Homemade Friday: Maxi Dress (McCalls 6552)

I can't help it.

I love this dress.

I love the swishy fabric that I paid a whole dollar a yard for.

I love the length.

I love the fact that I learned how to sew a buttonhole on it.

You can't see it but there's totally two buttonholes behind that bow.

I love how incredibly comfortable it is.

And I know it may not be the most flattering dress on me, and quite possibly might look like I'm wearing a sheet but I can't say I really care all that much.

The pattern is McCalls 6552, from their Fashion Star line.  I guess.  That was a show, right?  Maybe?  I found the pattern in my giant box of patterns and decided to sew it up one day a month or so ago while my husband was out of town.

I made the neckline a bit higher than the picture as, well, it's kind of indecent.  Also some people have to wear a bra whenever they leave the house on account of nature and heredity.  So making the dress the way it was pictured was completely out of the question.  For someone like me.  Who has hereditarily large bubs.

The material is kind of thin so I have to wear a slip under the dress, which makes me feel like I'm living in the wrong decade because do people even wear slips anymore?  I guess I could wear my generic spanx but I also like breathing so I stick to the slip.

I had some trouble putting the drawstring through the casing in the dress because my safety pin that I was using to push it through kept breaking or opening up and sticking the dress so there are a few small unwanted holes around the waist but I figure it just makes it look well loved.  Or something.

The binding had to be hand-sewn around the neckline and I actually enjoyed it.  Hand-sewing makes me feel useful and productive, much more so than machine sewing.  However, I will not be giving up my sewing machine for a needle, thread and thimble any time soon.

 
I think the dress would also work as a bathing suit cover-up so it might get a lot of use this summer.