I apologize for being gone so long. Did you miss me? LOL. I’ve been working steadily on creating, photographing and listing my new TipStitched Ankara line. The store has also received a makeover so give it a look and let me know what you think.
On to the review! I’m 98% sure McCalls 6788 (OOP) is one of the patterns that I received from one of my generous sewsistas last year. She had scored a huge lot of patterns and was willing to share a dozen or so patterns with me. On first sight I didn’t really care for this pattern, the blouse-y top and fitted skirt seemed mismatched to me. However after looking at the line art, I really liked the paneled pencil skirt that was lost in the model photo. I decided I would make a skirt, instead of a dress and use two colors to really show off the paneling. Again this was a year ago.
Last night I decided that I just had to sew something quick for myself and take a break from my TipStitched pieces. I originally planned to sew up a knit top, but I stumbled upon M6788 while searching through my pattern drawers. Then a light bulb went off! Not to long ago I “discovered” a bag of scraps from previous projects that I had forgotten about (Do y’all have those?) and came across the navy and teal ponte that I have used together previously in a dress. BTW I love these pontes I wish I knew the exact blend because they are so smooth and thick with the perfect amount of stretch. They also DO NOT pill, which I love. I have no way to know because I purchased it from my local fabric warehouse where I just buy based on feel. If I had to guess I think it has a high rayon content and a lower poly content.
I can be lazy with my color combos, I usually stick to navy & white, red/black & white and black & blue. Navy and teal is quickly becoming a favorite of mine. When I made a sheath dress out of these fabrics nobody (read: my husband and sister) cared for the two colors together, but I loved it. So I knew I would love the color pairing in a skirt as well, plus I already had this navy tank in my wardrobe and I needed something I could wear today so I could share it with all of you.
As far as the sewing is concerned I didn’t really read the instructions, but I looked them over and they seemed straightforward. Obviously I omitted the blouse. I started by sewing the side top and bottom to the side skirt piece for both sides and topstitched pressing the seam allowance to the contrast center. Then I attached those sides to either side of the center front and topstitched again pressing the seam allowance to the center contrast. Since I planned on this being a pull up skirt due to the stretchy-ness and great recovery of the knit I attached the back sides omitting the zipper. Next was attaching the back to front and BAM the skirt was almost complete. Another modification was necessary for the waistband, if sewing the pattern as shown this piece attached the skirt to the blouse. Since I was instead making a skirt I cut to waistband out twice. Think of it as a waistband and a waistband facing (minus the interfacing). I sewed the top of the two waistbands together then the side to form a loop. Next I attached the free end of waistband to the skirt.
I have to admit the waistband is pretty hard to pull over my hips without ripping any stitches. Next time I will likely include an invisible zipper and interface my waistband facing. If you have a straighter frame you may be fine. However if you are an hourglass or just a little more “blessed” in the backside you will need a zipper.
All in all this little skirt was easy peasy! Total time was a few hours mainly because I had to get creative placing and cutting the pattern pieces from my scrap fabric. It certainly gave me the instant gratification I was looking for. If you can find this pattern, it’s out of print, I say give it a try if you love pencil skirts as I think this is a fun twist.
Pattern: McCalls 6788 (OOP)
Pattern Description: Fitted dress has draped bodice front and underarms, waistband, seam detail on skirt front, bow, knot, and invisible back zipper.
Sizing: 6-14, 14-22 I cut a 12.
Difficulty: 1/ Easy
Fabric Used: Leftover pieces of jade and navy ponte from a previous project.
Does it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope? Not really.
Were the instructions easy to follow? I didn’t follow them, but I scanned them and they seemed straight forward.
Likes: A nice spin on a typical pencil skirt. I love color blocking.
Dislikes: none
Pattern alterations or any design changes made: I created a skirt from this dress pattern by omitting the bodice. I also omitted the back zipper.
Would I sew it again? Yes, maybe in a solid maybe in a classic black and white or navy and cream.
Would I recommend it to others? Yes
Conclusion: I really like they way it turned out!
TipStitched 
What do you think?