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Wednesday 13 January 2016

McCall's 7244 Dress (Plenty by Tracy Reese)

This is a Plenty by Tracy Reese design for moderate stretch knits, it's quite fitted through the bodice and has a short flounced skirt.  The long sleeves make it a great winter dress addition to my wardrobe.



You can see that I was not at all creative in my interpretation from the pattern envelope!  My fabric is probably a little heavy for this dress, but it still works - it's some kind of stretch woven, probably the weight you would normally choose for pants.  I think a ponte would work really well.



I made a few minor adjustments while making this :
  • omitted the bodice lining
  • raised the v neckline on the bodice (and the front neck facing) - probably not needed, but it looked pretty low on the model
  • topstitched the skirt/bodice seam 
  • added length to the skirt - I could only add about 1cm and then I sewed it to the bodice with a small seam allowance and used a very small hem on the skirt. to gain as much length as I could
It's a pretty straightforward dress and the instructions are clear.  In a ponte you could probably leave off the zipper and make it even quicker to sew.

Other people have said this is pretty short and it is true, ideally I'd like it a bit longer, but those flounce shapes really ate into my fabric and I wasn't able to add any more.  I'm 5'6 so this is something you may want to check and consider lengthening either just the skirt or both bodice and skirt to maintain the proportions.

Having said I'd be putting mainly dress form photos up, here is a slightly out of focus photo of me wearing it!



20 comments:

  1. What a great dress! Love the flippy skirt.

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  2. I had passed this pattern up - but seeing yours makes me consider adding this to the dress queue. Love your fabric choice!

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  3. This looks great on you and I love your fabric choice! Will you make it again?

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  4. Flippy skirts are so much fun! The fabric choice is great - sometimes it feels uncreative to go with something similar to the pattern envelope, but really there are times when the envelope really does a prefect pattern and fabric match.

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  5. Very cute. The length looks perfect to me so you did well in squeezing out what you needed.

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  6. So cute! I really love the print.

    I thought it was short but couldn't reconcile lengthening either the body nor the flounce. Neither felt quite right. But it does pair really well with boots.

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  7. Que bonito te ha quedado, me encanta.

    besitos

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  8. I really like the shape and neckline! Looks lovely on you.

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  9. Often it is the pattern company's fabric choice that appeals to us so why not make something similar? At least for the first one :) Looks great and very flattering!

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  10. Cute! Love your fabric choice. Also thanks for the length tip - I've been wanting to sew this one forever, and I'll definitely have to add to the hem for sure.

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  11. Gorgeous dress. Love the flippy skirt. So glad you posted a photo wearing it because it looks fabulous on you.

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  12. Looks great - thanks for showing the dress on you so we could see the length.

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  13. Very pretty. I think the circle skirt is an extremely flattering shape for the classic hourglass figure.

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  14. This dress really looks nice on you. I recently purchased this pattern and have been checking reviews and blogs on line. It has consistently been a flattering style for many body shapes.

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  15. I just added this one to my cart to take advantage of the sale! Love your version.

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  16. Love it and with tights it is the perfect length.

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  17. Amazing. You look great in this style even with the urban skirt length!

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  18. Great job on the dress, Allison! I have this pattern sitting in the stash - thanks for the inspiration :)

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