Koi Dress (McCall's 6887)

My mom brought me this beautiful koi print fabric from Hawaii and I was excited to use if for this pattern. It's got the slightest bit of stretch to it and sews up so easily. After sewing McCall's 6887 the first time, I realized I should probably make a muslin before trying it again so I could get a better fit for the bodice. I sewed a combo of views A and B (sleeveless A-line with no back cutout) in size 20. This time, I modified the A/B cup bodice side front piece to eliminate excess fabric on the top of the bust and the fit is much better.

I didn't have any material that would work for a lining (and this fabric doesn't need it, anyway) so I used a bias facing. I could have been a little more careful about pressing it in further so the bias tape doesn't show from the front, but it's not bad for my first time.

Another skill I've recently acquired is serging! My mom found a White Speedylock 299D serger at a thrift store for $30 and I picked up four different colors of serger thread from Salvation Army for a dollar apiece. Having four colors helped a ton in figuring out tension settings. I'm using it only for inner seams so it doesn't matter that the serged edge is teal, purple, black, and white.

I got a little scared since everything I've read online about this model says it's one to avoid, but after looking through the manual and watching a lot of Youtube tutorials it's up and running with no issues. It makes finishing seams so quick and they look so much more professional than pinking them, which is what I usually did before. I want to serge everything now!

To fix the issues with the skirt panels, I redrafted the side and back pieces to match the bodice seams. It wasn't hard at all and worked way better than the original pattern. I meant to make pockets but got too excited about serging and finished the side seams before putting them in. Oops! The fit is (almost) perfect and I look forward to tweaking future versions to make it even better. I already have a fabric in mind...