I have wanted to make the m7974 for over a year. I bought the pattern online (on sale for $3.99 USD) in August last year with every intent to make it right away… but I procrastinated and have only now gotten around to it. I was also dreading making a toile because this dress is infamous for having fitting issues.
Fabric
I received the new “Quilty” fabric from Ellie Whittaker as part of the ambassador program. I feel so lucky! It’s a highly vivid print and reminiscent of vintage times, designed by Ellie herself. I just love the tiny flowers within the hexagons. Mine is a linen/cotton I believe and is about to be released as part of her new collection. This fabric is EPIC and it took me a very long time to find the perfect pattern for it!
Toile
I did a quick toile to assess any issues. I went with a size 8 even though my measurements would put me as a size 10. I know the big 4 patterns always run big for me.
Okay, to be honest, I’m a very lazy sewist and my idea of a toile is sewing up the panels quickly with a basting stitch and no facings but using my imagination instead 🙃. Definitely not ideal but from that I could see I needed more space, height-wise for my bust and that I wanted to reduce the depth of the V-neckline.
Mods
Here are the fitting issues I addressed and the mods I used:
– Eliminated the low V-neckline (and potential cleavage) by raising the neckline by ~3cm. I followed the method by Paige Handmade. Don’t forget to mirror any mods onto the facing piece.
– Increased space for bust by lowering the front bodice cup by 2cm. I wanted the seam to sit just below the bust, as close to the ribs as possible. Looking at my photos I’m thinking I could have gone down 3cm. I had to reduce the height of the undercarriage by 2cm to accommodate the dropped bodice cup.
– Skirt changes: Because of fabric restrictions I omitted the pockets, which isn’t a big deal for me. I don’t normally use them apart from having somewhere to place my hands. This fabric is quite light-weight too so anything too heavy would make them pull. I ended up using the full width of the fabric (112cm) for the front and back skirt panels, rather than using the 6 panels it suggests. AKA I used 2 large rectangles for the skirt. I tapered towards the waist to eliminate bulk at the waist. It’s such a fabric hungry pattern.
– I ended up using 9 buttons rather than 13. It was tricky to find the right coloured buttons for this fabric…it’s so wonderfully colourful already, I ended up choosing these pearlescent buttons. They felt a bit crowded placing them in the indicated positions. But looking at my photos, I’m wishing I’d placed the buttons closer to the CF. They look a little off to me. I probably also should have condensed the buttons and kept it as 3 buttons in the undercarriage.
Yeah, maybe this is a lesson for me. Toile PROPERLY.
Other Fitting Notes
The actual fit of the dress is open to interpretation. I’ve scrolled through countless versions of the dress in the #m7974 on IG. I guess it really depends on you and how fitted you’d like the dress to fit. For me, I like some breathing room so I didn’t change anything around the waist. It was important to me that the bust fit fit properly so that’s all I altered.
The thing that really bugged me though was that it wasn’t possible for the seam under the bust to align in the centre. When you fold the left over the front (or other way around, you do you), then the left panel is going to sit higher. The pattern just wasn’t drafted with that in mind. I guess if you had rouleaux loops with no overlapping fronts it would look perfect…I’m sure there’s a drafting fix to this but something like that feels beyond me.
If you care for an even more in-depth review, I would highly recommend reading Buried Diamond post. Her very detailed blog has some brilliant tips in there that I hadn’t thought of but would include in my next version.
Also, you need to check out Romy’s take on this fabric. It is just beyond words!
MELT. STITCHES 
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