Here's the McCall's pounds-thinner pattern that my mom sent a while back. I mentioned it in
my last post, about vintage sewing patterns. And I've made it up in some of the fabric I got in West Africa, probably Ghana or Burkina Faso. It's supposed to look like
strip-woven Kente (typical of Ghana); go to that page to see the real thing (strips woven on a narrow loom, then sewn together to form a delightful pattern).
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrZf1WkBa-PRfWYjQN77VSd2J79fMkx5Fqv066E-1C0_am1Ulsi7JNGHIsCwQqQlbxpj-7F9rK731PqNn3f59zVOyxrmT02vQFIpb8D_1l5Z0DdOy1Hx0DExy_Tr2uA3TApDHCSb-Ks1U/s200/R0012527.JPG) |
The underside of the collar. |
This is fairly cheap cotton, very thin & not at all drapy, and I was worrying about wearing it without a slip. Then I remembered I had a
pretty burgundy silk slip from Wintersilks, which almost matched the terracotta red in the cotton. When I tried on the dress, almost done, yesterday, I had to take off 2.5" from the slip. So I did that, and re-hemmed the slip.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqkIna-TdosQ54eHHNXwPevggTsbkt-C70Y5q8whI1uSu7XiaHoAU6LshgpF7Y5bAcxXGOzWyd1uj1MymLf5x4gRfvBxDpH-FRavsNYDiaCvKFun1-g6DSNZqN-27_f5worgBzCSxezoA/s200/R0012516.JPG) |
Almost nothing left over! |
I ended up using all that extra silk, though, because I barely had enough fabric to make the dress and there is nothing left over. I had to cut the length of the dress from selvage to selvage; there wasn't enough to cut it the normal way! (Which meant I couldn't play with the length & proportions much--I just had the fabric width.)
I used the silk I cut off to hem the bottom & the sleeves. There was so little fabric, I couldn't get the underside of the collar out of the kente print and had to use other West African wax print fabric.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTtE3-10lzj6AomZjDTTfmxZPvLewqNVv3S5p0JPBuaTBRMI6fg1ZfczQE_BrIbFojd-bIWOrxbC3gyo74zkcG4SA7NEfTNR56AusbH4tr7tLB8KYURA1AESId7N4peW-lK-tic18l9DI/s320/detail+of+selvage+hem.jpg) |
Take it to the selvage! |
I really made an effort to show the selvage of the fabric because we noticed that a lot in West Africa. Rather than hemming, clothes are cut so the selvage is the hem. However, this dress has quite a curved hem, so I ended up losing more than I wanted.
I will make this one again. I love its cool look and big collar. I will definitely add a bit in the middle so that the french darts are lower, and I'd probably make the overall length a bit longer, too. Also, it needs a sway back adjustment (not much)...
BTW, it's got to be the best looking zipper I've ever installed! I'll give a shout-out to Allison @ Bits of Thread in DC for her expert tutelage.