Hello, you hot and humid September! Making up for that fall-like July and August we had, aren’t’cha?

I’m so pleased that I got around to making yet another McCall’s 6696 shirtdress! Is this pattern popular or what? And for good reason: it’s “top drawer” with lots of variation possibilities. This is my first attempt at the pleated version. Both my sleeveless summery and cozy flannel versions featured the fitted skirt option.

I’m particularly happy with how this one turned out. This dress is very fun to wear, and the color is even more amazing in real life! A really striking emerald green. I’ve never been to Ireland (sad face), but I’m told the green color of the landscape there is stunning so I’ve dubbed this the Emerald Isle Dress.

The fabric itself was bought on this side of the Atlantic at G Street Fabrics in northern Virginia back in October 2011. Nice to stash bust! I used up all two yards of this 58″ wide rayon/linen blend to create this dress. The pattern calls for 2 3/8 yards (60″ wide) so this ended up being a tight fit, but I made it work. Phew. I originally bought it with a circle skirt in mind.

To account for the fabric shortage, I cut the collar band and the waistband in two pieces rather than on the fold. All adjustments from my previous versions were used on this one as well. One change I did make was going down to a size 10 at the waist (which means the whole dress is a straight size 10). This pattern is pretty roomy at the waist if you like things more fitted.

As you can see I didn’t use the collar piece for this version. I’ve been wanting to make a shirtdress without the collar just for a change-up so I decided to go with more of a Mandarin collar look. It’s a good thing I did want to try it for this dress because I didn’t have enough fabric to make the collar happen anyway!

My back bodice alteration from my previous two versions was used here too, though I’ve been thinking it might’ve been nice to add two center pleats below the yoke like you see on men’s shirts. Stashing that idea away for a future creation!

Mary of Idle Fancy makes a good point in her recent post about this pattern: looks like there should be two belt loops in the back even though the instructions only say to cut out four. Don’t believe I’ve ever caught that.

A dress with side seam pockets for all you pocket lovers out there. :)

Hello, little birdie! Leftover fabric from my Vogue 8380 dress (that sadly doesn’t really get worn). The pockets on this pattern seem like they could be a little bigger. The skirt certainly has room for roomier pockets. Doesn’t bother me so much, but FYI.

Buttons from M & J Trimmings in the Garment District. I spent a good 45 minutes to an hour there (on Labor Day – yep, they were open) trying to find the right buttons. It can be agonizing and fun all at the same time. I settled on eleven of these 1/2″ metal buttons and used green thread to create a flower effect and tie it in with the dress color. First time using my machine’s button foot and it worked like magic! I’ve only ever hand-stitched buttons in, but I love how sticking a pin on top of the foot creates a shank as the button is being sewn in. Win-win!

Right, so now that we’ve taken care of the close-ups, why not take a stroll with me through Washington Square Park on a hot, humid late afternoon?

You can get a sense of the skirt in motion here. I just love how it moves. Pretty flowers at right are for my mom! :-D

My dress goes with my book?

There you are, Washington Square Arch! The guy underneath it in the white shirt was playing the bagpipes (there’s always so much going on in this park – I get such a kick out of it).

This fabric drapes so nicely when sitting. I feel all lady-like in it.

I love sitting by the fountain. This dress makes it easy to do just that with its comfy, pleated skirt. I’m making a “hmmm” face for variety… ;)

Okay, any fans of the movie Barefoot in the Park? This is the monument Robert Redford pops up behind towards the end of the movie. Its location was moved during a redesign of the park, but, yep, still there!

And how about this lady selling her crocheted cupcakes in front of it? I love how she didn’t seem phased at all by the random person making dorky poses (AKA the worst ‘drunk Paul Bratter’ impersonation ever) behind her. Just another day out and about in ol’ New York!

Pattern: M6696 shirtdress
Fabric: 2 yards of 60″ wide Buffalo check flannel from A K Fabrics in the Garment District (I wish I had had at least 1/2 yard more though)
Notions: 10 5/8″ sailor buttons
Size: 10 at bust; 12 at waist/hips (waist should be brought in more next time)
Alterations: Similar to my first version, except this time I omitted the waistband (due to fabric shortage); made a self-fabric tie at the waist to cinch and to help hide the mismatched plaids; used the B-cup bodice pieces (and raised the waist darts 1″); lowered the skirt back darts 1 3/4″; and altered the sleeve cuff design

A warm and cozy dress for cold and snowy days is complete! Yay! Now I just need to find a cabin to sit by a fire with hot chocolate and marshmallows. Even though I think I just turned myself into a Brooklyn hipster with this flannel (L train chic?), I’m most pleased with it! For some reason I don’t like the way it photographed on me, but I like it on me otherwise. If that makes sense. :)

I think I was sipping tea when I realized the camera timer was about to go off hehe. The skirt bunched up in this photo above, which is why I’ve included this blurry yet oddly cool looking photo to my left to show you how the skirt properly hangs. My bad, it doesn’t usually bunch like that. :-D

I bought this flannel on MPB Day last August when flannel is the last thing you want to be thinking about on a humid Manhattan day. With this creation, I have officially made garments from all three pieces I bought on MPB Day (the black and white stripe was turned into an unblogged but much beloved long sleeve Renfrew). Yippy!

This time around I made view D with the longer sleeves, although I changed out the “winged” cuffs or however you call them. I was going to try them, but I ran out of fabric (I think the change I made is “more me” in the end though). Basically I just turned the cuffs into rectangles and attached them to the ends of the sleeves (and then rolled them up once in these photos).

The two yards I had just wasn’t quite enough for this dress, especially considering the attempt at plaid matching. The stripes weren’t the straightest in the world either so I tried my best to get things to match. You might notice they don’t quite line up on other side of the button placket, but I cut that on the bias to try and make this less of a visual issue. It was my first attempt and, heck, I’m giving myself a pat on the (buffalo check) back! This fabric is really soft.

Instead of the pattern instructions for inserting the collar, I turned to this most handy tutorial on Grainline Studio’s blog. Jen put it together as part of her Archer Shirt sew-along, and I found the mix of photos and text so helpful! Just one thing I didn’t get – the video part at the end showing how to attach the collar stand ends to the collar pieces. It was clear what Jen was doing, but I couldn’t get mine to sew together properly…

Oh well! I just turned the collar stand’s seam allowance under and slip-stitched it closed. Good enough (though I would like to figure out that tutorial’s last step one of these days; looks like a nice, clean finish).

I’ve had ten 5/8″ anchor buttons for a few years now and finally found a home for them! I’m not sure that plaid and sailor buttons naturally go together, but there you have it. :) As with my last version of this dress, I top-stitched the button placket rather than hand-stitching it in place as the instructions suggest. Life’s just too short, my friends, and I’m already the slowest sewer on the planet.

Here’s my modification to the back again (same as last time) where I removed the fullness from the back bodice. Just say no to pouch back! Also in this version I cut the yoke on the bias.

Changes for Next Time
I think I’ll work on bringing the waist in a bit more. I cut a size 12 there and it could be brought in a bit. Not a big deal here since I’ve paired this with a belt though. Also, I think I might try a swayback adjustment.

Well, that’s it! A cozy flannel shirtdress to keep me warm and happy on these cold winter days. I have the day off tomorrow for President’s Day and am already thinking of tackling yet another red project. Perhaps a wool gabardine Beignet skirt. Have I mentioned I love wearing red? :)

• Pattern: McCall’s 6696, view C
• Size: 10 at bust transitioned to 12 at waist/hips
• Fabric: 3 yards of Kaffe Fassett Ikat Streak (succulent colorway)
• Notions: 8 c. 1900 vegetable ivory buttons from Archangel Antiques
• Alterations: Raised armscye 1″; removed front darts at skirt; removed 4″ of width from back bodice to reduce poofiness caused by gathers; machine-stitched button placket and waistband facing instead of hand-stitching; used self-fabric instead of purchased bias tape (other changes for next time below)

This is the dress I wore to MPB Day 2013! I made it with fabric I bought at Z Fabrics in Portland, Maine during a New England road trip last summer. Paired with the sleeveless bodice, it’s a perfect weight for summer. Some folks on MPB Day asked me about the fabric, and it wasn’t until I looked at the receipt later that I discovered it’s Ikat hand-dyed and hand-woven in India. Neat!

These first two photos are a bit washed out, but they give you a good idea of the pattern’s silhouette so bear with me! So many variation possibilities with M6696, and a steal at $2 during one of McCall’s online sales.

I ended up removing the front darts on the skirt because the fabric was bubbling no matter how I adjusted them. I noticed that with light-weight fabrics it’s just better for me to remove the front darts (they sit just fine on the slightly thicker double gauze Cambie skirt I made).

I will say this caused a bit of an issue when I mistakenly cut off 1 1/4″ of the width of each front skirt piece from waist to hem when I should have just done that in the area where the dart would have been. Panic! I ended up narrowing the side seams to 1/4″ in the skirt pieces. Still a little tight, but at least I can sit down now without buttons popping!!

The pattern’s back bodice calls for gathers at the top and bottom, but in the muslin stage I found that this created a poofy look I just wasn’t crazy about. Because the piece is cut on the fold, I just slid the pattern piece 2″ off the fold in order to remove 4″ of width total.

This completely removed the gathers from just below the yoke and only left a little above the waist. I like the look much better. I’ve seen someone else alter the waist gathers to two darts, so that’s another idea!

As you can see, a wee bit tight in the skirt when sitting.

One of the great things about this pattern is that it offers A/B, C, and D cup sizes! When I’ve worn button-up shirts in the past the buttons have pulled at the bust, so I decided to try the C cup (I also fit into Colette Patterns which are drafted for C cups). Finally, no fabric pulling or need for a safety pin!

Alterations for Next Time
In my next version, I’d like to remove some of the fabric pooling below the front bust by shortening the bodice 1″ (so that the waistband hits at my natural waist rather than just below it, a short torso adjustment I should’ve made beforehand), going down to a size 10 at the waist, and possibly bringing in the lower bust darts a bit more. I don’t want it to be super tight and uncomfortable, but with this ikat version I can pinch about 1″ of fabric out of the waistband and still have breathing room (and that’s with the band not even being at my narrowest part).

Doing this will also give me a bit more shape. As a rectangle, it helps to have some waist definition, especially if I want to opt for the fuller skirt version!

I bought the buttons from Archangel Antiques on East 9th Street in the East Village (when I linked to their site I noticed they will be retiring in June 2014 so check them out soon!). As Gail in the shop says, she has 2 million buttons, and she must be right! The store is small but mighty. These buttons were listed as vegetable ivory, c. 1900. She said that vegetable ivory buttons are actually made from a nut found in the Amazon (or something to that effect) between about 1865 to 1910 when they were replaced by plastic. She likes giving the history behind each button, which I love!

Isn’t the texture neat? And I like the Amazon connection because this fabric reminds me so much of hammocks made in Colombia. I swear my family has or had one with these very colors! This is why I’ve called this the “hamaca” dress in the blog post title.

Yay for slash pockets!

The tightness of the skirt affected how the button plackets sit over each other. They line up nicely at the bodice, but not so on the skirt. Oh, and the instructions say to hand-stitch the button placket facing and the waistband facing, but I top-stitched instead. Saves some time! I did hand-stitch the yoke facing down, which is what I’m doing here.

This project also saw my first attempt at a collar. Well, I made one on my M5717 tailored coat, but this is my first everyday one…or something. :)

I definitely need to work on attaching the collar band to the bodice. It went together okay, but the part where the button placket goes into the stand gave me a bit of trouble. I’ve been studying men’s collars and I’m still a wee bit stumped. Practice, practice!

As with the other McCall’s pattern I worked with, I needed to raise the armscye 1″ (I used this method) This helped remove gaping at the armhole that I noticed in the muslin. I also made my own self-fabric bias tape with a 1/2″ Clover bias tape maker instead of purchasing one as the instructions say. This little tool creates nice and even folds, and it makes quick work of it.

I’m saying, “What gives? Are you a quail just chillin’ on the sidewalk all pretty and colorful?”

I’m really excited about this pattern! I want to work on adjusting the bodice so that it fits just right. I can see this pattern being used for a button-down shirt or with the fuller pleated skirt of version A or B. And in addition to the sleeveless option, you can choose from short and 3/4″ length sleeves (a slip pattern is also included to pair with sheer dresses). Summer versions, winter versions – oh the possibilities!