 McCall's Pattern 3053
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Fate Witch Costuming - First Attempt So, after stating on my Vodacce costuming page that only experienced sewers should try the pattern featured here, of course, I had to give it a go, myself. Ego will get one into the worst sorts of trouble, and I'm no less infallible than the next seamstress who smells a challenge. It occurred to me, as I'm putting the garment together, that I might as well share my trials and tribulations as I put this garment together because misery loves company. Once again, it's a case of "Learn from Johanna's mistakes!" and wow, did I make a few. Mind you, I'm not a total fool. I decided to make a mock-up, before I committed myself to anything expensive. I went through my scrap bag, and found enough muslin and scrap satin for the bodice and sleeves, but I had to resort to something very unsuitable for the skirts - but more on that in a moment. |
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Bodice
The bodice uses princess seams. I've noticed a lot of people wince at the idea of those, but they don't give me nearly as much grief as setting a sleeve does. The trick I learned for sewing princess seams is this: when pinning it together, put a pin at each end, then one in the middle, dividing the seam into two sections. Then put pins in the middle of those two sections, splitting it into four. Then keep pinning - use lots of pins. The seams on the bodice are quite short, so I often let the pieces flop over my hand, in the shape the seam was to assume, and that helped me 'feel' my way through the process, as well as see how it was coming together. Patience and lots of pins. That's all you need for a princess seam. Oh, and a good iron and a 'pressing ham' of course. |
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The bodice collar only gave me grief because I stayed up too late cutting the
pattern, and I cut the wrong piece for the collar. I made the mistake of
thinking it was a one-size-piece for all sizes of the patterns. Shortly after
I had cut the pieces, I found the size 18 collar for the size 18 bodice.
However, I had already cut the size 16 collar. Oops. Alas, the shape of the collar meant that it, by itself, took up 2/3 of a
yard of fabric, and I didn't have enough muslin to spare to cut a new collar. Ah
well. I chalked that up to learning experience, wrote don't cut this one
and cut this one! on the apt pattern pieces, and moved on. This is the one part of the garment where I didn't skip all the lining. The directions were clear, and I managed to follow them very easily, despite my hatred of lining things. I'm always convinced I'll sew the wrong bit to another wrong bit and never be able to turn the garment, but all turned out well in this case. |
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Sleeves The sleeves were incredibly time consuming, but not particularly tricky. You've just got to do a lot of gathering, and be very patient when pinning and sewing the poufs to the sleeve. You'll see that my sleeves are all fuzzy at the edges because, by the time I was done with all that gathering and sewing, I was damned if I was going to put down the ribbon to hide the unfinished edges of the poufs, as per the directions. Also, for heavens' sake, check the length of the sleeves before lining them - there's a lining at the wrist, which gives it a lovely shape - because if you find out the sleeve is too long, it's going to be a bitch to alter once the lining is put it. Not impossible, but -again - very time consuming. If you're my height and size - 5' 3" but broad, so I'm size 18 - the sleeves will be about two inches too long in the arm. Honestly, once they were done, I didn't really take to them. They looked artificial, and they added even more bulk to an already-bulky dress. If you want a slash-and-pouf look, use a pattern that has that built in from the get-go. It will probably be less work. |
| Attaching the sleeves required a lot of patience and careful pinning and sewing to ensure that they didn't get caught up in the machine whilst being sewn in. I'm forever catching irrelevant bits of the sleeve in my shoulder seams, and the close-fitting armscye of this pattern made me more prone to mistakes than usual. I had to stop and unpick one sleeve several times before I finally got it right. However, experience and patience will probably make things much easier for you! | |
Skirt As might be imagined, this takes a lot of fabric, given that it's a high-waisted garment. Again, I cheated, and didn't line the skirt and underskirt as I should have - no big loss there, I think. I also used a grotesquely unsuitable fabric - a stretchy double knit - because it was a dollar a yard at the store and I needed a lot of it on a tight budget. Mea culpa - you should really drop the money and buy 54" muslin, if you can find it. Anyways, cutting and attaching the skirts was relatively easy - although I'm sure it would have been more difficult if I had lined them. |
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Conclusion This pattern can be made by a vaguely-experienced sewer if they take their time. My opinion is that if I could muddle my way through this pattern, almost anyone can, but I wouldn't recommend it for beginners. Making a muslin first, regardless of your skill level is a good idea. The final pattern is going to require so much fabric, money and time, the time invested in fitting a muslin will be worth it. A fitting dummy would also be invaluable. Overall, though, the dress was a washout for me. Why? Because whilst the size 18 pattern was made for a forty-inch chest (I told ya, I'm a broad little broad) it didn't seem to be made for a forty inch chest of significant cup size. The natural waist-line marking fell somewhere on the underside of my bosom (oops) and the entire thing made me look - frankly - even bigger than I am, and that wasn't something I liked. The whole pattern hung off my bust, rather than coming in somewhat underneath my bosom, and falling from the wait. Given that one's bust is of a much more significant circumference than one's waist, you can imagine how unflattering the result was. This pattern would look fabulous on a tall person, or even a petite person who isn't 20lbs overweight. Despite the fact that I have since lost some weight since I made this dress, and I'm planning to lose more, I doubt I'll ever be tiny enough for this pattern. But, if the style suits you, I think it would make a great dress for a Vodacce fate witch, given its Italian Renaissance inspiration. Put that puppy together with some red-black taffeta, black crepe-back satin a velvet collar and bodice and a bit of lace here and there, and you'll have a costume that will knock your players' eyes out! |
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