Review: McCall's m7748, View A and B – All in One Vintage Dresses

I love vintage fashion and pin-up styling, but it's so high maintenance. So when I saw that the pattern for this dress included an inbuilt petticoat, I knew I had to make it! 

Pattern: McCall's m7748; Dress Fabric: Printed Stretch Sateen (Spotlight); Lining: Poplin (Spotlight); Petticoat: Bridal Tulle (Spotlight); Shoes: Shayna, Miz Mooz.  

What to love about this pattern 
View A: 

I've always admired vintage dresses with fitted bodices and cupcake skirts. To me, these dresses represent ultimate femininity. The strap and armhole designs for this view are stunning! I love the how the straps cross over each over at the bodice and merge at the armhole to create a unique "V". This is a design feature I've never seen before!

View B: 

Of the two views, this one was my favorite. I think this design is absolutely stunning, good enough to even make a wedding dress out of! The shaping of the bodice and the straps are lovely. I love the gathered bust because it makes me look bustier than I am! 

What I don't like about this pattern

View A: 

I had to take in the upper bust of both of these dresses because there was too much extra space at the neckline. I love the design of the bodice for view A in theory but I find it flattens me in the bust. I think this view would look best on fuller busted girls.

View B: 

The instructions for this pattern also has issues. The wording and pictures seem to switch around which side of the strap is the facing which confused me a lot when I sewed it. I tried to clear this up in my tutorial video so that others won't make the same mistake. In short: the facing side is interfaced and is sewn onto the wrong side of the dress. The outward facing side of the strap is the one you'll cut the slits into and sew directly onto the bodice of the dress. 

Changes that I made 

View A: 

No big changes. I like to wear all the straps for this dress on my shoulders because it’s less restrictive when I move. 

View B:  

As a result of taking in the bust, this dress turned out to be an off-the-shoulders type. I love how it looks, but it isn't as practical for wearing cardigans and thin jackets over the top as the straps misshape the shoulders area. 

What I could have done better 

View A: 
In retrospect I should have tried pattern-matching the flowers on the centre front of the bodice. It didn't occur as I was sewing that the dark leaves on my fabric would look odd at the centre!

View B:
Some of you may have noticed from the tutorial video that I switched out one of the gathered bodice pieces. I did this because I wasn't happy with how asymmetrical it looked. I think it looks a lot better with plainer sections of print at the bust. In the future I need to plan out the print placement better for big dispersed patterns like this.

Difficulty 

View A 

Of the two views, this one was far more difficult. It was very challenging to make the pointed armhole seam. I would classify this dress as a medium difficulty. The skirt of both of these dresses is VERY heavily gathered. I gathered the skirt as much as possible and may have made a few discrete tucks to fit in onto the bodice. 

View B 

This dress definitely takes a lot of work, but it's achievable for beginner dressmakers! This is why I made a tutorial video on how to make this dress! There are tons of great techniques you can learn from sewing this dress. I learnt how to cut out and sew netting material.  

The Verdict 

View A 

This dress is lovely and lady-like, although not as flattering on me as I imagined. I still love to wear this dress and appreciate the beautiful design details. I feel like this dress was an achievement to make and I learnt new sewing techniques.

• Instruction Clarity: 3/5. The instructions could have been better for the difficult areas like sewing the straps. The dot markings were also confusing.
• Fit: 4/5. The upper bust of this dress was too big, but this was easily fixed by taking in the back. 
• Design Elegance: 5/5. The straps and the pointed armholes are a lovely design detail that I've never seen before. 
• Final Product: 5/5. This isn't the most practical dress to wear, but I love it all the same. 
• Overall: 4.25/5.
• 
  

View B 

This is my favourite vintage dress pattern to date because the design is stunning, yet the instructions are easy enough for the average dressmaker.  

• Instruction Clarity: 4/5. The instructions were clearer for this view up until you sew the straps. They're not clear on which side of the straps will be made into the facing or which side will be facing outwards on the dress. 
• Fit: 4/5. Like view A, the upper bust of this dress was too big which was fixed by taking in the back.

• Design Elegance: 5/5. The design of this dress is exactly what I look for in vintage fashion. This is the quintessential 1950s dress.
• Final Product: 5/5. I'm over the moon with how this dress turned out! 
• Overall: 4.5/5.