When I showed the dress pattern, M7152 from McCall’s,?to my daughter she seemed pretty excited to have one of her own. I was a bit surprised. I wanted to make it for Nancy Zieman’s Knit Dress Sew Along.

My daughter says, “Yeah, I’d totally wear that, but make it red at the top with a black bottom.” That was really specific and a very fast answer from a then-14 year old. After talking to her a bit more, this is what she had in mind:

Pretty great, right? Hello- STAR TREK inspiration!!!

I found black ponte knit and red matte jersey knit and set out to sew where no woman has sewn before. The red jersey was lighter weight than the black ponte knit, but since the red will have a facing, I thought it would be ok to use the lighter weight.

The Nancy Zieman’s Knit Dress Sew Along was?spread out over 3 days in May: Cutting, construction and finishing.

Unfortunately, my local shop didn’t have the fusible tricot interfacing to be used with knit fabrics, but the woven fabric I purchased felt like it had a little give in it. In hindsight, if I was going to use a woven interfacing, I probably should have cut my interfacing pieces on the bias, so I’d be certain they’d have stretch in them.

Grading seam allowances. Clipping corners. Notching curves. It was all really fast construction. In fact, the “hardest” part is remembering that the top is asymmetrical and pieces have to be, with certainty, face up or face down.

The facings are on- next stops: Top-stitching, fitting, side seams, shoulder faux-button closure and machine-stitched hem.

 

I didn’t alter the pattern at all for my daughter, but I probably should have made a couple adjustments. For now, though, all it needs is a Star Fleet Federation shape covered in tin foil for the ultimate dress accessory. Or maybe I’ll just hop over to Amazon and grab one of these:

Overall, it turned out well. Definitely perfect for the end of October, Halloween party, cosplay, or convention. Yes, you can totally switch the color placement of the red and black fabrics. Google tells me either way will look fine.

Since the dress is all knit, it should be super comfortable.