McCalls 7626, Playsuit

2023 is proving itself to be the year of the playsuit. After falling hopelessly in love and making two McCalls 8009 playsuits in quick succession, I started eagerly browsing for my next potential playsuit pattern. 

I landed on the McCalls 7626 pattern, with dress, jumpsuit or playsuit variation. I was a little concerned the top could look a bit boxy with its straight neckline and rectangular straps, so knew fitting in the bust area was key to avoid looking oddly angular. 

I made a toile from an old duvet case and made a few subtle tweaks to the pattern. I increased the seam allowance by 1cm (so therefore taking in 2x 2cm) at the underarm and graded back out before the seam hit the waistband. I was concerned that taking in some of the side seam in this area could have made the arm hole too small, so I extended the armhole by a cm at the back and then moved the strap markings over by 1cm too. This seems to do the trick! 

I increased the side seam allowance of the shorts by 1cm at the hips down to the hem. I added this alteration on to the front, back and side panel (/pocket) pieces. 

I added 1.5cm to the top of the inside leg seams (front and back) making the crotch length longer, then graded this down to the hem. This makes the pattern piece more angled instead of being a straight line from crotch to hem. 

Following this, with a bit of trial and error I deepened the crotch curve in the front and back. This can be tricky as the more the curve is deepened, the more you need to clip to allow the curve to actually curve. Of course you don't want to clip too deep during the trial and error stage incase you've over-deepened the curve - then you can't go back! I need a little more guidance on how to not just wing this process and actually apply some alteration wisdom to how deep the curve should be. 

I cut 2.3cm from the bottom hem of the shorts, then hemmed as detailed in the pattern instructions - by turning under a 2.5cm hem and then turning in 6mm from the raw edge. 

In terms of construction, I decided to interface the straps of my playsuit to a) prevent them from stretching out b) help them keep their pointy form and c) add a little more thickness to help them keep their place in the sliders. I was surprised the pattern didn't recommend this. I would 100% do that again. 

I also interfaced the entire back pockets before stitching them. I knew I wanted to have a go at adding some interesting topstitching. I wanted nice crisp lines around the edge of the pockets and I wanted my top stitching to land neatly. I think interfacing really helped with this, particularly when pressing the edges of the pockets into position. 

My top-stitch design was pretty basic, but I'm really pleased with how neat and symmetrical the pockets are as a pair. I want to pluck up the courage to make a more personalised design, turning my initials into a more abstract form or something. A little something to think about before my (inevitable) next playsuit. 

While we're on the subject of the back pockets, I don't know if I have a weirdly proportioned booty, but the suggested pocket placement of the pockets on the pattern was waaaaay off. Thankfully I didn't jump right in and put my pockets on while all my pieces were still flat and unassembled. This would have been easier, however I was waiting for my topstitch thread to arrive in the post and I was too impatient to put the project in hold. This was a blessing in disguise, as when I came to attach my pockets onto my fully assembled playsuit, I found the pattern markings were way too high and the pockets would have sat awkwardly on my lower back. Has anyone else found this? I moved them down by about 2.5 inches after pinning and assessing. I will make this change on the pattern pieces. 

I decided to use a contrast fabric in the side panels, as I thought this would break up the dotty print of the fabric and help show off the design, and also knew that a contrast panel in the side would look flattering for my figure. 

For the pocket bags I used the satin lining that I lined the bodice with. This fabric was well behaved, and I quite enjoy its silky sheen on the inside. 

The straight lines of the neckline lend themselves to some top quality understitching to hold that lining in place. 

I pinned, tacked then stitched the invisible zip into the back. Here my one error became obvious - I should have overlocked the back raw edges. The lining only covers the bodice and waistband edges, meaning that below the band to where I overlocked the crotch seam too was still raw after inserting the zipper. My fabric was fraying hard at this point after so many try-ons, but I couldn't get the overlocker over the zipper to catch the raw edge of the fabric. To save it, I used a modest zig zag stitch from below the waistband to the end of the zip placment which stopped the fabric from shedding any further. 

I love my little rompersuit! I'm so pleased with the fit and I like the chunky straps way more than I thought I would. I quite enjoyed not committing to a strap length by using the sliders too haha! 

Next 7626 has gotta be a denim one with some goldy top stitching right? 

x
Location: Nether Edge, Sheffield
Currently listening to: I'm Gonna Catch Me a Rat, Fabienne DelSol

McCalls 6469, Polo Neck Dress Hack

I'm a bit scared of vintage patterns. There I've said it. I heard rumours their sizing is different to modern day. I'm scared old paper will fall apart instantly with my touch. I'm scared old symbols mean the opposite of new symbols. With this in mind tho I do always have a rifle though the old patterns in vintge shops and charity shops, never knowing what you might find. 

This pattern was inculded in a bundle in my local charity shop alongside other retro work-out patterns. Without being able to delve in and check all the bits were there I bought the bundle, confident that whatever I found inside I would be able to do something with. 

The McCalls 6469 was instantly my vibe. Lil shorts, sporty polo neck, customisable joggers and a hoodie to match. I set to work having a look what was inside the packet. Everything was still intact, but ohh no, that's right, multi size patterns were still a thing of the future when this pattern was made. OK check the size guide........ bust size looks good, hips look err, narrow OH WAIT it's a junior's pattern haha!  

Undeterred by this revelation, I decided to pull out some of the stretchiest rib knit in my stash, take some careful measurements  and proceed with caution. At the very least I'd get to have a bash at making that polo neck placket, even if I ended up with a garment too small.  

As I was likely going to be lengthening the pattern anyway, I decided to throw caution to the wind and extend the top into a dress. I added length and, I won't lie, completely estimated what hips looked like - erring towards overestimating so that I had enough to pin when the dress was on, and find my fit.
 

Before we get to sideseams though, let's chat about that placket. What a joy to make. The pattern doesn't mention using any kind of interfacing at all - is this just a vintage pattern thing where they assume we are all interfacing everything all the time anyway? Not sure, but I didn't have any stretch interfacing so I thought what the hell and swiftly glossed over the idea that we might need some stabiliser in the collar. Maybe the placket could have been a little crisper with the addition of interfacing, but there is no way anyone is going to be looking at it and thinking this. I am honestly delighted with the entire neck. When it came to pressing under seam allowances I was super super careful so as not to stretch out the fabric, and I handstitched the inside of the placket and collar so there was no chance of stretching. 

What else is great about this neckline is. No. Buttons. No. Buttonholes. Absolute party time! Can we just take a moment to celebrate how symmetrical that X is at the bottom of the opening? Pretty lush eh? 

I stitched the side seams by pinning them wrongsides together at 1.5cm then trying on and altering the pins as necessary. I'd got a really nifty fir at the front, but had the same old classic small back fit issues that I have with every single garment. So I did what any 2022 seamstress would do, and I totally cheated by adding a centre back seam/dart, starting beween my shoulders (widest part) then extending all the way down to my bum. There's potentail to overfit here, so I kept in my minds' eye what I wanted. Tight around the hips but still a little sway in the skirt. I spent a long while shifting pins around and puncturing my underarms in the process, but I got there eventually! 

I took 8cm off the length of the sleeves, hemmed them while they were flat with a zig zag stitch and used pattern paper under the machine foot to prevent over-stretching. I tapered what was left of the under arm seam inwards to prevent gape. Was this cheating or is this what sleeves do? I don't know but either was I was really pleased with the outcome. 

I stitched the hem in the same fashion as the sleeves, but this time used pattern paper on the top and bottom of the fabric to really get a glide. I was way too committed by this point to lose it all to a wonky streched hem! 

I love it. I love the simplcity of it, but also the technicality of the neckline. I love how it's sporty, but elegant. I love how it's short but still modest. I love how I could go play golf in it, and I could go to the fancy work party in it... I'm off to do both. C ya x 

x
Location: Arundel Gate Car Park
Currently listening to: Oh My God, P!nk

Mood Sewciety, D'Arcy Bralette

I wanted to fine tune the fit of my second D'Arcy Bralette. This time round I cut a smaller size and slightly increased the side seams. I found cutting the smaller cup size removed the wrinkles around the top and bottom of the cup so definitely did the trick. 

I did find the cut of the underarms was still a little high so I again omitted the second pair of cage straps from the bralette. 

I paired two lovely stretch mesh fabrics from Minerva for this project, dotty for the outside and plain for the lining. I did find these fabrics (particularly the dotty) were a little more stable than the fabric I used for my my black bralette, this added a bit more structure to the bra but also reduced the stretch, making it slightly more of an effort to get it over my head! 

I chose to use ivory fabrics instead of white, which created a softer look against my skin, however I did only have white plush elastic for the straps. I think both the ivory and the white pair well with the gold rings and sliders I used though - adding a glimmer of elegance to my make. 

I had a vision that leaving a sheer panel in the bralette would look kinda cute and sexy, after toing and froing in my brain for ages I decided to go for it and just used a single layer of power mesh for the centre front panels. In hindsight, I think the bralette would have looked better 100% dotty on the outside. I don't think the placement of the cup seam is flattering enough when the cup is so blatantly divided. 

I do love the pairing of the two fabrics, and using them gave my chance to test out the stretch settings on my new sewing machine! I zig zagged pretty much all the seams and opted to french seam the side seams as suggested in the pattern instructions... I think the side seams came out really bulky because if this though and think leaving them flat and perhaps just topstitching close to the stithcing would have created a smoother finish. 

We live and learn though, so instead of rushing to make matching knickers this time, I have a couple more bralette patterns I would like to use the left over fabric on. I am also eyeing up this fabric in other colours (swit swoo to red polkadot power mesh!!).

I think this bralette looks super cute peeking out of the top of things, especially summer vests and open shirts. I'm a big big fan ofthe cage straps and hope I can incorporate them into my own patterns sometime. 

x
Location: Home Sweet Home
Curretly listening to: Stupid Girl, Garbage

McCalls M8009, Playsuit

2022 was a bit of everything. The best year, the worst year, the most productive, the least productive, somehow growth and stagnation both at the same time. I look back on my 2022 sewing and I could stamp it with a big rubber stamp that says DISTRACTED - stay behind after class Ms. Holland.

And I'd be right. I was distrated, distracted growing into my house, distracted falling in love, distracted getting my heart broken, distracted playing badminton, distracted learning golf, distracted trying to learn how to swim, distracted writing songs, distracted letting men buy me dinner, distracted trying to get enough vitamin D, distracted recording songs, distracted getting a new job, distracted getting another new job. It's amazing I managed to get anything made really isn't it? 

I want to cut the crap in 2023. I know what makes me happy. It's making, it's learning, it's putting skills into practice. It's sewing, damn it! I wanted to launch the year with a new pattern I'd never made before that would likely need a few fitting alterations. I'm a big big fan of a playsuit (despite their obvious awkward draw backs), a chairty shop TopShop playsuit find was on heavy rotation in 2022 for various occasions. So I wanted to make my own! Having gained a bit of confidence in fitting crotch and legs after my Simplicity Amazing Fit trousers I felt ready to take the plunge. 

I used what I think was the last of the fabric from the backdrop in the Coco Don't video to make the toile. I cut to the bust size as this is where I always have fitting issues. I suspected, and was soon proved right, that this would cause the playsuit to be a bit short in the body. Visually, you could tell the crotch sat too high and it looked (and felt) pretty uncomfortable. The solution was easy - I added 1.5cm to the length of the bodice band. This meant it sat on my natural waistline and dropped the crotch lower. I also tapered the top of the inside leg seams out a bit where they met, so that the shorts were a little looser around my hips/bum. 

On the top half, I had to take a little out of the neckline to save it from gaping. It was only a teeny tiny bit - I just pinched about 1cm on the neckline of the paper pattern and flattened this towards the bust. When I cut the fabric I trued the new neckline so it was straight. 

The gathering on the shoulders and bust is a lovely touch to this pattern. I was worried it would look a bit bulky when the lining was gathered too but there were no problems. I moved the bust gathers towards the centre by about 1-2cm, as I felt the positioning was a little bit off on my initial toile that followed the pattern. I don't think this was any kind of poor design on behalf of the pattern design, more a case of me doing what I can to try and make my boobs appear bigger! 

Tacking together the side seams and pinning up the back it became quite clear I needed to taper in the side seams at the underarm so that the bodice wasn't loose and lumpy. I increased the seam allowance by about 1.5cm, grading out towards the bodice band. 

This floral fabric has been in my stash for 2 summers now I think?! I never quite knew what to make with it. It became obvious quite quickly that I wouldnt have enough fabric for the sleeves and I would have to use something different for the lining (delves into stash and comes up with some tan statin). I think this pattern was a really good match for the fabric. I added some lightweight interfacing to the outer bodice piece which I couldnt see any mention of in the pattern but I think it was a good shout. The pattern also calls for a 24" invisible zip... The shop onmy had 22", but when I put it in it reallly did feel like it was designed with 22" in mind so there were no problems there. 

The shorts ran a chance of being too short, but before I comitted to the length I compared them to the Topshop playsuit I'd been wearing and they were about the same length. I overlocked the raw edge and turned up a tiny hem. 

Lastly, as the sleeves were a no-go I opted for bias bound armholes. I dont actually ever recall doing bias binding before where the whole band is turned inside! It went well, the armholes definitely had the desired neat finish, but I 100% did not enjoy handstitching down on the inside. Next time I will make the armholes a little wider as I don't think I compensated quite enough for how much I lost by increasing the underarm side seam width. 

The pattern is really cute! I'm glad I was couragous enough to try the plunge neckline, the alterations I made definitely allowed me to get away with it. Looking forward to getting my pins out this summer! 

x
Location: Sheffield Botanical Gardens

Currently listening to: Universal Cinema, Gaz Coombes