McCall's m8021 Pattern review

Hey guys! I know it's been quite sometime since I've posted a pattern review. 2 years to be exact. So much has happened since my last post:

For starters, COVID happened. I actually had a project for the Spring 2020 season (which I'll probably finally finish for Spring 2022), it's been folded up and put away for a later date. I actually got caught up with sewing face masks for those that needed them. I'm glad I was able to put my sewing skills to use to help people stay safe during the pandemic. I , of course, needed to charge for my time to sew for others, because at the time, the demand was so high, I was sewing masks 24/7 while working a full time job.

I did so well from sewing face masks for others, I took most of the money that I made and invested it into an online clothing store, Bossy Glamworks Boutique. In between sewing face masks, and starting an online clothing business, I moved into my new home. Needless to say, my affinity for sewing my own clothing and blogging got pushed to the wayside. Now that things have settled, my business is doing well, and I've adjusted into my new home.

I'm glad to be back doing what I love and since it's the holiday season, I really wanted to sew something that could be worn to a nice holiday dinner or social gathering. I have several patterns that I've collected over the years and I decided to try McCall's M8021, View A. This was my first time working with this pattern, and since it didn't require me cutting out a bunch of pattern pieces, I figured it would be an easy garment to sew.

I chose a beautiful black sequin fabric for the dress, and a fabulous charmeuse animal print fabric for the lining, that I had from my fabric stash. I purchased both fabrics a few years ago, but you can find similar sequin fabric here and animal print lining here. This dress runs true to size so I went ahead and cut my regular size, which for this pattern, a size Small.

If you've worked with sequin fabric before, you know that once you cut into it, the sequins get EVERYWHERE. If you haven't, keep a broom and dust pan handy (or a vacuum) because you'll definitely need it LOL. Sequin fabric is very catching to the eye and "sew" beautiful, but sewing it is definitely a pain. After cutting all of the pattern pieces when working with sequin fabric, you'll need to pick the sequins out of the seam allowances to make sure your seams lie flat and your garment doesn't end up looking bulky.

Don't get turned away from working with sequins, just plan ahead and work on your project a little bit everyday until it's done. That's exactly what I did.

What I liked most about this dress pattern was the sequin belt that cinches "sew" beautifully around the waist and the fact that it has pockets. I absolutely love a dress that has pockets!

I'd say this dress took me about a week to make in between running my business and day-to day priorities. Besides picking the sequins out of the seam allowances, and cleaning up the scrap fabric, I'm actually happy with how beautifully it turned out. I definitely make this dress again, maybe with velvet or some other type of novelty fabric.

HOW IT TURNED OUT:

Shoes: An old personal pair, but similar ones can be found here

Sunglasses: Miu Miu--an old personal pair, but similar ones can be found here