My Sundress for September: Vintage McCalls 6587

September 22, 2017

It seems fitting that on Melbourne’s first really, truly, warm spring day, I present you with my Sundress in September project. I had a couple of sundress options languishing in the pattern stash but this more recent purchase – vintage McCalls 6587 (1979) – elbowed her way to the front purely because she can be worn two ways or, as the pattern envelope states, as a “turn-about”. That new-to-me phrase totally gave her the edge and who doesn’t love a two-dresses-for-the-make-of-one option?

What to say about the wrap dress? Aside from the fact that it’s a really popular trend right now, the design is also pretty timeless and it’s a hot-day winner. ESPECIALLY in linen. Pinterest is currently teaming (as Pinterest does) with inspiration but I’ve picked these four cute faves to give you a taste of what’s out there in RTW world…

Source: Reformation (top left), Well Made Clothes (top right), Boden (bottom left), Third Form (bottom right)

The fabric I chose is our pure linen, Shifting Lines Indigo and it was perfect for this style. That blue is perfect and the grey stripe has a real silver quality that just lifts the fabric completely.

The dress was a pretty straight-forward sew and to avoid stretching on all the armholes and numerous bias cuts in the bodice, I used tear-away. The last thing you want in any wrap-around is stretching because stretching equals gaping equals bad, sad fit.

The ties are fed through a small gap at the base of the bodice side seams and there is no scrimping on them – each one measures 1.5m – which allows you to give both great wrap AND excellent bow. Modifications I made were to shorten the dress by 5cm and I edge-stitched the facings.

But which side to choose!? Right now, I think my preference lies with the wrap front but that’ll probably change down the track and that’s a good thing, because a girl should alway have options, right?

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