Two lovely ladies, Rell and Dayana, over on Instagram started a challenge in the beginning of January. Each of the participants was paired with someone, hopefully someone new! We discussed some top level details like yardage and the address to send it to and that’s it! I had never participated in a swap challenge like this before, it was all very new and exciting to me! Anastasia was who I was paired with and what an exciting new person to meet! She loves pink and upcycling and owns her own sewing studio in Chicago, something I would love to do here in North Alabama.
Back to the sewing!
- Fabric – black sheer poly-chiffon with a slight crepe texture, large white blooms of flowers and abstract lines with no obvious directional print
- Pattern – I began with McCall’s 7601, I’ll get into how I strayed below
- Alterations – none to the pattern parts I used, aside from only cutting approximately 9″ from the armscye (armhole) down the side seam
Since the fabric was sheer, I knew I would have to line the bodice instead of use the facing pattern pieces provided. To do this, I cut another set of the modified bodice pieces out of a thin poly knit. The thin poly knit is important to note because in sewing you usually want the lining to be a lighter weight than your main material.
The McCall’s pattern was used to get the top shaped how I had envisioned. Next up was measuring out the skirt. I measured to the ground from my waist — not where my jeans waistband sits, but up higher at the smallest circumference of my torso. Half way through, I decided to add a deep ruffle at the hem. Isn’t that how the creative process usually goes?
Let’s do a little math, 42″ to the floor, factor in a 2″ waist casing, minus a 12″ ruffle, plus seam allowance on every seam equals what? Just kidding, I’ve already done the math. To get the ruffle dense enough, but not little Southern girl style, I went with a strip of fabric 3 times the circumference of the skirt. If you are working with anything thicker than a rayon challis, you may want to decrease this to 2.5x the skirt circumference. Now I was ready to sew it all up and ready to twirl!
Any questions? Have you made this pattern?
Let me know in the comments below!