I thought I didn’t need another summer dress that resembles a Muu-muu. Turns out I was wrong. I definitely needed this dress in my summer wardrobe and you might too.

The Pattern….

When I first saw the Mccalls pattern # 7742 in the Summer of 2020 I thought, “Wow, McCalls got Heather Graham to model for them?” So I checked out the pattern. It was a very loose fitting dress with no waistline. It had a front and back yoke as well as four different sleeve variations. It resembled a Muu-muu which as a teen I swore I would never wear. What do teenagers know anyway? This pattern was totally my vibe.

I didn’t buy the McCall’s pattern back in 2020. Instead I decided to use a pattern I already had (Blank Slate’s Esma Top) and try to copy it. You can read all about that here.

Well recently, my curiosity got the better of me so when Joann had a big pattern sale I made sure to grab the McCall’s #7742 pattern. That way I could make the actual dress I copied and see how close I was. 

 

First the Fabric….

The first thing I needed was some amazing fabric. I had made my previous dupe with some bright Viscose Challis fabric from fabric.com. So I wanted to find the same type of fabric. I found this Crystal Chrysanthemums Viscose Challis Fabric from Minerva.com and ordered it. It was perfect!

The View….

As I mentioned above this pattern is very loose fitting and has four different sleeve variations. I wanted to make one with a ruffle sleeve so this one would look like my dupe. It has two different ruffle lengths to choose from so I went with option C which had a longer ruffle. It doesn’t have any different dress length options but it would be really easy to add length to that part of the pattern if you need to.

The Differences….

The sleeve ruffle is really big which I love the way it looks but it’s not very practical. I can’t really wear it around the house like I do my dupe. So I prefer my dupe length ruffle more. The long ruffle sleeve kind of gets in everything. So when I make it again I will use the shorter ruffle option.

This one has pockets and I forgot to put pockets in my dupe.Sheesh! I know, what on earth was I thinking!? Although the pockets for the McCalls dress are plenty big and can fit my cell phone, the markings have them waaaaaay too low. It makes it really hard to put stuff in them which defeats the purpose. I definitely need to raise those for my next one.

The McCall’s dress is gathered in the front and the back middle. In my dupe version I made mine wide enough to gather all the way around. I thought it would feel noticeably differnt when I wore them but I  can honestly say it didn’t make a difference to me now that I’ve made it both ways. I read that other sewists made theirs wider, but I don’t think I will do that. I’ll just sew it as is. 

Final Thoughts….

All in all, I really love this pattern. I also feel like I did areally good job replicating it. There are differences with the two but I ove them both very much.  They are both comfy and perfect for summer. I’m so glad I decided to grab The McCalls pattern and see what all the fuss was about. It’s easy to sew and nice to wear. Plus because it’s a light, flowy fabric it’s easy to throw a jacket on over it if it gets cool. I’ll make it again. And again. Even if it makes my teenage self roll her eyes in disgust. What do teenagers know anyway, lol?!

Speaking of Teenagers….. Mine sure love it when I make them ties to match my new dresses. So we all wore a matching ensemble for Easter Sunday Church Service. It was wonderful!

Show Seated!!

I know it can be helpful for some people if they can see seated pictures, so I made sure to find a place to sit and take some. Hope it helps!!

Let’s be friends!

If you are looking for a pattern suitable for more than one occasion, hopefully this post helps you figure out what will work best with your wardrobe needs. Let’s be friends on all the socials! Come follow along on Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook so we can chat about all our sewing projects!