McCall's 5292--A New Dress for Me

When we got home from church this evening, I remembered that I had not yet posted about this dress.  So I quickly handed my daughter the camera and we managed to get a few decent shots before the light was totally gone.  I'm hating that it's getting darker earlier and earlier again!  Didn't summer just start?  I'm not ready for fall yet, even though my calendar keeps reminding me that school starts up again in a just a few short weeks.  Anyway, on to the dress...

I've had this pattern in my stash for quite a while now.  I always thought it was cute, but for some reason, I never made it until now.  I'm so glad I did!  I wore it to an outdoor wedding last night, and to church today.   I love the way it turned out, although there are some definite changes I had to make in order for it to fit me correctly.

I decided on view C.  First, I cut a mock bodice in the size indicated on the back of the envelope, according to my measurements.  This happened to be a size 18.  However, it turned out HUGE!  I immediately assessed the situation and determined that I needed to cut two different sizes--a size 12 for the upper bodice, and a size 16 at the waist.  Now, the fit in the bodice was fine, but the neckline was still much too wide, and the straps were too narrow for my liking and kept falling off my shoulders.  So the biggest change I made to this pattern was widening the shoulder straps and moving them over a bit.  In retrospect, I wish I would have moved them over even farther, because they still tend to want to slide off my shoulders a bit.  And my bra straps always want to peek out in the back.  I hate this!  So in the meanwhile, I correct this problem with safety pins, but I've been busily thinking about other ways to permanently fix this.

In this back view, you can easily see how close the straps sit to the edge of my shoulders.  If I make this dress again (and I probably will), I will definitely move them further in. 

Even with the strap issues, I really do love this dress.  I used a quilter's cotton by Robert Kaufman called "Flower Shop, and I lined the entire dress with a 100% cotton Ralph Lauren sheet that I picked up at Goodwill for a few dollars.  Re-purposed sheets are wonderful for sewing projects, and so much cheaper than buying comparable fabric off the bolt.  I LOVE lining the skirts of my dresses--they just hang so much nicer, and you don't have to worry about wearing a slip.

And speaking of weddings (I DID mention that we went to a wedding yesterday, didn't I?) here's a picture of my little flower girl in action.  We couldn't have asked for a better performance.  Of course, being that she's only three, I didn't think it would hurt to bribe her a bit with the promise of a set of Polly Pocket Disney Princess dolls.  She smiled.  She strolled.  Flower petals were scattered with great determination.  Success.  And of course, she looked adorable.  What more could be asked for in a flower girl?