Selfish Sewing, a McCalls Pattern

Recently I had an impromptu vacation to California. My sister, who lives in Switzerland, was on business trip in New Zealand and was flying back home through Los Angeles. It was her idea for us to spend a few days in the area. I was doubtful it would actually happen, many things had to fall in place and I didn't really get excited until I landed in LA. But just in case I made myself a dress, because you need a new dress when going on vacation. Right?

I used McCalls paper pattern, M6433. I am quite please with the final results, considering that I had no time to make a muslin. The pattern is very well done, with all the notches, lines, etc etc present and is easy to put together. The instructions are a bit minimal and the diagrams are not always clear, but overall it's a very good pattern.

 am size 4-6 in store bought clothes, so around size 10 in patterns. I measured myself and fell between sizes 8 and 10 for chest, my hips were size 10 and then I measured my waist. I looked at the chart,  I was close to size 14. What? There was no way, I thought. It MUST be a mistake. So I remeasured. It was the same. Ummm. No. Can't be. Denial. Denial. Denial. So I went ahead and cut size 10 out. But unfortunately, the measuring tape never lies. Lol The truth is  I am about 7 pounds bigger than what I was my whole life until the fourth child arrived. Somehow I never quite lost all the weight, and then gained a bit more and it all nicely settled in my waist area. By no means, I am overweight,but it's just a bit annoying. I had to use the tiniest seam allowance possible to fit myself into the dress. Phew. I should face the reality next time, ha.

We went to Al Matador beach for the photoshoot. It's breathtakingly beautiful. There were a few other people taking photos, from a wedding to a half naked gal in a wet white t-shirt. I am sure she was posing for a family friendly publication. Not. The beach is quite narrow, just a strip of sand between the ocean and the jagged cliffs. We found a nice spot with the gentle waves caressing my feet. My sister took the first picture.

And then woosh, a huge wave comes and all of a sudden I have freezing water up to my waist. How rude. Lol. And then woosh, another one, just as strong. There was no place to run, we were stuck between the water and the rocks. And all I can think was, camera, hold the camera up!!! We ran to a safer spot and it was still not safe enough. It was just too funny. If you look closer at me, you can tell that my dress is wet. 

The fabric came from my favorite local warehouse. It's a left over from an Elie Tahari collection, not sure if it actually made it into his collection or it was used for samples. I like him as a designer, and find his story very interesting. The fabric is poplin with some stretch, it's quite nice. The best part it was $6.99 per yard. The whole dress cost me less then $15.00 including the zip and the pattern purchase. 

Here is a close up. I was over the moon because all the seams lined up perfectly.  I showed it to everybody I knew. Let's just say, they didn't quite understand my joy.

And the front. The shoulders have an interesting pleating detail. I really like patterns with nice details.

The back has an invisible zipper. You can really tell by this picture how wet I am.

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