Scottish wool for my mother

A year ago I visited Edinburgh and bought some 100 % Scottish wool for my mother. She hasn’t dared to sew anything of it being too afraid of ruining the lovely fabric. On my winter break I decided to offer my help. I had selected some patterns from McCall’s sales and after some consideration decided on McCall’s 7241.

We were a bit concerned whether the pleated hem would look good on an older woman than the one in the envelope picture but took a risk knowing that the pleats could come off easily. There was some 2 metres of the fabric but after some serious pattern tetris I managed to fit all the pieces of the view D on to the fabric. I was really proud of myself, especially since I had to pay close attention on the pattern alignment.

My mother helped a lot with the basting and ironing steps while I took the scary machine sewing and cutting parts. All together I took a day and a half plus tree trips to the local fabric store to finish the dress. (I understand not buying the zipper with the original fabric and forgetting the hook and eye closure but how could we have forgotten the lining?)

Aaanndd… Here she is! My mother in her brand new dress. Doesn’t she look fabulous!

A small waist adjustment aside the dress came out perfect. I happy with how the princess seams almost disappear and how the fit brings out her waist. My mother says that the dress reminds her of the dresses she used to wear during the winters when she was small. I wish there were any pictures of those dresses but unfortunately the 50s and 60s cameras weren’t suitable for taking pictures indoors during the dark winter months.

I believe that my mom likes the dress too! The pleated hem is perfect for a little twirling!

And finally here is the dress from the back:

For anyone making this dress, I recommend measuring an old dress and using those measurements to help you to select your size. According to the size chart my mother would have needed a dress two sizes larger than the one we ended up making.