04 January 2010

183. McCall's 5621 - Hawaii wedding dress?

Happy New Year! I hope you enjoyed the very best holiday season. I love New Year’s Day even more than Christmas, and this year was no exception. There’s something about the sense of renewal a new year brings that holds a lot of meaning for me.

This year I’ve decided not to set very specific, quantifiable sewing goals. I want to work more on my attitude and approach, developing more patience with and enjoyment of the process, instead of rushing through everything. This might mean actually finishing a project the same calendar month I start it! I will focus on completing last year’s sewing goals this year – including a pants sloper, the Chanel jacket, the 302designs t-shirt refashions, etc. etc.

Shopping the fabric stash is so 2009. For me, 2010 is the year of shopping the UFO’s. That’s what I did here:


I cut out this dress in June 2008! Technically it is my first finished garment of 2010, as it was completed around 2 a.m. on New Year’s Day. :D

The pattern is McCall’s 5621. The self fabric is a floral rayon and the contrast neckband is some polyester peachskin, both from JoAnn’s. If I were to sew this again, I would use a stable cotton for the neckband. This slippery peachskin stuff wasn’t fun to work with, and I don’t think the neckband lays very flat now that it’s done. Other than that, I like the way the dress fits and feels, and am very happy it’s COMPLETE!

I think I will wear this dress to the Hawaii wedding later this month, which is an outdoor wedding. My full review of McCall’s 5621 is over at PatternReview.com.

20 comments:

  1. I love those colors. They look great on you! Isn't it freeing to finish a UFO and not having it languish in your bin? I love that feeling!

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  2. Hey there! happy new year and all that! I love the dress - looks and fits beautifully - I think it and the neckline particularly is a peach! (pun intended sadly)
    x

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  3. Hello stranger! I love this dress. I bought the pattern in 2008 and I definitely want to make it in 2010!! I love the oversized coffee cup--need a bit of caffeine, do you?

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  4. That is so cute, love the neckline.

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  5. Happy New Year, Antoinette!

    The dress is wonderful - I love the intricate shape of the neckline (peachskin be darned!) and the way it frames the collarbone. It will be perfect for a wedding in Hawaii! BTW - I'm insanely jealous over your visit to Hawaii. :)

    I like your unquantified goal for sewing and for taking your time. I can remember learning to sew when I was a girl, and my Mom, Aunties and Grandma were always saying SLOW DOWN! I'm glad now that they were persistant in teaching me all those tedious finishing skills, fitting tricks and how to modify patterns.

    Pant sloper? You rock. It's been on my aspiration list for about 12 years, since PreTeen Son#2 was born. I borrowed a Palmer Pletch book from a friend and was inspired, but never got around to it.

    Have a great week!

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  6. oh that is so sweet! I love that dress - there's a lot of mental clutter that gets tidied up with finishing UFO's and that one was totally worth it!

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  7. That was a nice match of fabric colours. It's one of the things I have trouble with - trying to visualise how two different fabrics will look together.

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  8. Looking good, lady. Happy New Year!

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  9. Gorgeous, as usual! I adore your work. I, too, have a UFO list as long as my arm -- and plan to shorten it this year. (The list, not my arm!)

    I've nominated your blog for a little award. You can find the link here:

    http://obsessivelystitching.blogspot.com/2010/01/blog-awards.html

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  10. Love it!! It's very Hawaiian! It makes me wanna go grab mine and go to the beach. :) Hehehe.. I should've made UFO a resolution , too.

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  11. Happy New Year! Congrats on your first project of the year ;) I actually got a sewing machine for Christmas, so I hope to be sewing a bit this year, too. It was hysterical that you commented on my hair growing out nicely, as I have recently been going around feeling very insecure about it, but now I feel content - thanks :D you wolud surely be able to reproduce my cape/vest for yourself, or here is a link to where you can buy it: http://www.myasho.com/detail.php?id=373&chsid=Y&sid=6
    Mie

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  12. i love the colors & that great neckline! :)

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  13. I think this turned out great. Kudos to you for not giving up on a project from long ago—I would have!

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  14. ooh! Very Great. I love the fabric, colors, neckline and sleeves--in short, everything. How could you have left those cut pieces for so long? keep up the good work--I think I'm going to have to make a stash smashing resolution, or something, I've got waay too many piles of would-be-somethings.

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  15. Thank you, ladies!!!

    @Michelle - It really is the very best feeling! Even better than simply finishing a garment is finishing one that has languished.

    @Laura - Thanks!

    @Umatji - A peach or something more slippery, like a pomegranate.

    @cindy - That coffee cup was a Xmas gift a few weeks ago, and I love the heft. And the capacity, ha! Hope to see your version of the dress.

    @Faye - The neckline is what sold me - open but not low-cut, in contrast fabric, unusual shape. You should try it!

    @Angela Pea - Maybe this is the year for the pant! I have so many that don't fit well that I suffer through. Hope you put some of those great lessons from your sewing heritage to work on pants soon!

    @Mary Nanna - A little sweeter than I normally sew, yes? I am totally trying to follow your example by finishing what I start!

    @Violet - Thanks so much -- this one was a little cheat-y in that the neckband color is in the floral fabric. Frankly, the fact that I used a print at all is a change from my normal solid-color routine. Breaking out of my shell! Or something.

    @Pam - Thank you!

    @Cennetta - And Happy New Year to you!

    @Care - Let's tackle that UFO list! I have a jacket to finish, too. It's so close -- just need a tiny bit more motivation. Thanks for the blog award! I will pick that up and post soon.

    @NGLaLaLa - Glad to know it is a good choice for HI! I checked your version out again on PR.com and on your blog -- yours is so cute but the white neckband would be a gutsy move for a messy eater like me!

    @Mie - Thanks so much for the link to the cape. I really need to get my draping mojo on. I hope those photos help! Your hair looks fab -- just compare it now to the photos from before the cut -- looks like the same style!

    @Wendy - Thank you, dear!

    @Lindsay T - I am somewhat shamed by the garments that are really so close to the end that I don't finish! Hope to keep reducing the UFO's as the year progresses -- thanks. :)

    @Trish - Luck, really -- all the pieces were still pinned to the pattern (I wondered how there were so few pins in my pin bowl when a bunch were stuck in these pattern pieces all along!) and they were all together, with the pattern envelope and instructions. Maybe not luck, but fate. LOL

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  16. I know that feeling... I'm actually planning on making a huge pile of all my need-mending and UFOs, and putting it in the middle of my living room, so I will HAVE to fix them up at some point.
    Very happy-looking dress, juts perfect for a Hawaii wedding!

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  17. this dress is awesome. you are cranking them out. what is shopping the ufo's? oh, i just got it. unfinished objects??

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  18. - looks and fits beautifully - I think it and the neckline particularly is a peach! (pun intended sadly)

    Work from home India

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