Brides Maid Dress- McCalls 7083

       Pattern:  McCalls7083
       Fabric: Crepe Back Satin and Chiffon
                     

This post is a throwback Thursday post. I sewed this dress three years ago and I wasn't blogging at the time, but I wanted to have some past makes posted to the blog. I will in the future be posting some older makes.

My sister  told all her bridesmaids that they could choose their bridesmaids dress. The dress just had to be coral and she even had a color swatch for us to match. I admit even if I had tried I probably would not have found the right shade of coral. In my naive little mind, I didn't realize how many different shades of coral existed. I thought coral is coral and that's the end of it. Sewing has opened my eyes to the many shades of the same color.

                

I bought a dress off ebay for a good price. The dress arrived with holes in the sleeves, holes in the chiffon and singed marks on the chiffon which were not in the seller's description. Sellers are supposed to list any imperfections. I took it to my sewing mentor to see if she could help me fix it. She said she would help me sew a bridesmaid dress. I looked at many online and physical stores for the perfect dress, but the dress from ebay is what I wanted. I chose McCalls 7083 which is a princess seam style dress with pleats.

I made a muslin for the bodice. I am quite petite even though I used the smallest size the bodice was too large.  I always face neckline gaping in the front and back. Whether you are petite or not, patterns adjustment is inevitable. The bodice had to be lined prior to this I had been using patterns with facings.


During the some of the initial stages of sewing this dress together, I did not like the dress.  Before the bodice was attached to the skirt, I thought to myself this is ugly. What was I thinking about using this chiffon with raised flowers?  Does it make the dress look from the 1980s? I happy to report I love this dress.

The chiffon has raised flowers which made it harder for the invisible to zip after it was sewn in. I had to remove as much bulk as I could in the seam allowance and any loose threads. Thankfully, the zipper did finally work. Invisible zippers do not like bulk.

I used the wrong side of the crepe back satin because I did not like the shiny side. At the time, I never thought I could sew a fancy dress for a wedding. The crepe back satin is such a beautiful fabric to work with. At the wedding, I loved my dress and I knew no one and I mean no one was going to be wearing the same dress as me.