McCall's 6744 Dress (out of print)

Knit dresses really are my everyday go to in our hot humid Hong Kong summers so I'm always happy to try a new variation.  I realise that goes against conventional wisdom to only wear natural fibres, but I've found that this is what works for me.   They are also fantastic for travel because they pack up pretty small and don't crease.

I picked up this pattern in a recent clearance sale and it is now out of print.  It seems to have been a popular pattern based on reviews I read, but I guess they've got to make room for the new stuff that is always coming out.

McCall's 6744

I wanted to make view C, another wrap dress, but I swapped out the wrap skirt for the plain one.  I made it twice actually, one knee length and one maxi, both ITY jersey fabrics.  It is basically a knit version of the dress in my previous post so I suppose this is the shape I am going to be wearing all summer!



When I took out the pattern pieces they looked huge so for once I checked reviews before cutting anything and most said that this pattern had a lot of ease and recommended going down one or two sizes.  I checked the actual measurements on the pattern pieces and decided to make the XS which is ridiculous as I am nowhere near that size (I'd usually start with a 12).  I know the big 4 used to get a lot of flack for having too much ease in their patterns, but I haven't found that to be the case in their newer releases (interestingly Beth said the same thing in the comments on my last post).

Once the sizing is sorted out this is a very quick and easy make - there's not a lot to say about it really.  I made the shorter black and white dress first and it feels a tiny bit high waisted for me.  On the second maxi version I ended up pressing and sewing the elastic casing down into the skirt rather than up as per the pattern instructions and that seems to be enough to sort out where the waist sits so I will make the same change in the future.

I need to remember to stitch down my seam allowances in the casing area before forming the casing as it was extremely frustrating when my elastic attached to a safety pin kept getting stuck underneath seam allowances!  I also stitched the bodice closed at the overlap by sewing on top of the existing line of stitching.

I can definitely see this being a staple in my wardrobe - long, short and with all the different neckline variations, both for the approaching hot summer days and with a light jacket over for in-between seasons and fierce air conditioning.