M6073

Peace.

Good people its Monday morning!!!!!

Frivolity aside… I was a-sewing this weekend. I have wanted to make several frocks and tops for months. And I have had the time, just not the inclination. That mojo thing is tricky. My mojo has been gone for so long, that I didn’t even know that the PR website had changed! But this weekend I had an event to attend and nothing to wear (also I hadn’t done laundry) so off to the sweat shop I went.

I made good on my word and went with a true plus sized pattern in M6073. I decided to be bold (also I didn’t have the time, since I stated cutting at 8am and I had an event at 3pm) and not make a muslin. I had ample fabric to remake parts if they were too small.

I have to say… I’m not mad at how everything turned out. I was able to make this dress out of the envelope with only small tweeks. I didn’t even do a fba! That was shocking.

This dress is all black. I don’t think I ever mentioned this before, but I’m a widow. When my husband died, 11 years ago, I wore black for one full year. It was one of the things that brought me back to sewing. I needed all black clothes and I couldn’t really find exactly what I was looking for. Once I came out of Black, I stopped wearing it all together. It reminded me, literally, of a dark time in my life.

Pattern Description:
Pullover dresses A, B, C, D are above mid-knee, mid-calf or ankle length with bodice and skirt gathered into front midriff with elasticized raised waist and stitched hems; dress B has midriff; dress D has contrast bodice and front midriff.

Pattern Sizing:
18W-24W. I went with the 24W according to the finished measurements

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?
Yes

Were the instructions easy to follow?
Pretty much. Like a lot of the reviews, the binding was stupid and if I make this dress again I won’t do it that way again.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
Liked: I liked that it fit my J-cup boobs without a FBA and I don’t look scandalous. I like that it is a maxi dress.
Dislike: the binding directions, I didn’t like the midriff piece. And the directions were murky on this. The pattern said cut 2 but you only used 1? Was I supposed to interface one because I didn’t? I used them both. My rationale was it would provide a little stability (plus it was already cut). Just using 1 piece was asking a lot from my fabric. And if I was going to make it a contrasting color, it would look funny with just the midriff in the front.

Fabric Used:
This fabric was NOT cotton. I buy a lot of fabric from a mom-and-pop store. I have explained to them, how I need to only have cotton touch my skin for various reasons… They ASSURED me that this fabric was cotton. The lighting is bad in that store. And I took their word for it. (It wasn’t written on the bolt) Did a burn test. This is CLEARLY some type of polyester knit. BUT….. YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR. Thankfully I’m just hot and not itchy yet. Hot polyester will make you smell like a fat girl….

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:
I shortened the long version by 2” and it is still really long. I have to wear 2” heels or the skirt drags the floor. I may shorten it even further. I want to wear it with flats but I don’t want my shoes to show. I didn’t gather the shoulders. I was going to, after the fact… but I like how it looked without. No worries about my bra showing. (I know you can see my bra in this pic… that’s because I washed clothes late last night and didn’t have a black bra that was dry. The white bra is my 1 emergency bra, otherwise I only wear dark colored bras)

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
Absolutely. I plan to wear maxi-dresses until I die. Seriously. It is in line with my Culture and they’re comfortable, so why not. This is a TNT maxi-dress pattern. I can see me adding sleeves to this for a cold weather version.

Conclusion:
I guess Plus sized patterns work better with my body. I can admit that. But the selection is wanting. So I will probably be making Misses sized patterns still, but the plus sized ones will be my go to’s. This dress seems slimming….. I don’t know if that’s me or the black….. Anywho, I love it!


Peace