I have been dreaming of
summer these last few rainy days out here in Portland and there’s nothing
better to help bring in the cheer like a gorgeous sarong dress. That’s right
ladies! We’re making the McCalls 4425 together and this post has most certainly
been a long time in coming but I am ready to go and we are definitely going to
have ourselves some lovely sewing fun together!
For those of you who have
read former blog posts, you will know that the McCalls 4425 was one of the
patterns I found while creating a digital pattern collection of a friend’s 730+
sewing pattern collection. Hundreds of those patterns were copied from her collection
(and many picked up since-I really need to update my digital pattern
collection) but the McCalls 4425 was found one hot summer day and the moment I
saw it I just knew that pattern and I were going to have a lovely future
together. Well, the future is here my friends!
As I begin the process of
making my McCalls 4425 dress I thought it might be nice to document the process
to help any of you along with your own patterns. Not to rush ahead here,
but if you're just one of those 'show me the pics!' kind of person and don't
want to go through the entire process of making this beauty, feel free to skip
to the end and take a peak ;)
I don’t expect many
problems making this, though I admit a certain level of procrastination when it
comes to making this dress. Something about that graceful(ly intimidating)
sweep of the side-bow that makes me drag my feet like there’s no tomorrow. It’s
also a classic vintage pattern and the directions need a little bit of
updating. In a lot of cases I find that the vintage patterns need at least some
updates. In some cases, you will find that I have deviated slightly from the
original directions. Feel free to read through both the original directions and
my suggestions to determine for yourself which is the best way for you to
proceed based on the style, etc.
With that in mind I am gracefully going to walk into this
project with no trepidation because I know, just like all patterns before this
one, it will prove lovely. And when I say ‘gracefully walk into this project’ I
do indeed mean just that. For you see, nothing helps motivate me in sewing a
new dress like wearing the fabulous pair of heels I intend to wear with the
dress once finished! I told you we were going to have ourselves some fun. So
don those pretty little shoes ladies, find yourself some fabulous fabric for
this project, grab the pattern and let’s get started!
If in the event you are reading this and saying “Ok, I’m almost
there. I have my heels on and the fabric in hand, but I still need the pattern
to make this magic work!” I will lead you to the pattern. The thought of you
lifelessly holding a pair of scissors in one hand and your lovely new fabric in
the other-all the while knowing you still need the pattern-is just too much.
You can order the pattern on my etsy site @ www.Craftzies.etsy.com.
I also have it listed on ebay, just run a search on McCalls 4425 and you should
find it. If you don’t see it as an active listing shoot me a message. I pop in
every few days so I can easily relist one for you. It's pricey I know,
but you know it's worth every penny!
Getting Started:
I am first going to start
out by cutting this pattern in the size 16, the size this pattern is cut for,
and follow the directions fully with a test dress. This is a vintage pattern so
the dress should be expected to be a little smaller than a current size 16 and
patterns are notorious for coming out smaller as a final garment as well so I
am just going to start by making the dress out of a white fabric first and go
from there. I also happen to have the hips of a Celtic Goddess so I know my
final dress is going to need some customization, and the best way to work out
those alterations is in the practice phase. Remember to pre-wash your fabric
(test fabrics don’t need to be washed first) before you make your dress unless
you are working with a material that will be dry cleaned. For example, if I
were using a cotton or blend I would pre-wash. If it were a silk or painted
satin, I would not pre-wash the material because that baby is going straight to
the dry cleaners if I need it laundered. For the record, Zout is my new secret
laundering agent. That stuff is the bomb & gets out anything when it comes
to stains. Just test it on a fabric swatch first before spraying it to a
finished garment.
Anyway, back to our
pattern. I know working with a boring white fabric (that was originally a set
of curtains) is not very exciting but bear with me on this. Once I work out the
pattern alterations I will share my modifications and you might be able to skip
the test copy all together based on those recommendations. I need to make one
out of white fabric as a test, I then need to make myself a pattern copy with
my size alterations made, and then cut the fabric for that dress and do the
whole she-bang all over again. For the final dress I have selected a red and
white painted satin in the shorter strapless style. I always prefer to have
removable straps when I can as well so if I were to add straps, I would just
add them by way of inside buttons so this dress converts from straps to
strapless as desired.
(This
is a sample of the red and white painted satin fabric selected for this
project)
And yes ladies, it is
perfectly acceptable to create a social event surrounding this dress. I don’t
think there’s anything wrong with that. I’m not saying when you host your event
you will be telling people the reason for the party was so you had a proper
event in which to wear your dress, but sometimes you have to create your own
reality, know what I’m saying? ;)
Fabric recommendations
for this dress: Peau de Soie, Taffeta, Satin, Printed Silk or
Cotton, Faille, Polished Cotton, Tussah.
Fabric needed: size
16-(let’s assume our fabric is 45” width) 3 ¼ yards of fabric (2 ¾ yards for
style B-shorter version), and 1 1/8 yards for the bodice lining.
*note-This pattern requires a
large amount of yardage and even more so if you are making a test dress first.
If you do not want to use fabric for the test, cutting out the pattern in paper
and taping the pieces together to gain a sense of the length, size of the
pattern, etc., is always recommended.
Notions needed: thread,
optional seam binding, 16” neck zipper, 1 hook and eye, and 1 ¼ covered
featherbone for A.
**Two things on those
notions:
1) I have never heard of
a ‘neck zipper’ but it turns out they just mean a straight up regular old
zipper. I originally thought a neck zipper would be for a cropped neckline,
which would make sense I guess for a strapless dress for tightening purposes at
the top but I couldn’t find one and the ladies at the fabric store said a
straight 16” zipper would be perfectly fine (they were right)
2) I generally just refer
to featherbone as boning so as not to confuse you later on while going through
the directions.
If you have a large table
for cutting your fabric you are in luck. If not, a flat surface like a sheet on
the floor, a cardboard cutting board opened out on an ironing board, or a long
kitchen counter work well. I have lived and worked in larger and smaller
spaces. Today I use both a kitchen table opened out and a cutting board opened
on an ironing board in my craft room as cutting areas. Both of these spaces
work well. For fabrics that are lighter weight the fold out cutting board over
the ironing board works just find but I recently made a set of 8 upholstery
grade slip covers for a woman and the fabric was so heavy the only way to cut
the fabric was by laying the bolt across a dining chair and then draping the
fabric out across my fully opened dining table so use what you have and be
resourceful.
(late night pattern copying)
Once you have cut your
pattern, cut out your fabric according to the directions layout. I really like
those blue sewing markers they have where you can essentially write on the
fabric. If you don’t have one it might be worth picking up. They work well for
lighter fabrics and white chalk works well for darker fabrics but it is helpful
to have an opportunity to mark your fabrics and a little water sprayed over the
marker lines will remove the blue marker. You will see blue lines on the tan
inside lining of the final dress in the photos below and black marker &
thread for the test dress to help show the seams. I am going to use the marker
on the test and would for cotton fabrics; however I would again be very careful
when working with silks and painted satins. Remember anything you do such as
heat from an iron to spritzing your fabric with water should be tested on a
fabric swatch first. This red and white painted satin I am going to be working
with is exquisite and rather pricey in the yardage factor so I want this red
and white dress to be perfect, hence the test dress beforehand.
Before we go through the
directions to this pattern step by step I just wanted to point out that I like
to make a copy of a sewing pattern when I can, and have done so with this
pattern. I don’t always do this, but making a copy ensures that my original
will stay intact in the event of a crafting disaster. Let’s not bother
discussing what those disasters could possibly be and just skip to where you
make a backup. I would do this with any kind of data and the same will hold
true here. Newspaper, muslin, interfacing, white paper, they are all suitable
to make a hard copy of your pattern and in general it will only take a few
extra minutes to copy out, even if you just make a trace of the pattern pieces
and then refer to the original pattern for the pattern details you need as you
go forward on your project. In this case I made a copy of the pattern from a
standard white paper (as you will see in some of the photos), the same paper
the print shop prints the copies out for my customers on.
When I made the white
test dress I made the longer version-view A-to see just how long it was before
I decided on the longer or shorter version for my final dress. Once I made the
white test dress I felt it was a little too long for me so I ended up going
with the shorter version-view B-and just elongating it a few inches in order to
compensate. If you do this just remember to cut your LOWER DRAPE FACING pieces
in the same shape and length needed for any alterations you have made to the
skirt itself and when in doubt, cut the strips a little wider. You can always
trim a little excess off easily if needed. For example, if you cut the dress a
few inches wider than the pattern, make sure you have extended the length of
the LOWER FACING PIECES as well or you will have to compensate by adding
additional strips on the ends, and let’s just have this project be as perfect
as we can before we cut the fabric-let’s plan ahead so it turns out perfectly
and our efforts will result in perfection!
If you are unsure of the
length you want-view A or B-or would prefer to wait until you have had a chance
to match up the side seams before cutting and adding the LOWER DRAPE FACING
PIECES, you are encouraged to do so. If you have decided to line the front and
back fully then you will only need to cut out the LOWER DRAPE FACING PIECE. If
you have lined only the back, you will need to do this with both the LOWER
DRAPE FACING and the LOWER FRONT FACING. If you have opted to only line the
bodice to the waist on the dress, then you will do this with all three pieces
of the LOWER FACING PIECES. In any event, regardless of those specific choices
you have made, you can lay the lower regions of your dress over the fabric you
intend to cut for your LOWER FACING PIECES and then as you add those pieces to
the underside of the bottom hem of the skirt you will know those pieces are the
exact cut as the cut of your outer fabric and your bottom hem, once hand sewn,
will look so very professional. And let’s be honest ladies, none of us are in
the business of making clothes that look handmade.
For the sake of
authenticity and to show you a few elements of the pattern in detail, I have
pulled out the original pattern for some photos. I now have my pattern copied,
my pattern pieces I need selected and laid out according to the pattern
directions and then the fabric pieces cut out. For the white test dress I went
with the drape for view A. For my final dress-the red and white painted satin-I
went with drape B. Pick your pattern pieces according to your needs. The
pattern comes with 15 pieces total and offers a different front drape pattern
piece for view A and view B.
Step 1)
Step 2) Cut your
fabric pieces out according to the layout provided in the directions. Most of
us are going to follow the fabric layout for 45” fabric. The fabric layout for
the bodice lining is for both view A & B and the layout is for fabric
25-39” fabric width. Lining fabric is usually offered in a narrower width that
regular fabric so we are going to go with 1.5 yards. Now, when I initially
looked at this lining section in the directions I was like..ok, so that makes
me wonder about 2 things. First, it is weird how the front piece of both views
looks like it is shaped for a different dress…entirely different! Second, and
more to the point in regards to the lining, there are NO lining pattern pieces
offered. Here is one of the ways in which you have a pattern variation from
patterns today in that today a pattern would offer you the pattern pieces for
the lining. Here they didn’t bother.
Do not fret my fabulous
little crafters. We’re going to be just fine. If you become overwhelmed you can
do 2 things. First, move those pretty eyes right up to the upper left corner of
the directions. What does it say right below the text McCalls 4425? EASY SEWING
GUIDE. So you see, it’s all good. It’s easy ;) We’re just going to take the
front and back pattern pieces and use those as a pattern guide for our lining
fabric pieces and cut the bottom piece across the lower waist a little longer
so you have enough lining fabric to trim, hem and fold over again because as we
move forward with the project the directions will have us hand sew down that
lining inside so if you make that bottom hem a little longer to start you will
be fine.
*Note-For my white test
dress I did not bother with a lining. For my final dress (red & white
satin) I fully lined both the front and back panels-but not the front skirt
(more details on this below).
Next, the directions on
the right hand side of page one of the directions shows you a picture of a
bodice top and has you join the seams, mentions stay stitching, basting, etc.
and you’re thinking the image I have been given of the bodice lining looks
NOTHING like the pattern piece for the bodice for this dress. Relax, it’s all
good because McCalls just pasted in a general set of directions for sewing
techniques you are going to need to know in order to follow through with making
the rest of this dress. You know this because their “GENERAL DIRECTIONS” text
and then the narrow stream of sewing techniques indicate this. So, read through
those but don’t worry. The good stuff is on the other side so flip page one
over when ready and you will see the specific directions for part I View A.
Lay the FRONT and BACK FABRIC PIECES
out flat with the WRONG SIDE FACING UP. Take the LINING PIECES for each and lay
them out on top of the FABRIC PIECES. Sew the top of the OUTER and LINING
pieces together of both the FRONT and BACK pieces of fabric. Once you have the
top stitched, sew down each side so you have a lined FRONT and BACK piece. Next
we are going to add the darts and just as the directions indicate, we are going
to now add the darts as though the front and lining are now one piece of
fabric. For the darts you are going to want to sort of pinch and pin those
layers of fabric and then sew them down. If you have a fabric marker or chalk,
marking those darts on the inside before pinning and sewing will work really
well. Follow the directions on how to press and clip the darts so they lay flat
beautifully and you will be just fine on this section. Once I managed to get
the darts perfect on each side I clipped small incisions in the darts just as
in the images. I followed this up with a wide zigzag stitch just so I could
ensure that the fabric didn’t unravel on me. You might feel tempted to cut out
the excess fabric on the back side of the darts but you are NOT going to do
that for 2 very good reasons. One, you are going to use that excess fabric in
the end to sew the boning into the dress. Secondly, even if you decide you do
not want boning, you are still going to want to keep the excess fabric in there
and flattened down as the excess on the seams will provide a little more
support to the bodice area. See Image III below.
Step 3) Woot! We’re
on step 3 already and it’s been really simple so far so I think things are
looking good. At this point you have a lovely and separate FRONT and BACK,
darted, and we’re going to move onto the next step. The directions next tell
you to add the LOWER FRONT and BACK DRAPING PIECES, and then do the same with
the DRAPE piece. I will lead you through as the directions indicate however I
personally have found it best to wait on adding the FRONT and BACK LOWER FACING
PIECES until you have had an opportunity to match up the seams to the FRONT and
BACK pieces. Keep in mind the FRONT DRAPE is added to the FRONT piece BEFORE the
FRONT (at this point FRONT + FRONT DRAPE as 1 piece) and BACK are sewn together
at the RIGHT SIDE SEAM (LEFT side left open as this is where the zipper will be
added).
Despite possibly waiting
to add the FRONT AND BACK LOWER FACING pieces, you will want to add the LOWER
FRONT DRAPE FACING piece to the underside of the FRONT DRAPE, making sure to
tuck in the raw edge of the end of the strip underneath at the top right hand
side of the drape (right hand side when the piece is laid fabric facing out).
*(Unless waiting on
this section until later)-Take the LOWER FRONT FACING PIECE and iron in ¼” to
the lower section BETWEEN notches 1 & 2. You will know which side to
iron under-it will be the side opposite the notches. Iron that down and line up
the FACING FRONT SKIRT with the LOWER FRONT FACING with the RIGHT SIDES FACING
UP between notches 1 & 2. Trim the excess, turn the LOWER FRONT FACING
up, press and hand sew the bottom down. Do the same for the LOWER BACK FACING.
If you have not done so already, you will also want to add the LOWER DRAPE
FACING piece to the FRONT DRAPE and hand hemming up the bottom at this time.
One additional
thing I would recommend, and I did so in my final dress, was fold over ¼” at
the top hem of the FRONT FACING DRAPE along the area that will go across your
waist. If you do this now-before you get started on that lovely bow-you will be
happy later on. I found folding and sewing this area down (to be clear, I only
folded and basted this top piece down to itself-not to the FRONT piece beneath
it) just made it look so very clean later on as I folded and basted this seam
down one more time AFTER I laid the FRONT DRAPE on top of the FRONT piece and
matched up the bow gather with the outer dart on the upper hip of the left hand
side..but more on that later.
Now, add the UPPER DRAPE FACING piece
to the backside of the FRONT DRAPE and then make pleats on the OUTSIDE of this
FRONT DRAPE piece as the pattern indicates. This is another excellent time in
which a fabric marker or chalk will come in handy. If you are working with a
very light fabric such as a silk, you are going to want to not use pins or at
the very least be very careful where those pins end up because you don’t want
tiny holes in your finished product. Some fabrics are very unforgiving when it
comes to such things. In more delicate fabrics, pin marks might not go away. If
I were not using pins or a marker/ chalk on this piece when adding the pleats,
I would just lay this piece out over my pattern and note where a pleat needs to
be and pinching the fabric in my hands, sew the area down, repeat until all of
the pleats have been basted down. In the end I did NOT sew the FRONT DRAPE area
across the tummy down to the FRONT piece.
Carefully baste
down the folded over bow, making sure to adjust the gathers carefully as you
sew this section down. Lay the FRONT DRAPE over the FRONT piece and pin the
RIGHT HAND SIDE (left hand side when outer fabric is facing you) of the DRAPE
to the FRONT. Make sure to align the FRONT DRAPE according to the pattern and
directions keeping the slight sweep of the bow down slightly. You will also
want to match where the DRAPE starts at the right side hip comfortably and also
make sure your left hand side has the gather of the bow falling to the outer
dart that runs vertically on the left hand side. While matching up these areas,
also make sure not to pull the FRONT DRAPE around the thigh area too much.
Unless you have super thin Barbie doll legs, a little wiggle room is never a
bad idea for this area of the piece. In the end, taking care to not pull and
sew down the FRONT DRAPE too tight on the RIGHT HAND SIDE (again, this is the
left hand side when you have the fabric facing out) will later prove the dress
will NOT pull from the back side seam around to the front to compensate and we
don’t want that! Let’s have those lovely lines fall as intended ehh? ;)
Once you have
pinned the bow to the outside of the dress, turn the dress inside out and pin
the RIGHT SIDE of the FRONT and FRONT DRAPE together you will want to take a
moment to evaluate your work. If you have a sewing doll try and just place it
and make sure everything is going to fall correctly as you like it. Make any
changes as needed before you sew the bow down. At this point, as you line up
the FRONT DRAPE over the FRONT panel, you have the perfect opportunity to match
up the side seams of the lower half of the dress. On the RIGHT HAND SIDE where
you have the FRONT and FRONT DRAPE pinned as 1 PIECE, and pinned down the RIGHT
hand side to the bottom hem, you are going to want to trim and align the curves
so they fall equally on each side. If you have decided to line the FRONT and
BACK of the dress as I did with my final (red and white satin) dress, but also
decided to go with the original LOWER DRAPE FACING PIECE for the underside of
the FRONT DRAPE you will want to make sure not only your FRONT and BACK line up
perfectly at the seam, but your FRONT and FRONT DRAPE pieces (almost 1 PIECE
now) fall at the same length as well. Once all of your pieces match and fall as
you want them, hand sew the newly made bow down through both layers of the
fabric on the top side and then turn your dress inside out and sew the side
seam from the top down to the bottom hem. Next add the UPPER FRONT FACING PIECE
to the upper bodice. Make sure to leave about a half inch open at the ends in
which to tucker the zipper in later on.
Here’s the exciting part! We have
officially completed all of the directions from the first page, meaning we are
2/3 of the way done with this fabulous dress! We are now on part 2 of section 3, which
begins on the 3rd page
of the directions. A quick note here in regards to the bow at the hip at the
difference between the two versions. If you scroll all the way up to the
top of this post you will see the image of the front of this pattern. If you
look closely you will notice that the span of the bow at the hip is slightly
more gathered and tighter on the shorter version of the dress and the white
dress in image IV-C shows how the bow on the longer version is a little more
spread out. This is so the longer version has a chance to drape nicely towards
the bottom hem and requires a little more space from the bow span to make this
fall perfectly. We have just added the UPPER FRONT FACING to the FRONT TOP
bodice and now we are going to want to add the boning at this point. Follow the
images in the directions but as you may recall from earlier when we added the
darts, the excess fabric inside that we left with small incisions is now going
to be used to fold over the boning and sew it in.
(tuck the very end of the zipper up into the area where the star design is shown above)
Now move to the
side where you have the (soon to be zipper) opening and hand sew in the zipper.
Some people like to sew zippers on the machines and I do that in a lot of
cases. With this dress, I wanted that zipper to be so very invisible and
perfect so hand sewing was my personal choice but it turned out perfect. I
probably obsessed on the hand sewing for the zipper for a few hours but in this
case, I felt it needed to be hand done in order to ensure perfection, but it
had to be super sturdy and tight too-no one wants a weak zipper and DEFINITELY
NOT for a strapless dress! In order to ensure zipper perfection, you are going
to want to take the zipper-starting with the metal clip indicating where the
zipper itself starts, and line up and fold in this zipper end with the very
exact top of the folded over seam on the FRONT and BACK PIECE (the seam where
the bodice and the UPPER FRONT FACING piece meet). Start with one side-right or
left depending on which is easier for you-and work your way down the zipper
vertically. As you do this, you will find it easier to also add a few stitches
going out horizonally from the folded seam of the UPPER FRONT FACING PIECE on
the right and left hand sides of the zipper as you work your way down. Next,
start again at the top of the opposite side of the zipper, doing the exact same
with this side, working your way down the zipper. Pay careful attention to make
sure your zipper opens and closes easily and make sure the zipper falls flat
while you are hand sewing.
Once you have done
this then you can carefully sew in the bottom piece around the zipper and have
a chance to make sure that area falls flat perfectly. Follow these hand
stitches up with another set of stitches in which you bring the needle and
thread through all layers of the dress (lining, zipper and outer fabric) all
the way down and around the zipper, again taking care to make sure your
stitches do not interfere with the opening and closing of the zipper itself.
Finish this area up by completing the hand sewn fold over of the UPPER FRONT
FACING PIECE all the way around the inside of the BODICE lining. Add the
shoulder straps if you would like at this time, or add buttons for removable
straps, or leave as is for the strapless version. My finished dress below is
strapless. If you have not done so already, you simply have to hand hem the
bottom of the dress up at this point and you are finished! If you went with
adding the LOWER FACING pieces earlier, this bottom hem step should already be
finished.
And then…
Oh La
La! Hello Beautiful!
End Notes:
I have decided to call this dress The Sophia as it was this pattern in particular that finally led me to decide
my heart was truly in fashion design-a lovely choice if I do say so myself ;)
This dress is going up in the shop in a little bit here as a Ready-Made dress
and you will find the listing for custom orders of this dress (in different
fabrics) in the next day or two in my clothing etsy shop @
www.SophiaDeLaMer.etsy.com.
Thank you for
stopping by and I hope these photos help you visualize the perfect summer!
Lindsay
Wow! This really turned out to be an amazing dress. I love the red on the top and the cut-away in the bottom - and of course, the bow. It is a great example of retro sophistication! Seriously. Vintage forever! Hooray!
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