Sewing Recently... #1

My review of McCalls M8358 - *That* Laura Ashley Pattern

1/12 First things first, sorry for the moody pics - it was a rather gloomy day!

Hey! Thanks ever so much for joining me on my very first Substack post. I’ll be writing about a variety of things, probably mostly sewing, so I thought to ease myself in I’d share my experience and thoughts on my most recent sewing project - the McCalls M8358.

I haven’t had much free time outside of work and sports commitments recently however did manage to squeeze in a couple of hours here and there this past week to sew up the super-hyped McCalls M8358 - the reissued 1970’s Laura Ashley pattern (M6121) that I know a lot of people are going mad for within the IG sewing community. I fell in love as soon as I laid eyes on it when Amy (@almondrocks on IG), who is a Simplicity McCalls Brand Ambassador, shared a photo of her copy of the pattern. I was pleased to discover that 1. this is a pattern reissue and I would not have to spend months scouring the internet for a copy of the original vintage pattern with the chance that I might not be able to find it and 2. although not available for general sale yet, there was a way to get my hands on this pattern which was by signing up as a Sew Direct VIP member which I did immediately (THANK GOODNESS). You can read more about that for yourself here, however I can say that a payment of £14 later and the pattern was on its way to me. I already had the perfect fabric ready for the M8358. I received some STUNNING Amalia Tana Lawn from Liberty earlier this year (PR product from their gorgeous SS23 Beauty and Chaos collection) and though originally earmarked for a Simplicity S9653 Prairie style dress (which come to think of it I was probably going for a another vintage Laura Ashley style with), I quickly reallocated it to the M8358.

2/12 Getting in the mood to sew!

When it comes to cutting patterns I’m very much on team cut straight out. I’m roughly a 33 Bust and 27 Waist and decided to cut a size 12. I very much had to trust the process/sizing and hope for the best with this pattern because until you insert the elastic, which is the the last step before sewing the wrap ties and hemming the skirt, there is no way of really gauging the size/fitting the dress before finishing. It’s a pretty abstract looking shape until you insert the elastic but oh was it satisfying once the elastic was in and the fit is *perfection*. I am very lucky in that I pretty much always fit a straight size to a satisfactory extent (which is why I risked cutting straight into the Liberty - eek) however if you normally need to make some adjustments, I would say that this pattern is a little forgiving in that it has some ease and lots of elastic, but if you generally require more major adjustments it would be a good idea to toile/make a practice version in a less special fabric first. For example, although the cute little sleeves and fit around the shoulders do fit me, if my arms were just a bit larger the sleeves would be too snug and some of the puff volume would be lost.

3/12 Elastic channel and ruffle detail up close. Bias binding elastic channel. Pink label from Woven Labels UK and 2023 label from my shop www.heysewsister.co.uk

Overall, this pattern was a straightforward sew and I would make no changes when sewing again. And I definitely will sew again! I would love to make the dress again in a plain fabric such as a black cotton poplin or even a light denim chambray because honestly I can see this dress being a wardrobe workhorse for the days when I want to just throw something on without effort but feel still feel pretty. Another version in a lighter coloured floral might also be on the cards for the summer time :)

Project Notes:

• The cotton lawn was the perfect weight for this pattern. As always, Liberty’s Tana Lawn was a dream to sew. I think cotton lawns, poplins, lightweight linens and chambray would all be great options. Unfortunately I don’t think this Liberty design is available anymore.

• The pattern was easy to sew and I think someone with even just a few dressmaking projects under their belt could manage this.

• I made view B of the dress. The only difference between view A and view B is the addition of a low skirt ruffle/tier in view A (the dress is reversible and can be worn with either the wrap over or square neck at the front). I like both views but fabric limitation (I had just over 4m of narrow width fabric) meant I had to make view B with no ruffle. To be honest with my busy, patterned fabric the straight skirt works well.

• I made no changes to the length of the dress/skirt. I am around 5’4” for reference.

• In one of the side seams you sew two panels together leaving a small gap to thread the wrap tie through. For these two sides of fabric I overlocked separately before sewing together. For the rest of the side seams I sewed then overlocked together.

• The underarm seams are left unfinished and you are instructed to clip into the curve which is necessary to open it up. I am pondering how I can finish this seam nicely.

• The patterns calls for two packages of bias binding. I wasn’t sure what this meant and bought 2m. In reality, approx. 2.5m (3m would probably be safest) was required for my size 12 garment.

• I did make one error when cutting out. The main front panel is cut out twice (from single layer of fabric) when being cut from a narrow width fabric. On the second cut, I forgot to flip the pattern piece so ended up with identical pieces. Unfortunately, due to the limited amount of fabric I had, I needed to do some serious piecing together. I was able to use the wrongly cut piece and add on some scraps to cut the piece out correctly. Can you see in the photo below the piecing together line? My advice (which I always forget to follow myself!!) is to never cut out when tired!

4/12The wrap at the front is how I like to wear this dress. The elasticated bodice channel I find to be comfortable and super flattering. It sits nicely above the bust and keeps the bodice and crossover in place.

5/12

6/12

7/12

8/12

9/12

10/12

11/12

12/12 This fabric!!!

Thank you so much for reading (and reading this far)! If you haven’t already I would love if you subscribed to keep up to date with all the things I have to share and maybe even share my profile or this post if you enjoyed it :) My next post will hopefully be a fab little project with free pattern that I am currently working on. I think you’ll love it!

With love,

G x