Pattern Report: New Look 6915 Dress

Trina Turk Eye Candy

What my husband calls fashion porn arrived in the mail today: another fall collection, this one from Lord and Taylor. In the mailer was yummy dress designed by Trina Turk, a simple, elegant silk with a bold print. I don't like the lining she and other RTW designers use in many silk dresses. What's the point of wearing silk if you have polyester next to your skin? The design in the dress is a shape I wear and sew (in different lengths and variations) year after year.

I found a really nice cotton print that I wanted to make up using a similar design. Thumbing through my collection of patterns, I noticed that version A of New Look 6915 would fit the bill if I added to the length.

I cut a size 8 of New Look 6915 (version A) but added 6-1/2 inches in length to create a dress that hit just above the knee. I basted the seams and the dress fit perfectly.... but all was not well.

The scissor elfs were playing games again. I cut the size eight facings for the size 8 top and the facings did not fit. Not even close. I checked to see if I cut the wrong facing for the top or if my sizing was off for either, but it looked as though I had cut per instructions. Oh, well.

New Look 6915, as modified

Now I had a problem to solve. The pattern called for 2-1/4 yards of fabric for a mini-skirt.  I had only 2 yards and I was adding 6-1/2 inches to the bottom of the pattern. I had enough to cut all the pieces on the fold as instructed, leaving plenty to make the belt from the left-over around the selvage....but I did not have enough material for a do-over on the facing. Oy.

To work around the facing issue, I serged a three thread rolled hem on the neckline and arms before stitching the dress together. I used my serger to create a matching hemline. Since serged edges figured prominently in the dress, I skipped the instructions for the belt altogether, cut a 2-1/2 inch piece of fabric for the belt and then serged all the way around the edges using the technique explained in my earlier tutorial.

Pattern
New Look 6915 version A.

Related Tutorials
Embroider a Belt Made from Scrap Fabric
Use Your Serger to Make a Belt from Scrap Fabric