Another addition to Clare’s summer wardrobe – McCalls 7079.

McCalls describe this as follows: GIRLS’/GIRLS’ PLUS DRESSES: Pullover dresses have back bodice and skirt variations and raised waist. B and D: back bands. A, B and E: narrow hem. C, D and F: gathered skirt and stitched hems.
Designed for medium-weight moderate stretch knits.
FABRICS: Cotton Knits, Interlock, Jerseys, Novelty Knits.

We chose to sew view E, with the flared skirt, short sleeves and back cutout.  The fabric is a beautiful soft printed ponte that we chanced upon at Spotlight one day.  Just perfect for this dress!

Once again we sewed size 10 for Clare. The bodice looked quite loose at first after the skirt was attached and the weight stretched it out a bit. Some elastic threaded through a casing between the bodice and the skirt fixed that. We had a few goes to get the length of the elastic just right – it needed to be enough to support the dress and draw the bodice in a bit without actually gathering it.

The skirt was shortened a couple of inches after trying the finished dress on, which improved proportion and appealed more to Clare’s sense of style. Because I was working with a ponte I decided to twin needle the hems and neckline rather than the zig-zag I’d been using a lot on knits. Ponte is that bit more stable and tends to sit flatter anyway, and the twin needle gave a more “ready to wear” appearance.

The back cutout is faced, and topstitched down. I made sure to start at the bottom of the cutout with the twin needle in order to more easily get around the curves and have the stitching line up neatly. This cutout allows for a crop top underneath without straps showing, which is my preference. Dress construction was primarily on the overlocker.

It’s always good to have a skirt that twirls!