Tuesday, July 27, 2010

McCall 5579, 4th of July Kimono Dress

McCall 5579 Thumbnail

I bought this stretch silk charmeuse in Hong Kong with AllisonC (I think I paid about $3/meter for it). I enjoy subtle stunt dressing and thought it would be perfect for a 4th of July dress, as it is red, white, and blue but not covered with stripes and spangles. Of course, I didn't think so much about the pattern--you can't sit on the ground in this because the skirt isn't very full. I'd had it in mind for this pattern for a year, and in my frenzy of activity leading up to PR Weekend Montreal I managed to get it done! Unfortunately, with this fabric I got what I paid for and it is not holding up well and keeps getting snags. Hopefully it will last a couple years.

That don't suit me at all!


The whole time I was thinking about the dress I was debating whether to do contrast bands in red along the neckline and at the midriff. In the end, I decided not to. I don't know that the Duro look (see my Simplicity 4072 version at right) is now unfashionable, but the rage that lasted a good 2.5 years has definitely subsided.




A kimono look is always in fashion, so I went plain old, figuring I could always dress it up with an obi. The one I'm wearing on the left is from Burda 06-2009-151 obi. The reverse side, which you can see in my Montreal collage below, is a silk brocade a friend brought me back from China many years ago. I have no idea what to do with it, so I was glad to finally use a piece!

Small Bust Adjustment

I did my usual small bust adjustment for a crossover top of shortening the diagonal wrap line. This doesn't have any problems with gaping.


Swayback Adjustment


For the swayback alteration, I split the length reduction between the midriff and the skirt, which worked well. No swayback puddling.


Rather than use facings to finish the neckline, I just used a self-fabric binding. As I recall, I didn't even cut the binding on the bias as the neckline curve is never extreme. I just cut the binding about two inches wide on the crossgrain, pressed into a double fold, sewed one edge to the wrong side of the neckline and then folded over and topstitched on the right side. A nice clean finish without any floppy facings.

M5579 I cut the skirt a little wider than drafted, the full width of my 45 wide fabric, for comfort.

As depicted on the pattern envelope, the sleeves ended up elbow length, which was entirely unflattering on me. I shortened them about 3 inches at the shoulder seam, tapering to nothing at the underarm.



There are zero reviews of this pattern on PatternReview (well, now there is one) and the pattern is now out of print. I am so surprised by both of those! It is a cute pattern and not too complicated, suitable for beginners. This look never really goes out of style, or if it does it has not done so yet. It's as cute or cuter than several other patterns in this vein. Why it didn't get any love, I don't know. If you have it in stash pull it out and see if you have anything that will work for it!


All photos are here and the pattern review is here.












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New Clothes for Montreal

My theme for my trip to Montreal for PR Weekend was red and white because I have a RTW red and white hat I wanted to be able to wear with everything. I had several pieces in my closet, but of course what is a trip without new clothes? Somehow over the weekend before leaving I managed to make two dresses and a top before flying out Monday morning: this dress, the Vogue 1161 Rachel Comey, and another version of the Simplicity 2938 princess seam tank top. That one was quite a coup. I had saved the fabric, leftover from Vogue 2787 for almost 3 years. The fabric I had left was in a long skinny piece. I knew that someday I would find a pattern that would work. And finally, I did. Although, it's probably a bad thing that it reinforced my tendency to save small bits of fabric.

27 comments:

cidell said...

You are looking paticularly svelte in this ensemble. But, where is the jumping photo?

Unknown said...

I love this kimono style dress. The fabric is gorgeous and I really like it with the red belt.
That really was impressive to get all those clothes made before your trip, I especially love your Vouge 1161 dress. And I thought I was doing well by making a last minute beach bag to take with me the night before I left for my hols! lol!

Little Hunting Creek said...

I love the kimono dress - very chic. The obi is perfect with it. As for saving long scraps saying "this will come in handy later" - I have BAGS of those!

Cennetta said...

Trena, This is so cute. What lovely fabric.

Amanda S. said...

The dress is super cute, and great job finding a design for such a large print. That is no easy task.

Jana said...

Aww, I'm totally sad that it's out of print. I have a tendency to add patterns to my "to buy" list after you make them (maybe because we have such a similar body type, so if it looks fab on you it probably will on me too?) - and I was sooo picturing my own version of this cute kimono look. Either way, I love your version! The fabric so pretty, hopefully it holds up for a while

NancyDaQ said...

I love it on you! This one's in my pattern stash so I may need to add it to my project list.

Marie said...

Too bad the fabric is starting to snag. It looks fabulous.

Tasia said...

So cute! The kimono style is so flattering and I love the wide red obi-belt. Hope it lasts until you're tired of it! What a nice-fitting pattern to use again though.
I also have a big bag of funny-shaped scraps that I'm sure have to be useful one day! The problem is forgetting what's in the bag though, the larger the stash grows..

Victoria said...

Trena, you've been on a major streak for making super cute dresses !!! I love, love, love this dress (my jaw couldn't drop any further). So pretty!!!!

Faye Lewis said...

Love them all, especially the kimono with the red belt,

Marjie said...

Here and I thought the red sash was a design feature of the dress. That is what makes it really cute, in my opinion.

Sew-4-Fun said...

I love your dress. Nice use of the fabric. They seem perfectly matched.

AllisonC said...

I wish I had bought some of that fabric too now, snagging or not!

meli88a said...

As always, perfect fabric and pattern match -- this really looks fab.

Mimi said...

Love the photo shoot outtakes! More in the future please :-)

Adelaide B said...

I love this dress with the obi. It's wonderful!

Adelaide B said...

I love this dress with the obi. It's wonderful!

Gail said...

I have this pattern and was wondering how it could be made to look a bit more edgy. So thanks for the idea about the obi belt.

Eugenia said...

Stunning dress! Perfect matching of style and fabric. I love large prints but it's very difficult to get just the right pattern for them - your dress looks fabulous in this bold print. The red belt is the perfect finishing touch.

senaSews said...

Wow, fantastic dress. It is so you! Love the fabric and love it with the red obi belt!

MushyWear said...

What a great dress. I love this style and it looks great on you especially with the red belt. I wish I had that fabric for the current SWAP, I'm working on. It is gorgeous!

Anonymous said...

i love the sleeve on the kimono dress and it looks great with leggings. I forgot about this pattern and happy to say that I have it in my stash! You will be seeing a copycat soon! Looks adorable on you.

Angela said...

Cute dress!! I love it styled with the obi.

mochimo said...

This is really a beautiful dress! I love the print, the fabric and the way it looks on you (especially worn with the leggings and the obi belt).
It is really not my style - I don't own anything that resembles that - but it looks so comfy yet chic that I'm feeling a strange urge to get myself a dress like that at once! :-)

Trudy said...

Love them all. Great photos.

I'll have the pics up from the photo shoot of my latest skirt on Monday. See you then.

Trudy
www.sewingwithtrudy.blogspot.com

Kathi said...

Awesome dress - the fabric is gorgeous and the style is very nice!
I like this one a lot!