A Great Basic Knit Dress

So many people have made McCall's 6886, including me.  You can see my version HERE and there is a lot of love on the internet for this pattern which you can find with a quick Google search.  There's good reason why so many love 6886... it has just a few pattern pieces, the fit is forgiving, and it can be made up in a variety of knits.  All good reasons to sew it up.

But I think I have found a new favorite knit dress and I will tell you why!  But first here is the dress in action...

McCall's 6355 is such an unassuming little pattern.  Looking at the cover may potentially be off-putting since it is slightly dated from all the other pattern covers.  Another reason you might pick it up and then discard it is the back line art.
Side note: I always examine the line art of a pattern because it gives you a clean slate (no busy fabric patterns to distract you) to study.

The back line art on this pattern really short changes the pattern because it doesn't include the optional bodice darts built into the pattern for additional fitting adjustments (you can see the bust darts but not the other four darts included).



If you read the pattern description on the back it does mention the darts but if you are like me, very visual, you might look at the drawing and completely miss this important detail.  Another awesome feature of this pattern is that it is made for wovens and knits.
Disclaimer: I have not made it up in wovens so I can't speak to exactly how it behaves with wovens but is a great idea and very intriguing to me.

Another feature of this pattern are the neckline and armscye finishing.  There are specific pattern pieces for those finishes and I always appreciate their inclusion in a pattern since it means I don't have to fiddle with figuring it out myself.  BTW I always shorten those pieces for a closer fit around the neck an arm on all big four patterns.

But wait!! There's more!  One more thing about this pattern that I love is that it is a Palmer/Pletsch pattern.  Palmer/Pletsch patterns always include extra fitting lines/adjustments already drawn on the pattern.  I love this detail since I almost always have to make a small sway back adjustment and its already on the pattern, I just fold it out!

For those of you who are curious about the comparison between 6886 and the above 6355, here is the line art for the 6886 (below) and you can see there are no darts on this pattern, that's part of the reason why it is great for beginner knit sewists.  Also the lack of darts on 6886 makes it great for knits with patterns that you don't want broken up with darts (the dress I made here is a perfect example since bodice dart would interrupt the cute aztec print).



So if you are pattern shopping soon maybe you will give 6355 a second glance, its a great alternative to 6886 and IMHO there's just more bang for your buck, or your buck plus .99, depending on the sale.

The fabric I used for mine is a Fabric Mart jacquard double knit and worked perfectly.  The consistency of the fabric masks any lumps or bumps and is very comfortable to wear.  The scattered print also works great since it masks the darts.  I love the fit of this dress, it is figure flattering in that it doesn't cling but still is shaped closely enough to look good.

Ok that's my infomercial for this pattern, hope it was helpful or gave you some ideas for your own projects!  If you are interested I wrote up an entire post on the Fabric Mart Fabricista's blog with a variety of Spring separates. You can read that HERE.

Happy Stitching!

Elizabeth