Last Summer Dress – McCalls M6959 Wrap Dress

As many of you know I spent the summer moving, which much of my summer sewing projects were put on hold. One project in particular that has been on hold since May has been McCalls MP362. It seems that I cut it out right before we started moving, and needless to say it got packed up and forgot about.

Last week after finally getting my sewing stuff unpacked and in order, I came across this project and decided to go ahead and finish it.

I originally decided to make this dress because I received a JcPenny ad that featured the Jessica Howard Sleeveless V-Neck Floral Fit-and-Flare Dress. I loved a fun floral pattern and wrap dress look. Immediately I thought of McCalls M6959  pattern, which I had recently purchased, was a perfect match for the JcPenny dress.

Needless to say I started the project by searching my fabric stash fabric similar to the dress in the ad. While it’s not exactly the same I did find a fun floral that I thought was perfect for the dress, plus I had plenty of the fabric. While it may not be exact I think the dress came out really close to the inspiration dress. 

While it was just about 3 month between cutting the dress and actually constructing it, it’s actually a super quick project. I head no real problem making the dress. The only issues I had came from my lining.

The original pattern isn’t lined, but my cotton fabric was a little see through, so I thought I’d line the dress using a simple white cotton. To make the lining I basically just make the dress twice.

I made view B, which included a collar. I sewed the collar as directed to the main outer dress then with right sides facing I sewed the lining to the outer dress all the way around leaving the bottom open.

Because I had a lining I opted not to use facing for the bodice top, but I did include facing to the skirt and made sure the lining and dress wear sewn at the facing seam.

Again I decided not to use facing for the armhole. Instead I folded both the lining and dress armhole in 5/8” and then top stitched them together.  I could have made it look a little cleaner by using bias tape, but I was lazy.

I did however use bias tape for the outer hem of the dress. The lining hem I made use of a simple rolled hem, nothing fancy.

According to the instructions there didn’t seem to be any attaching parts to dress B to close the wrap dress. The only item used to close the dress is the separate belt. I though was afraid of a wardrobe malfunction and wanted to make sure the dress would not accidentally open. My solution a quick and simple eye hook on both sides of the dress.

Even though one might say it is now autumn the weather is still nice enough that this summer wrap dress can be worn with a cardigan no problem. I love the fun colors and airiness of the dress.

While it may have taken me all summer I’m glad I finally finished this project and hope to get another week or two of wear time of this dress before it gets too cold.

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