I decided to sew Melissa’s new shirtdress, McCall’s 7380. I love the hidden placket front, the shirt tail hem, and the slightly raised waist which will give less emphasis to my thicker waist. I love the Liberty cotton and though spendy, it was 58” wide.

McCalls 7380 Alexa Elastic Back Shirt Dress

Of course I tissue-fitted my pattern and altered it before cutting.

I did a small full bust adjustment, high round back, sway/flat back and added width the the side seams.

When fabric-fitting I took another 1” off the center back of the bodice to nothing at the sides. I think it is because I am not wearing the dress fitted at the waist so the straighter center back needed less length.

I used PerfectFuse Sheer on both the upper and under collar and on the fly front where the buttonholes would be sewn.

This collar has rounded corners so I notched them to reduce bulk when turned to the right side by trimming with pinking sheers.

The front band instructions are fabulous, except that the art is so small that it was hard to tell what was going on. If you have a printer that enlarges, you might find it helpful to enlarge the band section.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To accommodate “turn-of-cloth” I trimmed 1/8” off both ends of the UNDER collar to make it smaller so the seam at the ends would roll under slightly. Then after turning, I slipped the UPPER collar down 1/8” in order to make sure you wouldn’t see the seam at the lower edge when the collar is worn. I basted the raw edges of the under and upper collars together to hold this positio

I hand slipstitched the band facing to the neckline on the inside by sewing through the fold to hide the thread. I worked from the center back toward the ends.

The front ends of the band need to be exactly the same on both the right and left sides, so check them after every step. I felt it would be easier to hand slipstitch the ends than to machine top stitch. If you make sure you stitch to the neckline just below the seam and go into the fold of the band directly opposite, the stitches will disappear when you pull on the thread.

TIP! I found these sharp size 10 hand sewing needles in my stash. I needed the finest needle for this fine cotton. Usually I can’t see to thread them, but this gold eye was easy to thread. Love them!

Here is my finished dress. FYI, I added 3” to the hem.

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