McCall’s Pattern 6885

As crazy as it sounds, I’m trying to spiff up my summer stay-at-home wardrobe. I’m set for going-out clothes, but workout pants and t-shirts don’t cut it anymore. This means I have one of those loaded closets with nothing to wear unless I want to be all dressed up with nowhere to go.

I even turned to eBay for a few things, but Ready-to-Wear clothing no matter how expensive or cheap has its pitfalls. Everything needed an alteration of some sort, and it didn’t take long to hop back on the sewing train.

I simply LOVE sewing with stripes! Instant embellishment and major design impact happens just by rotating the grain of the fabric.

After hemming Katie’s shirtdress last weekend, I googled “Blue & White Shirtdresses” before pulling out McCall’s 6885, a favorite tried & true pattern.

I ordered Mood Fabric’s Medium Blue Candy Striped Stretch Cotton Poplin in February with another pattern in mind. That was BEFORE the Coronavirus Pandemic. The poplin now seemed to be the perfect choice for a casual shirtdress. (to see Mood’s stretch poplin choices click HERE)

To add visual interest to the dress, I cut the placket, collar band and sleeve tabs on the cross grain.

and finished the pockets with a 1/4″ bias trim.Last year, a book club member kindly passed on her button collection to me. I especially love the gold buttons and was eager to use them on the dress…………

…..but white buttons seemed to be the better choice for the type of garment I wanted. Speaking of buttons…. Mary Funt demonstrated using the chisel as a buttonhole cutter in Florida. I was impressed by the clean cut and bought a set of chisels from Lowes.

Place the buttonhole on a piece of wood, center the chisel over the buttonhole and tap with a hammer. The buttonhole will be perfectly opened

I also made a sash in case I want to dress it up, but it’s a wee bit short once the belt is tied….

and I’m resisting the urge to dress it up….. As with my last shirtdress, I followed the same procedures using French Seams in the shoulders, sleeves and side seams, and  I shaped the back with darts.

I don’t equate casual with sloppy, but every style takes effort. Fortunately, for the classic shirtdress, the effort is in the sewing, not the wearing – it’s one-stop dressing at its best . Stay safe, dear Readers!

 

Until Soon