I recently purchased 2.5 yards of this beautiful knit fabric from Fabric Depot here in Portland, and I wasn't quite sure what I would do with it. It actually had a few tiny holes in it which I possibly caused from washing it in the machine versus hand-washing, so I had to be creative with my cutting to get anything more than a tee from it. I searched through my stash of patterns for a maxi dress, and this one - McCall's 6559 - fit the bill. It's not too voluminous, so the yardage was just right. And when I laid out all the pieces, I was about to work around the few holes. (Let's just hope that more don't develop after my careless fabric treatment!)
This pattern is a great, basic, sleeveless maxi dress pattern with a slight racerback. I am wearing a normal bra here, so it's a great middle ground if you hate wearing racerback bras as much as I do. (They just feel weird!) My armholes are actually a tiny bit larger than the pattern because I had a serger mishap. So, do as I always say (and not as I do) and baste on your armbands/neckband before THE BLADE!
I cut a size 10 which was one size smaller than my measurements, but I still ended up shaving a little off under the arms after sewing the side seams. I probably could have gone down to an 8, but I like the fullness that I still have at the bottom. I also always worry that the armholes openings will get too shallow if I go down too many sizes. I have issues with pulling under my arms when that happens.
The other modification I made was to do neck and armbands instead of turning under and coverstitching. I just think this is a nicer finish. I simply made some long bands, stretched them around the openings to fit, cut/sewed them and applied them with my serger. And again, I recommend basting them on first if you do this. Don't destroy your gorgeous dress! :P
I love this pattern and will probably make more of these for the warm summer months. It came together super quickly and doesn't take a super ton of fabric like some maxi dresses. What do you think? Are you a maxi fan?
