent hand-finishing all hems, facings and I chose the jumbo press-studs for the fastenings to create a cleaner line on the finished garment. I was 'slightly' worried about my press-studs popping open but they held fast all day with no embarrassing incidents thankfully!

I am very happy with the insides being as nice as the outsides - I bias bound the seams with a satin bias-binding which gives a little bit of glamour. As you know from my previous posts I had to chose a lighter weight fabric for the facings so I had the chance to pair the burgundy cord with black and white polka dot cotton which I think works very well - what do you think?

The 1,000 pin method to set in the sleeve! 

Hand basting the sleeve after pinning.

The McCalls 6696, pretty on the inside too!

Pocket bound with satin bias-binding.

You can't quite see it in this photo but there's polka dot pocket linings too!

The adaption of the back piece by taking the gathering out of the yoke worked really well. I had to create the two pleats you see above the waistband that 'almost' match exactly with the skirt darts!

McCalls M6696 update

It has been a busy sewing week or two. I have almost finished my McCall's M6696 shirtdress that I started at the Ray Stitch workshop with the lovely Clare from Sew Dixie Lou.
The photos below show the progress I have made. All I need to do now is to hand-sew the internal yoke and attach the sleeves - yeah! I decided to not use buttons with the traditional buttonholes but use big press-studs instead which I am pretty happy with.
The other ladies on the course were lovely and it was interesting how different our shirt-dresses looked because we all used such different fabrics. Below are a few photos of the last workshop on Tuesday 11th November.

Danny tackling her top-stitching!

Lisa showcasing her amazing almost-finished shirt-dress (she did loads of homework between classes!)

Fitting the collar onto my shirt-dress.

You can see the black polka dot inner collar facing popping out! 

The lovely Clare from Sew Dixie Lou with a fellow sewer also called Danny!

I couldn't resist taking a shot of the Ray Stitch counter 'after-hours' on my way out! It looks so lovely!

McCalls M6696 shirtdress progress

Part two of the Ray Stitch McCalls M6696 shirtdress was really enjoyable. Due to the crazy state of my house renovations I was unable to use a sewing machine to complete my homework - I hand basted everything in place. Luckily I managed to catch up on my homework by getting to Ray Stitch a little bit earlier and cheekily asked if I could use a machine to catch up. Thanks Ray Stitch!

So, what did I manage to get done on Tuesday? As you know from the previous post the M6696 is pretty pattern piece heavy and there are lots of individual steps.
This is what I achieved between 6pm - 9.30pm (including my homework):

• Attached the external back yoke to the altered back piece
• Sewed the side seams of the bodice
• Sewed the shoulder seams
• Attached the internal back yoke
• Trimmed the side seams and applied satin bias binding
• Hand-stitched the internal yoke
• Attached the external waistband
• Created two simple pleats facing outwards on the back piece to take out the extra material left from the removal of the gathering
• Attached the internal waistband
• Sewn sleeve seams
• Gathered the top of sleeves
• Sew the four skirt darts
• Attach the pocket linings
• Under-stitch the pocket linings
• Attach the pockets

Woah! When you list it like this it looks like I was working like a maniac! Unfortunately I haven't been able to do any sewing this weekend due to a number of DIY house chores (fixing-leaking-roof kind-of-stuff) and preparing for next week at work where I will be having Senior Management reviewing the department (scary!).

Here is a sneak peak of the bodice with lovely neat bias-bound seams and the black spotty contrast cotton. You can also see one of the two small pleats I added to take out the fullness of the lower back.

Fingers crossed I can be a speedy sewer again on Tuesday to get to the final stage of the shirtdress.

Ray Stitch Shirtdress Workshop

On Tuesday's for the next two weeks I will be skilfully guided through making the McCalls M6696 shirtdress by the lovely Clare from Sew Dixie Lou at Ray Stitch in Islington.

I booked this course a while ago pre-finishing my MA dissertation as a little treat to look forward to. I originally bought a textured grey 100% linen to use but when I got it home and saw how the grey looked against my face (too similar a tone ie. pale) I decided to search for another fabric (don't worry the linen will make a lovely skirt / trousers).
The first of three sessions was on 28th October. I managed to cut out all sections of the 3/4 sleeve, straight skirt version of the dress (View D).

The only sewing I managed was to create gathers in the back and attach to the yoke. It was at this point I realised the the slight bulk of the corduroy would be a disadvantage with certain aspects of the pattern - I just didn't like the puffy effect on the corduroy that doesn't drape as well as other fabrics such as viscose, silk or a lightweight chambray.... I was getting a bit tired at this point of the class and decided to unpick / re-do this part at home.

To get rid of the gathers I did this... it may not be right but hey, you live and learn!

I am looking forward to the next session on Tuesday and hope that my free-styled modifications will match up with the waistband part of the dress. If it doesn't I could always add a little box pleat and call it a design feature. Seeing these photos made me realise I really should iron my bodice to get rid of the ex-gathers!