Blue Crush: McCall’s 6754

You know those moments in sewing when you come across a pattern that you just know is going to be a winner? I love those moments.

McCall’s 6754 came out a while ago, but has been in my mind for a while. Enter a pattern sale and some lovely versions from Sewn by Ashley on Instagram and her blog. I also found an amazing striped version by Bobbins and Whimsy that I need in my life. Not to mention the countless other gorgeous versions out there.

Let’s just say the pattern went to the top of my list pretty quickly. I’ve also been feeling like I haven’t found my perfect knit dress pattern. I sewed a lot of Colette Monetas last year, but none of them have really been permanent fixtures in my wardrobe, except for maybe the gold spandex one, which I wear often on nights out. My issue with the dress is the clear elastic. After wearing it for a bit, I find the elastic irritating. It’s fine for a night out to see a show or dance in, but not for a full day sadly. I’ve thought of using different elastic for it, but overall I’ve realized I am just not a fan of the dress. Last year, it served as my gateway drug back into sewing, but this year my skills are better and I realize how many fit issues I have with that pattern. The neckline never quite fit me right and the armholes bunched at the top of the bust. I’ve also sewn the Colette Myrtle and the Bluegingerdoll Violet dress. Neither of them are my perfect knit dress. I like both of them and wear my versions often, but I haven’t had a desire to sew a bunch more of them. Although, Mary’s recent Myrtle dresses make me want more! I have to go hunting for a lovely drapey rayon knit similar to my recent comfy womfy dress.

My favourite styles of knit dresses are always ones with two things: princess seams and circle skirts.

I own/owned a bunch of Modcloth dresses like this:

I have it in a mint and coral colourway. I used to have it in purple, but sadly I did the typical Andie thing and stained it horribly. There are raglan sleeves there, princess seams, and the skirt is a circle skirt. It’s perfect. I am not a fan of the waistband, though. I have belts for that.

The only thing is that I don’t wear them that often to work, because that v dips quite low.If I wear them to work, I usually button up a cardigan and toss on a scarf to keep the cleavage under wraps.

Outside of work, I could not care less. Cleavage is a wonderful thing!

M6754 was destined to be a favourite knit pattern. In view D, the dress has raglan sleeves, princess seams, and a circle skirt. In view B, the dress has no sleeve, bust darts, and a circle skirt. Both view B and D for the dress have a great shape to them and are perfect for what I wanted in a knit dress. The pattern also calls for elastic at the waist. I am not entirely sure that I will make view A or C, the peplum tops, but you never know.

My main issue with Big 4 knit patterns, however, is the amount of ease in them. I haven’t come across one that uses negative ease yet. Size down. Waaaay down.

I have a muslin of view D in the works, like I had planned out, but I set it aside for the moment due to fit issues and chose to make view B instead. Lately, I haven’t been able to stick to my plans. It’s completely outside my norm. I usually sew according to a plan and occasionally sew outside of that with pattern testing or other things that come around. Overall, though, the plan is what guides me. Not lately. I’ve decided to not really plan out my fall sewing because of that. I will be taking part in FESA again this year, but I will categorize my sewing projects as I go (this being a fabulous frock!) and won’t be doing a planning post. I still find it useful to do an end of season round up.

View B turned out lovely. The dress is a really fast sew and goes together well. I made the size XL. My measurements are pretty far outside what this size calls for. XL bust ranges from 42-44 inches, but my bust is 50 inches. You’ll have to do a bit of thinking when choosing your size. I chose my size based on my high bust measurement and the fact that view D in XXL ended up pretty large.

The fabric for the dress is a polyester quilted knit. It’s a heavier weight fabric and great for the transition weather we are going through. Some days it’s fall weather here and other days it’s summer weather. I chose to make the sleeveless version because of the unpredictable weather. I sewed the whole thing on my serger except for topstitching the bands, which was done on my machine. I finished the hem by serging it.

The pattern doesn’t call for bands for the neck or arms, but it’s my preference to have these rather than not. Unfortunately, the fabric doesn’t really have great recovery and the bands got stretched out from sewing them, ripping them out, shortening them, and then sewing them again. I’m just not willing to rip them out again. They mostly sit flat except at the back and a little at the front above my cleavage. Oh well!

Here are the insides. They look pretty good. For my next version, I will need to raise the neckline and do a narrow shoulder adjustment. I had to get rid of a couple of inches from the top of the shoulder. The straps fall down and that means I will have to do some other adjustments.

Enough about the pattern, here are pictures! One features my recent Jenna Cardi in white.

TL:DR Review

• Pattern: M6754
• Pros: Super fast pattern. Great shape and style.
• Cons: Runs really large. No negative ease whatsoever! Size down significantly. Star lost for this reason only.
• Make again?: Definitely. Possibly make far too many!
• Rating:  4/5 stars

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