Butterick 5246 AND McCall’s 6078 – yes, that’s two FOs!

I realised recently that what my fall/winter wardrobe was really lacking was casual jersey dresses/tunics  to wear with leggings (good for biking to the market, nice enough for work but as comfy as pajamas, the perfect garment!). So I pulled out a couple pieces of 99 cent jersey (from my favorite store) and some old patterns and actually sewed something! Two somethings! I know, it surprised me too.

The first is Butterick 5246:

I’ve had this pattern for a while (it’s out of print now, actually), but hadn’t really looked at it until now. The instructions are crazy – the techniques and construction order are rather old fashioned, like for a woven dress. I changed them all around to make more sense for a jersey dress. I also had to take in the bodice/waist a bit to give it more shape, and ultimately it did end up looking like a cute dress and not a nightgown, which was what I thought when I first tried it on! I do like this pattern a lot, actually, after all my fanangling – I love an empire waist, and I think the center gathers are really nice. The bodice is fully lined, and the back bodice is lined too, but since the back is all one piece, the lining just kind of ends at the waistline… weird, but it works, I guess. The back is shaped well, so I don’t mind that there’s no waist seam. Here’s the back view, with special guest Blurry Malcolm:

My full review (with details of all the changes I made) is here.

The other item is a kind of Frankenpattern of mostly McCall’s 6078, view C:

I’ve made this pattern before (here), and I thought it would be a good candidate to add sleeves to for a winter tunic. I pulled out the sleeve from McCall’s 6120 (which I made last year and like a lot), and it fit pretty well. I also used that back pattern piece as a guide for the tunic length/shape, as the cowl top doesn’t have a tunic option. For my first Frankenpattern, I think it turned out pretty well! My full review can be found here.

I should add that these two pieces sewed up really fast – I cut them out on Saturday and was done with them both on Monday, kind of amazing for me. I love this kind of near-instant gratification. I’ll be making more jersey dresses for sure, but maybe not for a while… I have two skirts cut out that I need to finish, and a bunch of Christmas gift sewing to do!