A McCalls 4488 and 3252 Mash-up

Whilst going through my new stash of patterns that I picked up at the yard sale this spring I came across McCall's 3252.

I really took a liking to view B of this pattern.   However once again the pattern I have is in a size 12, which would seem by the dimensions  on the back of the envelope to be way too small for me.

 However I noticed that the top part of the pattern was very similar to McCall's 4488 that I've now sewn up twice (Beatles shirt and Grey dress)and have got to fit fairly well.  I decided to have a look into sewing the 3252 pattern using my modified 4488 pattern pieces.

I used the modified top front piece from 4488 and then combined the lower top piece of 4488 with the lower front piece of 3252.  The back of the dress from 3252 is made in two pieces - top and bottom, but I modified it into a single piece using my previously modified pattern piece for 4488.  In the end, all I've really taken from 3252 is the shape of the skirt.

To finish the neckline and armholes I cut a second set of the front top piece, and a second set of the top half of the back pieces and used it to self line the top half of the dress.

I decided not to go with a long sleeve dress, mainly because i didn't have enough material to do so.

The skirt length shown on the pattern is just below the knee, however on my short frame the pattern came down almost to my ankles.  I took about 3 inches off the bottom of the skirt as I traced it - and then took the skirt pattern up at the lengthen/shorten line about another 3 inches - and this still left enough length to do a double turned hem 1.5 inches deep.

The final length of the dress is longer than I usually wear my skirts but I quite like it....maybe I'm just getting old.

The material I used is a piece that I found at my local fabric store that I love.  It's a grey and pink knit fabric with a flowery/paisley design and black sparkly dots all over.

I'm pretty happy with the final dress.

My only real issue with the dress is the material.  I absolutely love this material, but it does have those little black sparkly dots all  over it.  I was originally worried that they might create issues whilst sewing, but that thankfully didn't happen, what it has done however has made it just slightly uncomfortable to wear, especially in the underarm region where my skin rubs directly against the fabric...also I probably shouldn't have used the same material as a lining.....oh well its not too bad, and hasn't stopped me wearing this dress a lot since I finished it.