I never paid attention to this pattern when I first saw it in the Burda Style magazine. It didn’t strike me as my style. Recently, while out shopping, I spotted a white cotton top with eyelet ruffled sleeves. I thought it was cute and remembered seeing something similar in a Burda Style magazine.

The top I saw had an extra eyelet ruffle as well as a plain cotton one so I added another ruffle and made the smaller armscye seam ruffle in eyelet as well. To add the eyelet ruffle to the sleeve I cut the eyelet a little wider than the seersucker ruffle and basted them together. I then treated them as one piece.

The other change I made was to create neckline facings. The pattern calls for cutting some bias strips and using the strips around the neckline. The facings worked well. I understitched them and they stay nicely in place.

I used seersucker leftover from another project. Coincidentally that project was also a mix of seersucker and eyelet. This top was an easy project. I didn’t refer to the pattern instructions. Even the pattern tracing went well. The pattern pieces were simple and few 🙂

This pattern was not part of my summer to-sew list but I always leave myself open to changes. You never know when inspiration will hit you.

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I love eyelet. It screams summer to me. I chose McCall’s 7740 for this black eyelet that I bought a few months ago in Canada. The dress is a simple style with an interesting back. As someone one said, it’s all business in the front and party in the back.

The pattern envelope doesn’t show the front of view A or B. Below is the line drawing.

After making a muslin for the top, I chose to raise the armscye by 3/8″. It doesn’t seem like a lot but it was enough for the bodice to feel more comfortable. I also lengthened the skirt by 2″. I’m 5’7″ and I found the pattern as drafted too short for me. I think my finished length is similar to the one picture on the pattern envelope for view B.

The buttons were a gift from my friend Stephen 30 years ago. He brought them back from England for me. There were 4 of them. I had them on a linen top for many years until it was no longer wearable. I saved the buttons and am glad I did because they are a nice detail on this dress.

The pattern calls for the dress to be fully lined. I used cotton voile for the lining.

This is a cute summer dress that was not complicated to make. I’m glad I took the time to make a muslin for the top. It would have been fine without my alteration but isn’t the reason for making your own clothes to get something you feel good wearing?

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I enjoy wearing maxi dresses in the summer time. I make one or two every summer. I wanted a new knit summer dress but I envisioned something in-between a maxi and a midi because a maxi was not going to be practical for the event I had in mind.

I chose Simplicity 1612 for my dress. I’ve made View A and C in the past. For this dress I went with View D/E.

I cut off about 5 inches at the hemline of View E. The finished length reminds me of skirts/dresses I wore in the early 1980’s.

I had a couple of yards of this ITY knit that I purchased last summer while on vacation in Quebec. There was not a lot of wiggle room for pattern placement so I had to let most of the pattern pieces fall where there was room. The back has a lot going on but I don’t see the back so I’m O.K. with that 😉

Now that I’ve made this dress, I can see myself making the shorter version. The pattern is well drafted and the dress fits well. This pattern is out-of-print but if you have it in your stash, I think it’s worth digging out.

I purchased this textured knit last summer at Tissus Mode de l’Orme in Granby, QC while visiting family and friends. I get the most wonderful fabrics at that store. A trip home always requires bringing an extra suitcase for fabric.

I’ve made this dress before with 3/4 sleeves for fall/winter. I lengthened the bodice by 1″ as well as adding 1″ to the length of the skirt. I also added binding to the neckline. The pattern instructions have you turn the edge under by 5/8″. I prefer finishing the edges with binding. Because my fabric had a texture, I used black jersey from my stash for the binding. I feared that using the textured knit for the binding would create an uneven edge as well as be too thick for a nice flat finish. I omitted the zipper though I kept the back seam as it provides shaping. I’ve made view A as well and have omitted the zipper on all three of the dresses I made from this pattern. The pattern doesn’t offer a short sleeve option but that was a simple fix.

I like the floral background and uneven stripes of this fabric. I was originally going to sew a pattern that didn’t have any pleats but I thought the pleats would be interesting in this fabric. The dress is comfortable to wear and was a simple project to sew.

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This top is a simple style but has a hidden secret that makes it extra special. The facing is more like a half-camisole that helps prevent any gaping at the neckline when you bend over. Below is the illustration from the pattern that shows the facing.

See what I mean, no gaping. The fabric stays against the body.

Another great feature is that my bra does not show through the armscye.

This top was sewn with an ITY knit that was gifted to me last year by a friend. For this version I shortened the pattern by 2″. The top is loose-fitting but tapers down to be fitted at hips.

Since this pattern was such a quick project, I decided to make another. I dove into my bin of leftover knits and found this piece that was leftover from a project that became a wadder. A least something good came out of this fabric. For this version I shortened the pattern by 1″.

When the pattern was first introduced, I thought it was cute but didn’t think I needed to add it to my pattern inventory. The more versions I saw of this top, the more I was convinced that it would hold a special place in my stash. I’m glad I bought the pattern but even more glad that I sewed up a couple of tops. There will be more to come. It’s great on its own or layered.

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McCall’s 6886

McCall’s 6886 is always close to the top of my pattern stash. It’s a great pattern to use for prints that need to be showcased. There’s nothing much I can say about this pattern that hasn’t been said. The pattern was launched in 2013 and has been a favorite of sewists ever since. There are over 220 reviews of this pattern on PatternReview.com

Both prints were bought at Tissus mode de l’Orme in Granby, QC. This first print is an ITY knit. I always enjoy figuring how best to place the pattern pieces with border or panel prints. There’s one change I normally make to this pattern. I add binding at the neckline to finish the edge. The instructions have you turn the edge and stitch. I prefer to add binding.

The version pictured below is sewn with a mid-weight scuba knit. I lined both dresses with light beige swimsuit lining. The scuba knit didn’t really need it but I like the way a lined dress fits and feels. I lined the dresses by attaching the lining at the neckline prior to sewing the binding. I don’t line the sleeves.

This won’t be the last time McCall’s 6886 makes an appearance in my summer 2019 sewing. I have some beautiful prints that speak for themselves and just need a simple design to make them shine.

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I purchased this black Italian stretch polyester crepe from Mood Fabrics a couple of years ago. I didn’t have a pattern in mind at the time but while going through my Burda Style magazine this dress caught my attention. I made the dress a couple of months ago and finally got around to taking pictures.

The dress was not difficult to make. The pattern doesn’t call for lining the dress but I chose to do so. The crepe has some stretch to it so I went with a thin black swimsuit lining. I’m happy I chose to do this because the dress is fitted and the stretch is nice to have for ease of wearing. I didn’t want to lose the stretch of the crepe by using a woven lining.

The pattern called for an exposed zipper. I think that adds a nice modern touch to the dress but I chose to go with an invisible zipper. I was going for a more classic look.

This is how I styled the dress for the blog pictures but I’m finding that this dress is very versatile. It looks great with a scarf or longer necklace or with a different style of belt or even without the belt.

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