And here we come at the (temporary) end of my series on puff sleeves (see here and here for previous articles). The weather has considerably improved in London, so I now expect to be able to wear only sleeveless dresses – fingers crossed… In the meantime, let me introduce you to two versions of the M8211 pattern.

A special order

Both dresses were actually sewn for my elder daughter. She gave me quite a detailed brief for the style of the dress: puff sleeves, square neckline, gathered bust, knee-length skirt. And thankfully I had the perfect pattern: McCall’s M8211, which I bought last year as part of a bulk sale purchase from the US (I know, I know…).

It is a very cute dress but I did not really see it on me. No wonder, it is actually much more appropriate for my 16 year-old, don’t you think?

She also chose the fabrics for both dresses. First, a cotton gingham from Sew Me Sunshine, in her favourite blue colour. I have been a lover of gingham forever and I am so pleased my daughters are too. I have actually just finished another dress for her sister. Let’s make the most of gingham being available everywhere!

The second dress is in a superb white embroidered cotton from Amothreads. This online shop sells solely deadstock fabric, always at incredibly low prices. The quality is irregular but you can get your hands on amazing bargains – definitely the case here!

I like the fact she chose such different fabrics because they give the dress a completely different style. Cleary the white dress is much more formal than the gingham one. It will be perfect to wear at her brother’s communion next week – which was this initial purpose of this all process. The gingham dress was optional and will be taken to France for our seaside holiday.

M8211 pattern review

Sizing: on the large side

My daughter is a touch broader-shouldered than me and her bust cup is more standard than mine, but otherwise our measurements are quite similar. So I cut my usual size 10 size for McCall’s and ended up with a good fit overall but quite a lot of bagging at the top.

Nothing that I could not easily sort out though. I took 2.5cm off (on each side!!!) at the top of the back bodice, going to 0 above the belt; 5cm off the front elastic; and 3cm off the shoulder elastic. The elastic is a breeze to adjust, you just need to make sure you do it before closing your front and shoulder sleeve casings.

Many positives, no major negative

There are many things I like about this dress.

• The style is completely on trend: just a bit of cottage style but not too much.
• There are plenty of lovely details: the puff sleeves (off course!); the square neckline at the front and at the back; the gathered bust; and the full skirt.
• It is a reasonably easy make. The clever construction makes all the pieces fall perfectly together. This is always the case with McCall’s but worth highlighting nevertheless. I would strongly advise to follow the instructions precisely though!

Changes to the pattern: not many

On top of the sizing adjustments mentioned above, I decided to move the central back zip to the side for the gingham dress. Beware, it does not work with the 3-piece skirt! So if you decide to do the same, you will need to redraft your skirt to avoid a seam right at the middle front!!

Conclusion: success!

My daughter was thrilled with these dresses and I can even borrow them in case I find myself short of things to wear (??!!!); so this in an entire success!

Guess what: I have just become a brand ambassador for one of my favourite online fabric shops Croft Mill! I am beyond excited!!! My plan was to use their wonderful fabrics to sew lots of summer dresses. But the English weather had other plans…

So instead let me introduce you to my lilac chambray co-ord:

A long love story with Croft Mill

I am always a bit dubious when bloggers become brand ambassadors, as you never know how objective they are in their reviews. I also had a poor experience a few years ago, when a fabric shop gifted me fabric of such poor quality I did not know what to do with it…

But with Croft Mill I had no doubts. I have been using their fabric for years (first article on the blog dates from 2018!!) and I am a huge fan. The quality is always good and the prices very reasonable. They have an extensive range and stock a lot of natural fabric (cotton and wool), which are my favourite.

Here is a sample of a few of my makes – all of these are reviewed on the blog actually (just go here to pick and choose the ones you like!).

What to sew in charming chambray?

But back to my makes! This is a culotte and top set in a gorgeous lilac chambray fabric, with enough structure to keep the defined shape of both the bottom and the top; but 100% cotton so breathable and super soft to the skin. The quality of this fabric is truly (a very objectively) amazing for such an affordable price (£7.75pm!!). Not even to mention the colour , my chambray holy grail!- you know how much I like lilac (just a couple of examples here and here…).

I have used chambray in the past and I really like it for more structured garments. It behaves a bit like lightweight denim but is way more breathable. I also like that the way it is woven gives it quite a lot of visual texture – as if it had little speckles of colours.

On the left, one of my favourite ever makes, the iconic M6696 shirt dress in blue chambray. I am actually very tempted to make this dress in purple (and with puff sleeves)… On the right, the Lune dress by French Poetry, which is so elegant in this fabric (I also saw it in cotton lawn and the outcome is completely different). Both dresses are made in a chambray of exactly similar weight and texture to the lilac one.

Patterns used: V9075 culottes, Altlas Top

V9075 pattern review

For the bottom, I used the V9075 jumpsuit pattern, from which I only kept the bottom culottes. As much as I would like to sew this jumpsuit, I still haven’t worked out how you can conveniently take it off with a zip at the back and such a high neckline… Maybe more yoga is needed to gain flexibility?

The culottes have an exquisite shape. They are very fitted at the top thanks to 12 pleats in total; and then very wide at the bottom – super flattering if like my you have a small waist and… well, “generous” hips!

They also have perfectly proportioned, with the length being just right to balance the volume (for my 1.68m anyway!).

I cut a size 10 (for my UK size 8, FR 36 and US 2) and made no fit adjustment whatsoever – incredible for me, as sewing trousers is ususally a huge headache!

My only change to the pattern was to make the culottes as separate. For this, I created front and back facings, using my half front and back pieces as guides once the pleats had been sewn. And I added an 20cm invisible zip on the side. Nothing complicated really.

Atlas Top pattern review

The top is the Atlas top by Stitch Witch patterns. I thought it would be the perfect candidate to be sewn in chambray; and a very good match with the culottes. And to be honest I am absolutely thrilled by this outfit, especially seen from the back – look at this lovely triangle!

I had already sewn with great enjoyment some Stitch Witch patterns (namely the Tudor Blouse and the Boleyn Top), but for an obscure reason never came round to showing them on the blog.

Sewing the Tudor Top was similarly enjoyable: it is a very easy make, with straightforward instructions and a lovely outcome. The crossed back is particularly stunning…

… and the central bust darts at the front create a very original look.

I chose a size 8 but had to make a Full Bust Adjustment (FBA) to fit my E cup. The FBA was absolutely necessary to be able to put the top on, as there is very little bust ease if you compare the body and finished measurements. Here is what my front piece looks like after the FBA.

Last but not least, this pattern consumes less than 1m of fabric if you line the back with a different fabric. So the best stash buster ever!!

Conclusion

It took me quite a lot of thinking to chose what to do with this fabric, as I really did not want to mess-up – the only disadvantage of being gifted fabric I guess.

So now my problem is that I have so many ideas of garments in lilac chambray that I may well need to purchase whatever is left in stock. Because of course I have used all my fabric leftovers already – here is a sneak peek…

As I discussed in my previous article, I am completely obsessed with sewing puff sleeves currently. So after my first puff sleeve dress, here is my second: the McCall’s M8197 dress.

M8197 pattern presentation

The McCall’s M8197 dress is a babydoll dress with an adjusted bodice with stops at mid-bosom level; a low cleveage both at the front and at the back; a voluminous gathered skirt; and puff sleeves of course!

It is quite a recent pattern from McCall, part of the Spring/Summer 2021 collection I think. And to be fair I am always quite cautious with these recent patterns. I find they are sometimes not drafted as well as their predecessors – more on this later.

This dress is clearly out of my comfort zone: not my current fit-and-flare shape, with a gathered rather than circle skirt, and much shorter than I usually wear. My children, creatures of habit, were actually shocked when I initially wore it! Not very encouraging I have to admit…

M8197 pattern pros and cons

I am somewhat ambivalent about this dress. I have been wanting to sew this shape for ages and I am keen to explore shorter lengths currently, so all good on this side. On the other hand, I am not convinced about the bodice fit at all.

On the positive side:

• The shape of this dress is very pretty. I think this pattern has managed to nail-down the babydoll shape, with a perfect bodice/skirt proportion and very cute puff sleeves.

• It is an extremely easy make. There is a limited number of pattern pieces, no huge technical difficulties (invisible zipper and gathering of the sleeves and skirt being the main ones) and very clear instructions.
• The internal finish is very clean, with the bodice entirely lined. You could also easily line the skirt if you wish.

But on the negative side:

• The bodice fit is definitely not very good. I went for my usual McCall’s size 10, which usually gives me a perfect fit. But here the neckline is too large and the sleeves tend to fall off. Secondly, the sleeve band would have been too tight had I followed the pattern. Thankfully I took my arm circumference measurements first and adjusted the pattern piece, which I strongly recommend you do. And lastly there was no bust cup options on offer and I was too lazy to do an FBA – I definitely should have.

• The positioning of the zip makes it all but invisible, in the middle of all the skirt gathering at the back. Huge pity in my view and next time I will definitely position it on the side (as I usually do, not sure why I didn’t this time…).

• My fabric choice was definitely wrong. I use a silk dupion, which gives very nice structure to the skirt but is nearly impossible to iron properly with all these gathers (you can see all the fabric wrinkles in the previous close-up pictures). I think a lightweight cotton would have been better.

In conclusion

Not my favourite ever make but at least of gave me a puff sleeve pattern piece I can use ad nauseam on all my McCall’s/ Vogue/ Butterick patterns. All is not lost!

After my shirt dress obsession in Spring 2021 (here, here and here), for me Spring 2022 is all about sewing puff sleeves. So here is my first puff sleeve dress: a hack of my beloved B6446 pattern… with puff sleeves of course!

What are puff sleeves?

According to Oxford dictionary, a puff sleeve is a « type of sleeve on a piece of clothing that fits close to the body at the shoulder and the lower edge and is wider in the middle, forming a round shape ». In French we call them balloon sleeves, which I think gives a better idea of what they look like.

I think that in theory what you call puff sleeves is supposed to be gathered at the top and the bottom (figure 2 below). But for me, anything the is gathered either at the bottom, the top or both will work to fulfill my puff sleeve sewing desire!

Puff sleeve sewing inspiration

I was relieved when watching the Great Sewing Bee 2022 to find out that I am not the only one completely obsessed with puff sleeves. Beautiful Broghan seems to be sewing and wearing only these, so it is not just me!!!

If you are keen to join the puff sleeve bandwagon, there are quite a few patterns available. Here are my favourites.

First, McCall’s M8197, with I used for the sleeves of this dress… And have also sewn entirely, article to follow when pictures are taken!

Second, McCall’s M8211, also sewn and waiting for proper pictures…

Third, the Capulet dress by Switch Witch Patterns, which I am really keen to try when I find the right fabric.

And fourth, the Sinclar wrap dress by Pretty Mercerie – I just want to steal these gorgeous version from Happy as a Bee!

Sewing the B6446 pattern with puff sleeves

The B6446 pattern joined my hall of fame last year and I made a couple of versions… of course! (I actually saw a third one but never showed it as the fabric choice was a big mistake… Think « Little House in the Prairie » unintended look).

I reviewed extensively the B6446 pattern in this article, so I won’t bore you with more of the same. I absolutely adore the mock wrap bodice, which very much lends itself to adding piping at the neckline… every time I sew it!

But my main advice is not to use the skirt from the pattern, which does not have enough volume to give the beautiful bodice credit. Instead, substitute it with a nice full circle skirt, either selft-drafted or using the pattern piece from M7081 for instance – which is ideal for this dress. Twirl, twirl, twirl!

As for the sleeves, – which I am only mentioning now while they were the all point of this article, never mind – I simply took the puff sleeves from the M8194 pattern in the exact same size as that of my dress (10) and they fitted without any adjustment whatsoever! All Butterick, Vogue and McCall’s patterns (all the same company) seem to have interchangeable pieces for their dresses, I have mixed and matched bodices, sleeves and skirts very often and never ever had any issues. How cool is that!

Conclusion

This dress combines my new love for puff sleeve and my old love for wrap dresses, so I can only adore it. This cotton satin fabric, found at Oxford Street John Lewis in London, makes it even more special with its most gorgeous blue hues.

Many more puff sleeves dresses to show you soon, stay tuned!