Light autumn dress

In summer of 2020 I sewed a lot. It was not until late August that I finally realized that this summer would soon be over, and all the nice summery garments might not be worn until next year. Then I regrouped and started thinking of what my autumn wardrobe might look like this year. September was sunny, warm and truly beautiful. That is probably why I set off for light neutral colors and flowy designs. The first autumn dress that I made this year was this beautifully luminous viscose piece.

I used the main building blocks of McCall’s pattern M7994. Instead of ruffled sleeves I decided to make my own sleeve pattern to feature gathered hem. I also chose to line the skirt as well as the bodice, while the instructions only asked for the bodice to be lined. This fabric is somewhat sheer, that is why adding a proper lining to the skirt was absolutely necessary. Eventually I made a narrow belt which was not part of the instructions either.

Few alterations had to be made. As per usual I had to merge size 8 for the shoulders with size 12 for the waist. In addition to that, I chose to lengthen the bodice. At first I added 3 cm, however in the process I realized that this had perhaps been too much and ended up shortening the bodice a little bit. Entire alterations part ended up being quite challenging. Sewing the dress was also not too easy – viscose fabric was difficult to handle while cutting and then while sewing.

Installing an invisible zipper at the back with the lining being involved was quite a feat. It was my first lined dress zipper and it took me a long while to complete the task.

This was far more complex project than it first appeared. Mostly because of difficult fabric, but also due to the lining coming into the picture. However, after all I love this dress! Have worn it few times to work, it is a pity that November came so fast, and for the late autumn this color is probably a little bit too optimistic!

I used key building blocks of McCall’s pattern M7994, drafted the sleeves and the belt myself. I needed 2.25 meters of the viscose fabric and viscose lining for this dress, bought both of these fabrics at my local fabric store. Other notions were thread, invisible zipper, a buckle for the belt and few eyelets. This dress cost me 42 EUR. It was made in September 2020.

Let’s all stay healthy! 🤍

~Giedre~