Spring Shirt Dress // McCalls 6520 Sewing Pattern

It's been waaay too long since posting a finished product. Not for lack of material - I have 4 undocumented projects that have been patiently waiting for a day when it wasn't rainy and dismal.Today blessed me with some sun so I took a few shots of my latest working muslin.

My lazy day uniform is an oversize men's chambray shirt with skinny jeans in the cold, and bare legs in the warm. I've been wanting to make an actual dress that mimicked this look and when I saw this McCall's pattern I had to have. I LOVE a shirt dress and I picked up a super cheap white and yellow striped cotton to use as a muslin until I can find the perfect light as air cotton chambray.

This marked the first time I made buttonholes or sewed buttons on using my machine. I was always terrified of these tasks for some reason but it's insanely easy on my machine. I have some big issues with the finished product but will make appropriate changes when I remake it in a month or so.

The cotton is quite stiff and it doesn't sit on my shoulders the way it should. I am tempted to wash and dry it a  bunch of times and see if that softens the material a little bit. Otherwise I may have to adjust the pattern but I am worried this will be difficult considering how the shoulder and sleeve are constructed. It is a smidge to high for me at the neckline - I'll take it down at least an inch next time. It's a little longer than I am used to as well so I may take the hemline up an inch or so. The biggest problem is that the sleeve opening is very big. You can totally see my boring nude bra from the side. Not good. This dress really needs to be worn with a cami or an undergarment you don't mind flashing.

Either way, it's a cute light dress perfect for warm days. I wore it to go pick up some bathing suit material on my bike today. I'm thinking it may be a good candidate to bring to CUBA! Leaving in a few weeks with 3 of my best guy friends. Can. Not. Wait. Hoping to bring a new swimsuit if I can squeeze it in before I go....

Otherwise, I am heading to NYC next weekend for the International Contemporary Furniture Fair. Going to network with designers, walk the highline, hopefully score some vip passes to design events, eat at Momofuko and Prune, do some fabric shopping and check out the Cindy Sherman and Prada/Schiaparelli exhibits. I will be taking lots of photos of that last item on the agenda to share with you all, of course.

Any recommendations for places to buy fabric? I'm going to stop by Mood obviously (I watch way too much Project Runway to not pay tribute) but any other suggestions would be highly appreciated.

Spring shirt dress muslin:
Pattern: McCall's 6520
Total Cost: $6 for fabric, $3 on interfacing, buttons from stash
Time to Make: 7 hours on machine sewing, 1 hour hand sewing