I have a problem. A problem that some devoted seamstresses face, in which my love for sewing conflicts with the practicalities of life. As an experienced sewer and old movie buff, I have a particular love of gowns. The more princess inspired, dramatic, and the longer the dress train, the more I love them. Though I don’t always have a legitimate reason to make a beautiful evening dress, that won’t stop me in my pursuit of their creation. Without further ado, here is my latest endeavor starting with the McCalls dress pattern 6701.
McCalls 6701 Dress
Fun, flirty, and deliciously kawaii, that’s how I would describe this finished sewing project. I desperately needed my fancy evening wear sewing fix, but I didn’t want to make something to be worn strictly for formal occasions. That’s when I found pattern 6701, in my stash. I keep a handy sewing pattern excel with all of my sewing patterns just for this purpose. This allows me to find the perfect design for every project, and to immediately know where it’s located. This looked like the perfect handmade couture dress that I was looking for. Instead of sewing it with luxury evening fabric, I decided to pick the most breathable and comfortable day wear fabric – cotton. I also knew from the start that I wouldn’t be walking through central park with a dress train that long either. That’s when I decided that I would also bustle the dress upon its completion. That’s how this McCalls evening gown pattern went from ballroom ready, to fancy day dress appropriate. With a high low modernized twist at the front, this dramatic maxi dress becomes easily wearable to a number of different occasions.
Dress Material
My dress pattern McCalls 6701 is made in cotton and a satin/poly blend. The exterior right side bird print fabric in made in 100% high quality cotton. I’m calling the lining a satin poly blend because it’s from my huge sewing stash of things that I picked up from Denver fabrics. I’ve been hoarding it, as I do many fabrics, and I can’t remember the exact fabric content. I’m 90% sure it’s a poly satin blend. I also switched between using white and white swirl lining fabric on the underside of the dress. Does, “I just wanted to” count as a legitimate reason? I believe it does.
Learn How To Sew – McCalls Sew Along 6701 Instructions
The Funny Inspiration Behind The Bird Dress
My vintage style bustled bird dress was partially made from a random fabric choice and the peer pressuring of a dear friend. I had already decided to create this McCalls pattern long before I ever found the bird print fabric. I was so determined to sew McCalls 6701 that I actually begged my mother to find it in my sewing stash in Kentucky and to mail it to me in New York. Luckily for me my mother is a trooper (mom you’re amazing)! Once I had my pattern in hand, I took a walk through Manhattan and made my way to Midtown and the Garment District. Side by side with my partner in crime, we scoured multiple fabric stores in search for my kawaii fabric.
If you’re visiting my kawaii blog, there’s no doubt that you’ve noticed a central theme. A love of anime, kawaii clothing, and poofy little girl dresses brought this blogger to this moment. I was determined to find a Japanime pastel, girly pink, or baby blue fabric for my dress. After my third visit to one of the many New York City fabric stores I was feeling a bit like Eeyore with my rain cloud hanging above. My companion and I found ourselves located under an awning during our coffee break. We sat quietly munching of a delicious Levain cookie while planning our next move. Three delicious bites of Peanut butter and chocolate cookie later, she turned to me and said, “You know you make everything pink”. I nodded vigorously. Yes, pink is the most kawaii of all the kawaii colors. I was glad she understood this. Then she said, “Ever thought about maybe, ya know, branching out?”. Admittedly I was a little shocked at the suggestion, but after a few more bites of luxury cookie, I was mostly swayed. Back into the sewing stores we went with a new objective. Find an ultra kawaii printed fabric that was clean and simple, but still had a fun print. That’s when we found the 100% cotton bird print fabric with a white background, perfect for my Japanime dress inspiration.
I wish I had some amazing sewing story to tell you about how I drew out my dress along with some epic bird fable that we all know isn’t actually true. How some artist somewhere inspired me, or I had an epic fashion week event to attend. My cotton bustle dress was merely a decision made on a whim. This vintage inspired dress creation started with a sad little girl pouting under an awning, who succumbed to peer pressure made possible by said delicious cookie. The aftermath was a beautiful 18th century dress style with a modern kawaii twist. I couldn’t be happier!
18th Century Dress For Sale
Yes! My 18 century dress bustle design is for sale. Admittedly I loathe to part with my baby that I raised from a wee single piece of fabric, but a girl has got to make a living in crazy NYC! The sooner I sell this amazing modern period dress creation, the sooner I can make something new. If you have any questions about my luxury cotton bird dress, please do not hesitate to ask me. You can email me any questions you may have. You can also post something below. In addition, if you give me your exact waist measurement, I will alter the waist stay to fit you!
McCalls 6701 Review
If you’re thinking of making McCalls 6701, I suggest you watch my sewing videos from start to finish. I cover most of the sewing process step by step, and you’ll be able to see if it’s a sewing task you feel ready to undertake. A few things to note from my experience sewing McCalls 6701.
Sewing Dress Straps
You can make the straps following their pattern piece and guideline. I used ribbon for my dress straps instead. Not only is it much faster, but I truly think it just looks a lot nicer too. With hundreds of kawaii printed ribbon and bright colorful lace to choose from, why make everything match all the time? Dress elements like straps, hems, belts, and decorative additions are your chance to play with the design and create something truly unique.
Sew A Waist Stay
This gathered high low dress style is heavy. Don’t be fooled by it’s lighter than air appearance. That’s just because it’s sewn to look light and airy. That is the look that I wanted, so that’s the design that I gave it. The dress itself isn’t heavy when you wear it, and that’s because the waist stay is installed correctly. If you decide to sew dress pattern 6701, be sure to take the time to install a waist stay correctly. The dress McCalls 6701 pattern is heavy when you hold it. I mean there is a lot of fabric there! If you sew a waist stay correctly that weight will be re-positioned to the waist and the dress will feel light. It’s much better for the wearer, and it’s also much better for the longevity of the dress itself.
Hemming A Large Train
Make sure when you’re ready to hem your dress to consider the exterior fabric and the lining fabric and how they function. Does your lining material stretch more when it’s ironed than your right side fabric does? Did you properly preshrink your materials before you’re started? There’s nothing worse than spending a week sewing a dress pattern just to ruin it in the dryer machine because it shrunk to half it’s size. I washed and preshrunk all of my materials before I began sewing the dress. I also used a lining fabric that would not stretch during ironing. That means when I finished the dress pattern and even completed the under stitching, that the lining doesn’t pop out on the outside. Parfait!
Sewing The Dress Side Seams
One thing I see beginner sewers do that frequently makes their finished sewing project look off is that paying attention to tilt, anchor points, or direction turns. There are many different names for it, but no matter what you call it, you end up with something my mother calls “weirdness”. When observing your McCalls dress pattern pieces you should make note of all the places where the cutting line starts to tilt dramatically into the fuller skirt. That means that those two places on both pattern pieces need to match up perfectly. I cover this extensively in my sewing video. It’s important to ensure that your finished project looks professional. Do not throw together any two pattern pieces from this dress and just start sewing a 5/8 inch seam. No Mame.
McCalls Pattern 6701 Review & Final Thoughts
Overall this is a really great pattern. I think the only step or procedure that I would change would be order of stitching the bodice pieces together and then finishing the hemline. I think from my personal experience it would have been slightly easier to do the opposite. I would like to finish the hem in its entirety, then stitch the bodice front and lining together. I would call this a lower intermediate pattern, It’s not quite hard enough to be labeled fully intermediate in my eyes. The dress will take you probably a full week to finish, it is a lot of work. The sewing steps themselves however are hard difficult to follow. They’re just time consuming. I hope you try the pattern out for yourself. If you do, please let me know! Stay kawaii ladies.
Where to Buy McCalls Pattern 6701
Find where I get my McCalls patterns for cheaper online. When I do pattern price comparisons, this is where I always find the best deals.
