This cardi is my first stab at McCall’s 6844, which is a Best Pattern of 2013 on PatternReview.com. I think I’ve owned it since 2013. Seeing the potential in it immediately, I bought it in one of JoAnn’s so-cheap-you-have-to-buy-ten pattern sales and I’ve had it around for a while. I planned to make it up with some off-white French Terry and several months ago I polled some sewing/style friends on whether or not to use the peplum version or the straight-no-peplum version. I got some curious responses. It turns out that not everyone knows the word “peplum,” although everyone was familiar with the detail once I explained it, and once we got past the initial confusion, everyone who cared voted for the peplum. So by the time I got around to actually sewing it up, I had lost the pattern in the moving shuffle and had to go out and buy it again at what passes for full price for patterns. Rats. But I wanted to make this jacket and didn’t want to wait for the next big McCall’s pattern sale. I brought the pattern home and started working on it, doing some of the recommended alterations based on my researches and put the French Terry in for a pre-wash as it looks suspiciously like it will shrink significantly in length to me. While the Terry was in the wash I remembered I had this lovely navy ponte in stash and thought I’d make a wearable muslin. Here’s the result.
Notes about the pattern:
- Sizing: Most everyone on PatternReview comments that this pattern runs large so I made a small even though according to my measurements I’d need a medium. They were mostly right, but I did add 1 1/2″ in length, a generous 1/2″ in the body and 1″ to the circle hem of the peplum. I thought the pictures of this view all looked short, even on petite people. I am happy with the length. I also added width to the arms. I don’t recall reading this on PatternReview, but the current Threads Magazine pattern review article features this pattern and their tester commented that the sleeves were tight. I happened to be wearing a similar style of garment at the time I was making these alterations and compared and sure enough, the sleeves were about 1″ narrower through the bicep area than on the jacket I was wearing. So I made the alteration for this given in Fit For Real People. I used the version that doesn’t increase the wrist circumference as I mostly plan to wear this over sleeveless dresses. If I was making a jacket I wanted to layer over something with sleeves, I’d add even more and let the wrist enlarge as well. For this version, I am happy with the fitted wrist area.
- Interfacing: Many reviewers mentioned leaving the interfacing out of the collar/lapel and being happy with the result so I tried that. I would interface next time. I think the collar lacks body and will not fold correctly when I put the jacket on. I hate having to fuss with a collar every time I put on a jacket. I might even go so far as to double interface the collar area at the back neck. This would give the jacket a better finish.
- Pieces-parts: I might buy a few more copies of this pattern next time there is a sale because when you cut the pattern apart to make the different views, you end up destroying the pattern for any other view as the pieces are drafted on top of one another. Yes, I could have traced off the parts for the view I wanted, but my time is too valuable to bother with that when the pattern can be had for under $2. I think I want to try the peplum-less view and the longer view with the straight hem.
- For the French Terry: I think I will look for a different pattern. I think this one begs for a more refined fabric with nice drape. Maybe New Look 6315 ? Anyway, something a little simpler. So if I use 6844, not one of the peplum views.
Underneath the jacket is a beach cover-up I made just before the jacket and reviewed here. Another terrific McCall’s pattern. I’ve always had better luck with McCall’s than other pattern lines. I confess to having bought new fabric for this project, but I sewed it up within a couple of weeks of purchasing and it never made it to the stash. Whew! Close call. I also confess to having bought 2 pieces of fabric from the 4th floor remnant area of Britex in San Fancisco a few weeks back and you can see the offending Britex bag peeking through from behind the right side of the dress form if you really look. A bit of a backslide on the stash reduction project, but overall, still making progress. And yes, I ironed out that wrinkle on the front of the jacket before I hung it in the closet.
Oh yeah, Something old is the navy ponte (about 5 years or so in the stash) and the something new is the fabric for the cover-up.