Conference Capsule: McCall's 7160 & New Look 6301 Mash-up

You can probably guess that my daughter, the not-her-real-name Mehetabel, and I have a wonderful relationship.  I am so lucky!  And I love to make clothes for her because A) I can, B) she's so appreciative, and C) she's a terrific model!  There are other reasons, like, I love her, but these three will do for now.  Often, I just make whatever I feel like sewing, but occasionally she'll make a request.  This project was chosen by Mehetabel.

I'm calling this her Conference Capsule.  And this is just the first piece, because one dress does not a capsule make!

Mehetabel is a Ph.D student who has published papers and often presents the subjects at conferences.  I am very proud.  Well, last year, Mehetabel took a couple Mom-made dresses with her to a conference.  One was McCall's 6886 in hunter green jersey which I lined--I haven't blogged this version but I used the same process for this one.  Here's a closet selfie of the version she took to the conference:

When she wore this dress for a presentation, she realized she'd be more comfortable in a longer, fuller skirt.  If she needed to sit down, she felt this dress could show a bit too much leg.

So, she knew what she wanted:  a fitted bodice with a modest neckline, 3/4 length sleeves, and a skirt that wasn't too fitted and was long enough to cover her knees when she sat.  With further discussion, she decided she'd like an attached belt.  She wanted some pattern to the fabric--just in case her nerves caused her to perspire while on the dais, the pattern would help camouflage the evidence. Also, she wanted fabrics that would coordinate with her black shoes and bag.

Mehetabel loves color and pattern (me too!), but for her conference dresses, she wanted something more subdued--nothing that would be too jarring or take the focus from her topic.  

Oh!  I almost forgot!  She also wanted an easy-travel fabric like ITY (Interlock Twist Yarn) knit.  Just roll up the dress, stuff it in her carry-on, shake it out and hang it up at the hotel.  Hey presto!

With that in mind, I started searching for ITY knits that had some pattern, but not too much pattern, and in colors that wouldn't be wild.

I have several ITY knits in my stash that fit the bill, so I selected four of them, took a photo, texted it, and asked if any of them would do.  She chose her top two favorites, and off I went!

For the first two dresses, Mehetabel chose the top left and the bottom right

There was a bit of trial and error, but finally the winning pattern(s) emerged.  I used the skirt pieces from New Look 6301, first blogged here, to which I had already added ten inches in length, plus the belt piece--also with ten inches added to the length.  For the bodice, I used McCall's 7160, to which I eliminated the center seam, changed the neckline, and made facings.  Unfortunately, McCall's 7160 is out-of-print, but it does qualify for my pattern challenge!

The bodice pieces were underlined in beige knit.  The facing pieces were interfaced with Fashion Sewing Supply's pro-tricot deluxe fusible interfacing.

I tried something new with knit facings this time--although I've done something similar with wovens before.  I usually block-interface a piece of fabric and cut the facing pieces from that, and serge the bottom to finish.  This time, I sewed the interfacing to the facing at the bottom, trimmed, and flipped the facings so that the wrong sides were together, and them pressed them to fuse the interfacing. I think I first read about this approach in a Palmer & Pletsch pattern. This creates a nice, professional-looking product. After attaching the facing to the neckline, I finished the facing by hand-sewing it to the underlining.  I don't know if I'll do this method again, but it's always nice to have another trick up my sleeve.

The fabric for this dress was purchased from Fashion Fabrics Club, and I paid $4.46 per yard.

The shoulders were reinforced with fusible interfacing.  All seams were sewn with a stretch stitch and finished on the serger.  I used the coverstitch to hem the skirt and sleeves.

Coverstitched hem!

The skirt is pretty heavy, so in addition to the underlined bodice to add support, I also sewed clear elastic into the seam allowance at the waist before I trimmed/finished it with the serger.  Hopefully this will be enough to support the skirt.

So long, farewell...