12.12.2016

Silk Holidaze

silk holidaze | mcccalls 7387 | oonaballoona by marcy harriell

Things have turned crazyface around here! Alongside the ramp up to the holidays, the business side of life suddenly woke back up and I'm a little (happily) swamped. So, I'm just going to dive right in. On my last Mood Sewing Network post, I talked about the fabric, now I'll tell you about the pattern...

This is McCalls 7387, which I've sewn up twice, and failed at twice, if you consider the fact that I lost a good foot and a half of fabric on each make a fail. I DO. Cuz I did it twice. Twice, people. That's three feet of fabric. THAT'S LIKE A SHIRT'S WORTH OF FABRIC.

silk holidaze | mcccalls 7387 | oonaballoona by marcy harriell

I lost said footage from the hemline. That damn hemline is supposed to be far more dramatic, but each time it came out looking like a Beta Fish tail. Which actually sounds much cooler than it looked. Don't let the description fool you. After a time-out to mull over the fact that I had repeated my error, I lopped it off. (It originally hit just below my calves, the side seam hitting right about where it is now.)

silk holidaze | mcccalls 7387 | oonaballoona by marcy harriell

I omitted the front fly facings after reading several pattern reviews about how wonky those directions were. Maybe I had been influenced by the general opinion, but after one glance at the fly instructions, I decided to bail on it. Instead, I cut an extra 5/8ths, using the selvage as the edge of the shirt. I then interfaced & folded it under once to the back, and once to the front, accordion style, to create a placket. The selvage is the front edge of the shirt. (There's also plenty of triple-stitched fuchsia rayon topstitching, but did I get a shot of that? I did not. Here, squint at this next shot, mebbe you can spy it...)

silk holidaze | mcccalls 7387 | oonaballoona by marcy harriell

As for those sleeves. HEY. Can someone tell me why a dropped sleeve would have so much ease? You don't need the extra movement, since the seam isn't on your shoulder, right? Also: why do we press the seam towards the sleeves on a woman's shirt, but towards the bodice on a man's? I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS. 

After inserting the sleeves, I pressed the seams this way and that, trying to figure out which draped best (man's way did), but still, they hung a bit...poofily. That extra ease at the "cap" on my bicep just wouldn't lie flat. I hacked the sleeves off, losing about 5/8ths from the armsyce, and added the fold over band option instead. Those little interfaced suckers stick out like I'm a silk crepe de chine'd line backer. Football and silk. I'm down.

silk holidaze | mcccalls 7387 | oonaballoona by marcy harriell

They really do wing out! I love them. Finally, I went haywire on the neckline (which does indeed hang straight) and encased it in bias, rather than adding the collar. I didn't see the need for buttons on this go, it feels more artsy this way. 

silk holidaze | mcccalls 7387 | oonaballoona by marcy harriell

Oh yeah! One last thing, I did a center back pleat, rather than the diagonal, swooshy, très artsy pleat in the pattern. Because there's only so much art I can take.

Well y'all, hopefully some of this sew-speak makes sense to you. I'm mainly sharing the details in case you want the same outcome! Although I love my new topper, I'm still looking for that perfect, open shirt-dress pattern, with no waist seam. Got any suggestions?

this silk crepe de chine topper was made with my fabric "allowance" as part of the mood sewing network.

28 comments:

  1. Ohhh SMACK!!! Oona - that is the Schimtz right there!!!! Beautiful!! Look at that!!!

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  2. Stop being gorgeous, please. Thanking you kindly!

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  3. That is fabulous. Love how you made it work.

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  4. Gawjus! You and the jacket. I want that fabric. How do I get it? Not online for sure. Did it have a name? A number? Want to order some right now.
    And by the way, loved your post about the Veteran You Never Knew. Very touching. Made me cry.

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    1. it was an in store buy! you might enter "silk crepe de chine print" in the search bar on Mood's site. I find that brings up more options than using the categories.

      And I'm so glad you like the piece on my Granddad.

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  5. If you hung it on the wall, it would "go" with what is currently up.

    Wearable art! It looks stylish, kicky, and uptown-flattering.

    Thank you kindly for displaying that unhappy alterations and happy accidents can be the same thing.

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    1. i know, right?! i should have called it the painter's blouse :).

      i do like happy accidents. lucky for me!

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  6. I love the wings!! I love the whole garment, actually, much better as a topper. (I have this pattern and just gave up on the whole thing once I saw the back pleats.)

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    1. yeah, those back pleats are weird. but you can easily change it to a regular pleat!

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  7. Thank you for making all of the mistakes. It is perfect.

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  8. This is is incredibly lovely. That fabric! I love fabric that is so beautiful that it doesn't matter how many mistakes were allegedly made. You look so pretty, like a Christmas ornament!

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  9. Thanks for sharing your adventures in sewing. Have you looked at Simplicity 8221? I'm a fan of Mimi G. and she hacks her own pattern and uses a fantastic ikat print on 9/8/16 that gives it a whole different look. Also there's full video instructions on Simplicity's youtube channel for the original pattern. Good luck on finding the perfect shirt dress.

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    1. her fabric choices always make me look at a pattern with new eyes! i'll have to check that one out. how i wish we had a joanns in NY, the simplicity sales are too few to stock up when I'm near one!

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  10. Beautiful! I just found your blog and I love your style. Thanks for sharing

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  11. Oh, this is fantastic! The fabric is so visually appealing, and the combination of beautiful bold colors really lights up your face. Love, love, love this print and the drape of the topper on you. What a magnificent success! Cindy (Creative Hormone Rush)

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    1. hey cindy, thank you! i really thought about getting that fuchsia near my face (that doesn't sound quite right...) so I appreciate you noticing :)

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  12. hi. You might consider Butterick 5526 Misses' Shirt. I got the idea from Fool for Fabric here: http://fool4fabric.blogspot.com/2012/09/one-more-thing-and-happy-anniversary.html She has made it several times. I made it as a shirt first then elongated it to make a knit shirt dress after that. Didn't use cuffs, just lengthened the sleeves. Didn't use the collar either just the tab piece to make it mandarin-like.

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    1. oh WOW. that is too cool! thanks for that link-- though i already follow her, that was before my time ;). what a great take on that pattern!

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  13. "There's only so much art I can take"

    Oona. Oona. What happened to you? Are you okay?

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  14. such a great make! love the color and detail! putting this one on my list.

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i thankya truly for taking the time to comment, i love a good conversation-- and hope you know my thanks are always implied, if not always written!