Plaid Shirt Dress
I'm super excited for fall and with fall comes... PLAID. The store I work at has become inundated with plaid. And as such, I decided to make something with plaid! Show off the product! Also, (because it's me) I decided to combine my love of dresses and plaid to make the charming McCall's 6885 View D.
It's basically a shirt elongated into dress form, perfect pairing with some leggings for comfort and cuteness.
I got a giant plaid pattern repeat to assist with pattern matching and there weren't many pieces. Doing this preemptively really helped keep the headache down.
One thing I did notice was that the back of the envelope had measurements that suggested I would wear a size 14 (in sewing size which is different than store sizes mind you!) but when I looked at the pieces I would fit better in a size 8. Which is a pretty big difference! And another thing is the view illustrated on the front has a distinct curve along the waist and hip, but the actual pattern pieces don't. In fact the bust and the waist ARE THE SAME MEASUREMENT. I took a photo but it didn't turn out well. These are things that really frustrate me but I kept going on my sewing adventure.
Here's the front and back and I think I did a great job finding the centre of the pattern. Strike three: there's a pleat in the front that seriously confused where the actual MIDDLE would be.
When cutting plaid it's best to cut one piece at a time and for the love of god don't cut on the fold. Even if it tells you to. Why? Because then you mess up. If it's not folded perfectly your side pieces won't match and people will notice and judge you. DON'T DO IT.
Also for help with plaid I found a great image on Pinterest:
Notice they aren't all lined up all along the top or bottom (like all starting from the grey line and going down from there). And it will be tempting to do that! But if you do that they won't line up when sewn, and when worn will look like a hot mess. By putting sleeves beside the top this way, when worn the plaid matches.
I took a day to trace out my pattern onto paper and add some to my hips and leave the bust in the smallest size, then a full two days (7AM to 10 PM) of sewing. Granted, I'm very particular about pattern placement and I've never used this pattern so those things add time. I also ended up cutting out the fabric belt and front pockets in order to accommodate my plaid. Always buy more when you're working with plaid, I didn't.
After everything it turned out great! I would 100% do this pattern again. I can't wait to get cozy in my brushed flannel shirt dress!
