Review: McCall's 7468 | A Cut Out Shoulder Dress!

We've just entered October and the temperatures are settling in at "comfortable". It's not cool enough for outerwear just yet, but I still want to dress autumnal. The long bell sleeves and the cut out shoulder style make McCall's 7468 a perfect transitional garment.

I decided instantly that this dress needed to be in fall colors so that it wouldn't remotely look summery. I found this paisley print peachskin fabric from Joann's. I've always loved this type of poly. It's perfect for drapey casual wear. Sometimes you just want things that don't wrinkle and that you can take from the washer & dryer then to the hanger. The lack of having to dry clean means that this cute casual dress will get plenty of wear this fall.

I cut the size 14. I lengthened the bodice by an inch. And I lengthened the skirt by 3 inches. I'm 5'9" and you see where the hemline falls on me, so keep that in mind.

Right off the bat, I discovered an error in the second line of the instructions. It's telling you to gather the the bodice front with an illustration of the sleeve. So read the entire pattern carefully and with your own common sense.

Also, I didn't care for the construction methods of the bands. 

Here are my suggestions: Sew the the facing to the bands and underline BEFORE attaching to the body of the dress. It's a lot easier to maneuver and press that way. It took a lot of cussing and frustration while working on the first sleeve band for me to discover that there is a better way of doing that.

So by the time I worked all of that out, I wasn't about to do any handstitchng. I serged the raw edges and ditch stitched. 

I finished the sleeves with narrow hems.

For the neck bands, I did go ahead and slipstitch those. It was basically unvoidable.

Then neck closure is done with 1/2" buttons and thread loops. I found that using heavy duty thread works best. It's just a lot more sturdier.

The dress has a waistband. It's interfaced in the front and has two rows of 1/2" elastic in the back.

And the skirt is also hemmed in the exact same way as the sleeves.

Overall, I really like this dress and I feel that I don't have enough casual dresses in my wardrobe. So I'll be looking to add more fun and casual styles in the future.