Pattern Review McCalls 6760

Posted on Nov 19, 2013 | 2 comments

I bet you’ve been wondering where I’ve been huh?!  Well… besides finishing up making wine, I just started on another mission… apple butter and applesauce!  Several of the family favs so they are necessary items for the pantry.   To complete the juggling act I have also been sewing…  and sewing…  and sewing on the same damn project!  Don’t get me wrong, I am really excited about the project I chose and I can’t wait to wear it but… well, let’s start at the beginning.

The pattern I chose for this project is Fashion Star McCall’s 6760.  I love the dress but I feel totally charmed by the jump suit.  Yeah I know – jump suits haven’t been cool for a long time – not since Diana Rigg rocked them in the original Avengers T.V. show.

I’ve seen a few in clothing catalogs recently but with skinny legs.  I can wear skinny jeans, have five pair of them, different colors, several in prints but truthfully, I have to be in just the right mood to wear them, which is most of the time NOT.

The pattern calls for Georgette, Jersey or Crepe de Chine fabric.  The jump suit looks gorgeous in what appears to me to be Royal Blue and I considered this but then decided that I would go classic black because the holiday season is right around the corner and I needed something elegant to wear.

I found several Jersey fabrics on-line  that I really wanted to buy but without being able to see and touch the fabric, I couldn’t bring myself to clicking the pay the “Your Total” amount key for 3 yards at $16.99  plus shipping!  Since I go to Beaverton frequently, I decided that a Mill Ends Fabric Store visit was in order.  I imagined a row of black jersey somewhere in the finer fashion fabrics section.  WRONG.  There was nada, zip, zilch, zero! I was in a total awe crap mood when I then stumbled across some black Rayon.  I struggled with this notion because while Rayon drapes so beautifully, it is a wrinkle magnet!  After about another half hour of wandering, I finally threw my fate to the wind and decided that I would make my jump suit out of Rayon!

For my lining, I wanted something matte and that would hang similar to the Rayon so I ended up with a slightly stretchy 60 inch matte “lining fabric”.  Yep, that’s what it was called and so I don’t know exactly what it is but it complimented the black Rayon so beautifully that I decided not to argue about it and purchased it as well.

Now that I had my fabric, I was ready to make a muslin for my fitting.  I didn’t cut the entire leg pieces, just a shorty version.  I’ve gotten very adept at making muslins; I go through lots of muslin fabric.  But… this is not because I am smart… this is because I learned the hard way by making too many garments that flopped!  Anyways, one of the things I quickly discovered was that the design of the back bodice was going to be a problem.  While it was really stylish with it open clear down to the top of the high and wide waist band, it was going to show my bra strap where it hooks.  There was no way I was going to give my female cupcakes air time so I decided to create an insert just high enough that it would cover the strap of the bra I would be wearing!

My designed insert was to be 1 1/4 inches wide, 3 inches long and tapering to nothing at the bottom.  It had 5/8 seam allowances around it.  Somehow I ended up with  extra width on the bottom, 1/4 inch to be exact which actually worked out quite well.  This is a picture of the pattern piece I drew up.

Using my new insert pattern piece, I cut three, one from the Rayon and two from the lining fabric.  I sandwiched the rayon piece between the two lining pieces and sewed top, bottom and one side.  There was some planning here because when I turned it right-side out, I wanted the rayon to be on the outside with the raw selvages open on the left side.  Then I laid my insert face down, selvages flush with those of the left bodice back, 5/8 inches up from the top center back edge of the waist band.   Now I was ready to sew the lining to the bodice per the instructions on the pattern which would enclose the selvages of my insert and voila.  Here it is.

So why did it take me so long to make this garment?  Well there were actually two reasons.  The first…  I chose Rayon.

I wanted  flow-y and drape-y but I knew that it would cost me, more than just the purchase.  Now that I look back, I had to really take my time cutting out my pieces but with the sewing, it went better than I expected.  I just had to take my time and be one with the fabric!  Time!  That’s the part I need to reiterate!  I couldn’t plow through the sewing process the way I usually do, I had to be patient.  EWWWW!  And I didn’t sip wine while I was sewing because I had to stay keen and alert, not relaxed! I think that’s why it took me so long though.  I should have been MORE relaxed!  Note to self:  Drink more wine while sewing!

Reason 2)  I don’t know about all of you but I have concluded that sewing with black fabric, black thread, black lining and black interfacing sucks!  You can’t see!  At least that was what I struggled with.  Everything was the same color and so… black!  I love to wear it but I don’t like sewing it.  One thing for sure, I definitely need to improve on the lighting in my sewing area.  Majorly!

Here is the finished insert that has two small BLACK snaps.

Here is a fuller view that includes the upper back.

This is an inside view with the invisible zipper down in the back.

The shoulders gather with ties that you make sewing long one inch strips folded in half lengthwise.  I hate making these when you are asked to sew the ends closed and turn inside out from the center.  I decided to do it my way and knotted the ends.  It may not look quite as finished but I rather like it and that’s what counts right?

The pattern instructions also had you top-stitch all of the bodice as well as the waist band and hem.  I am usually pretty good at top-stitching but I wasn’t liking the results I was getting sewing with Rayon.  I also thought the bodice looked more elegant by not doing this given the fabric I chose.  My daughter concurred so I was happy with my decision!

I tried to get a nice close up shot of the front bodice but it was kind of difficult because the Rayon was so slippery.  This is the best I could do.

I guess it’s time for show & tell… my new jump suit!

This is the back…

Gotta show the legs!

And… I got brave and gave my glamorous jump suit “pockets”.

It is actually quite comfortable.  The real test however will be sitting in it.  If there are going to be wrinkles, I think that’s when it will happen.  I’ll have to get back to you on that!   Until next post…

Salute!  Jessica

Black Diamonds Costume My Way

Posted on Oct 31, 2013 | 0 comments

That special evening is almost here!  The count down has begun and we are preparing.  Carved pumpkins will be our sentries standing guard at the threshold of our front door and there will be candy treats for our evening visitors.  This is only part of  the evening of fun.  At our house, everyone dresses up on Halloween and we celebrate with a harvest supper!  This year, turkey and stuffing, rosemary potatoes with gravy, candied yams and baked apples!   So what is my costume going to be?  Well… have you seen the movie “Moulin Rouge“?

Photo:  Wikipedia.org

It is an Australian-American musical that came out in 2001.  At the time, I was attending Linfield College and this movie was one of the hottest topics around campus!  I have watched it enough times through the years that I’ve lost track of just how many.  Why?  Because I loved the songs and I loved the acting, but even more, the costumes were phenomenal!  The one that caught a lot of eyes was this one… the Black Diamonds costume.

Photo from:  Costumer’s Guide to Movie Costumes

You can find it done up on a number of costume maker sites in their renditions, each as gorgeous as the other.  I am therefore certainly not alone in my “black diamonds costume” infatuation.

I do have to share a word of warning though to any of you that would be interested in creating this costume.  It requires lots and lots and lots of bugle beads, rhinestones and bugle bead fringe so be prepared to bead heavily for weeks,unless you are one of those super-dooper beaders,  and plan on spending some money.

There is obviously not a pattern for this costume.  I spent a great deal of time searching the internets and studying pictures and any other postings that shared any details relating to it.    My version is what I thought I saw, utilizing what I could find available.  I purchased my supplies as I moved through the making of the costume so that it wasn’t a cash crunch all at once.  I have worked on it  for several years now… wore it to one of my costume parties.  But… the tails were never done properly to my liking because I got tired of beading and couldn’t justify spending any more money.  Then several months ago, I decided that I wanted to share it with you and so knew what I needed to do first.  I removed the tails from the corset, rebuilt them, purchased MORE 3 inch bugle bead fringe from Fultons Trims, then attached them back onto the corset.  My “Black Diamonds” costume is now ready to wear tomorrow night and to share with all of you!

So starting at the beginning… the shape and style of my corset came from Simplicity 5006.

It’s made up of 10 pieces, three for each front side and two for each back side.  I didn’t follow any of the constructions directions since I spring boarded off into my imagination after cutting out the pieces!   I used 11 (eleven) strips of 1/4 inch spiral steel boning (center, front, front sides, back sides, back and back edges) cut from yardage I purchased along with casings from Corsetmakingsupplies.com.  The outer layer of the corset and the tails were made with Faille fabric that I purchased from Mill Ends in Beaverton, Oregon.  I underlined the Faille with Coutil from Tutu.com.  For the lining, I used black Batiste though I don’t remember where I purchased that.

Before I lined it, I begin sewing the rows and rows and rows of strings of bugle beads.  After this, I used sew-on Lochrosens Austrian Crystals in 4mm, 5mm, 6mm and 7mm sizes purchased from Fulton’s Trim, in sort of a fish scale pattern over the entire corset and the binding along the bottom after the corset was finished.  I noticed that my link shows these crystals to be closing out. 🙁

Photo:  from Fulton’s Trim

It is hard trying to take pictures of the corset with all its amenities but for starters, here is the front of the corset itself.

And the back.. I chose hooks instead of lacing.

The lapels are shaped similar to a peter pan collar but are actually individually sewn onto the corset.  The pattern of beads, sequins and glue-on flat back rhinestones from Fulton’s Trim are in a pattern that I felt somewhat matched images I’ve seen.

Photo from:  Fulton’s Trim

They are trimmed with  silver crystal rhinestone chain #24 purchased from JoAnn Fabrics, however I purchased it in the store in the trim section.

The straps are constructed from the same silver crystal rhinestone chain.  I sewed a strip of it on each strap made from the faille fabric I made the corset from.  I also sewed a short strip of elastic on the back end of each strap for comfort before applying them to the corset.

At the lower front you can see a mass of layers of bugle beads strung in individual lengths.  Yes… I beaded it all!  My understanding is that this is called a modesty panel.  I made my fringe modesty panel using 1/2 inch heavy twill tape.

There are several layers that I sewed together before attaching the whole unit to the front of the corset.  The lining comes down over the twill band so it looks finished inside.

The tails start at center back, following the bottom edge of the corset towards the front of the hips.  They are covered with layers of 3″ bugle bead fringe that I also purchased from Fulton’s Trim.  Hey!  I was tired of sewing bugle beads… I think you can totally understand!

Glued along each band of fringe (except for the top band) are rhinestones in 3mm, 4mm, 5mm and 6mm sizes, all purchased from, yes, Fulton’s Trim again.  But I did order a second batch from  Dreamtime Creations.  Clearly I needed a form of modesty for the back so I made a bustle of netting that snaps to the corset on the inside but peeks out between the two tails in the back that you can see above.  The original costume tails were more narrow leaving a wider space between them for JUST the netting!  I decided to not be so bold except I think I should have made the netting shorter.

There is a border around the tails made up of bugle beads, regular crystal beads, more rhinestones and french sequins.  The edges are trimmed with the silver crystal rhinestone chain #24 that I used on the lapels and straps.

Now… it is time for the accessories!  Oh yes… they are what bring it all together!

You have to have stockings of some sort.  I was going to wear fish net but I can’t locate my pair.  Ended up wearing Hue hosiery in stripes.

Long opera gloves are in order.  The actual gloves for this costume were leather which would have been sweet but too spendy for my budget.  Besides, I never wear gloves… except for snowmobiling!

Of course when there are tails involved, you must include a top hat!  I needed a fancy hat band so this required a bit more of the silver crystal rhinestone chain that I sewed together into a triple strand.

Jewelry most definitely!  Earrings to be exact.  My daughter got them for me and they are so perfect for this costume.

There is still one more important thing needed… shoes!  This was a bit of a challenge for me.  I hunted a while and finally found the perfect pair of bare black suede shoes from Famous Footwear.  Then.. the real fun began when I started decorating them.

Now all that’s left is showing you the real deal.  I just love blingy glitzy glam!  It’s too bad that Halloween is only once a year!

Okay… guess I’m having too much fun.  How about this?

The tails from the back… still not liking what I see.   Maybe a bow?  Hell!  Who likes to see their back side!

Fun is increasing with self-medicated chardonnay!

Just having way too much fun!

So  I guess this is the end of  my 2013 Costume Fashion Show.  Hope you have enjoyed it.  It’s been a lot of fun but I am getting sort of antsy to get back into sewing clothes that can be worn in public!

As a side note, all my grape must has gone through primary fermentation and quietly resting until it finishes its business.  In a couple of months we will be bottling it up and then let it lay until it’s time for the official coming out party.  Mmm… can’t wait!  With that.. Have a fun Halloween!

Salute!  Jessica