I need help!! ... deciding on pattern and how to finish long edges of camel coat.

I'm debating between 3 McCalls patterns: 3448, 5987, 6209 to make a drapey, floaty coat out of this camel colored fleece. I'm looking for opinions... And ideas on how to clean finish the long front edge and hem of this polar fleece. (I've not made something like this before...)


Looking on pattern review, I'm leaning toward 5987, a pattern that's been made up beautifully by several gals:

Cozy winter white by Meg

Sharon's in a camel color. On her blog sharonsews.blogspot.com she includes a great tip on how to make a mitered corner by stitching on the diagonal. And she shows various ways of wearing this versatile coat.

Chic Black Wool by Nancy

Fresh, pretty green wool by Annie

Gray polar fleece by Claire, who uses a beautiful finish she calls a "Greek stitch", which I've not seen before, but it surely looks lovely.

I'd sure appreciate help in deciding on the pattern and how to finish the edges. I assume this beautiful greek stitch requires a more modern machine than I have???

McCalls 8777: Green long sleeve Tee v-neck

Another knit top: this one is nice and long, a v-neck...




Review for PatternReview.com

Pattern Sizing: For some reason, I ended up with a small pattern (8-10)... must have gotten it at a thrift store??? I added to the side seams to make it a 14. I shouldn't do this. I don't think I ended up drafting the armhole correctly by winging it. Nipping and tucking fixed it, sort of, but I'd be better off starting with the correct size.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes

Were the instructions easy to follow? Yes, except once more, this is a t-shirt pattern that used a FACING at the neck edge. Why they do that is beyond me.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I disliked:
1. the facing, so for the v-neck I made used a narrow self-fabric neck band with a method from a Stretch and Sew book.
2. the looseness ... I narrowed it to be more form fitting.

Fabric Used: Cotton knit with 5% lycra.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:
1. Neck binding
2. Narrowed and lengthened a tad. I wanted it to be closer to a tunic-feel.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? No and no. It's OOP, so it shouldn't be much of an issue.

Would appreciate advice with fit where front bodice meets armhole. Most t-shirts do this pucker-thing on me, even RTW. I'm wondering if I should put in a dart up there to resolve it or would that look hokey?

View showing "pleat-like puckers" where bodice meets sleeve.


The above photo also shows the bodice "pleat" and it shows what I'll call a swayback horizontal pucker on the back. I'm discovering this in EVERY garment I make. I'm not sure how to resolve it in a t-shirt that has no horizontal seam ???? I suppose I could make a horizonal seam just in the back as a "design element"??? If anyone has any ideas, I'd appreciate it.

Back View



Another view


And the necklace.... I saw this necklace at a yard sale and asked how much? The seller said $2 for all of them. I said I only need one. He said "I don't want to break up the set". So I have 12 of them.... and here I just put 2 together, but I plan to break it apart and make a longer string, probably double...




And even Daisy gets a necklace. (Todd saw Daisy's necklace, and said "Maybe Zoey needs a necklace too ... so you betcha, Zoey will be getting one!)

Coral halter dress: McCalls 3584

We arrived in Florida after a looooong drive on Monday. I finally got my sewing studio re-setup two days ago, and started working on this dress, which I'd started a few weeks ago, and brought along. I had delayed finishing it, because I was having fitting woes, which have only been partially resolved.

...from McCalls 3584 ... View B.

Close-up shows bodice detail, pleats on under bodice and upper skirt, and droopy waistband. (The droop in the waistband is still bothering me)

Back View... I like the halter ties and the swoopy low back.

Fitting Woes: Whenever I cut a pattern to match my full bust, I cut 14, which then is loose above and below. But Palmer/Pletsch say to measure the UPPER bust with a sloping tape like this photo. If I do that, I'd cut a 12. I'm going to try that on my next pattern and see if that helps.

Another View. I lengthened it several inches from the pattern, and now I'm debating if it is frumpy looking at this length???

Black Hawaiian Dress: McCalls 6071

I finally finished two dresses today, ones I started weeks ago. Here's the first one. Because I have stubbornly refused to make a muslin, I keep having to alter over and over, ripping and restitching, which is very time consuming when the pattern has a band at the waist as this one does. Many alterations later, I ended up with...

I used McCalls 6071 for the upper bodice. But one reviewer said the pattern turns out VERY LOOSE, which is hard to tell from the photograph. But notice how the model is holding the LOOSE skirt in with the placement of her hand. I wanted a closer fit, so I took a band and skirt from another pattern. I also made the straps halter instead of straight over the shoulder.


For fabric, I used this very large wrap skirt from a church rummage sale: all in a bag for a dollar. There was plenty of fabric due to how far the wrap went around...


... Here is the design process... as I look back now, I like this dress better than what I ended up with. I must say I'm not thrilled with the way the bodice turned out. It seems to make my upper carriage look very narrow... Hmmmm ... I may tear it apart and rethink ... or not...



This closeup shows two things:
1. the gathering band that makes pleats on the upper midriff. The pattern added a bow, which I eliminated. It wasn't till I saw this picture that I realize the pleats ended up lumped in the wrong places. I'll go back and tack the pleats more appealingly.
2. I'm not pleased with the droop of the midriff band. It's over two inches wide, and on another garment, I reduced it to just one inch and the droop was eliminated. I think that I don't have 2+ inches of body in the space between lower bust and hip bone to accommodate such a wide band. I'm not going to change it, but I'll keep that in mind in future patterns.

More views...

Flowered Dress: McCalls 5094

Just in time for Florida, I just finished a new little short sundress.
It's made from a narrowed skirt version of McCalls 5094 View B. It took forever to get it to fit right. I'm frustrated with cutting out the size that matches my measurements, and then having to take it in so much before it fits ... Alterations: I made the skirt narrower and shorter, and the band is 1 inch narrower. I made the bodice front a little higher. Then it gaped a bit, so I modified it till it quit gaping, and also added a ruching band. I put elastic inside the shoulder straps so they hug my shoulder a little better.

And for the fabric: a refashioned XXlarge Campshirt (by Liz and me) I picked up for free at a yard sale after the sale when everything was free. In this pic, I've already cut off the sleeves and collar ... then arranged them for the pic.

Close-up: The bodice front was cut from the sleeves, the skirt from the back of the shirt...
And the button front went on the back. (I would have cut around the buttons, but I couldn't get the skirt piece to fit, so I had to decide: front buttons or back buttons ... eenie meenie miny mo). There wasn't enough flowered fabric for the band and the bodice back, so I used a black rib knit (which turned out to be another bonus ... I didn't need a zipper ... with the stretch in the waistband, it fits over my head no problem.

Oops. It's good I have a photo of the back. Those buttons gape. I'll sew them shut. It's not like they're usable... Also in the back... I evidentally have sway back issues. They showed as a blob at the horizontal back seam. I took that in a bit, and it was resolved.