Halloween: M7493 as Eliza Hamilton

Halloween has come and gone, so I’m now allowed to share my most recent project. In my last post, I wrote a bit about the time that was going into planning my 14-year-old daughter’s costume. The schedule was tight, but the costume was ready with a couple of days to spare.

From McCall’s M7493 pattern, View C, we were able to fashion a dress like one of Eliza Hamilton’s in “Hamilton: An American Musical.” Worn during the song “Burn,” it’s a white (or pale blue?) short-sleeved dress with a light blue ribbon tied at an empire waist.

The pattern was a challenge for my level of garment-sewing skills, although it wasn’t a difficult pattern. I kept making mistakes in how I read the instructions. While you wouldn’t think there would be much wiggle room in step-by-step instructions, I managed to find every wiggle that was there. For the most part they were silly mistakes that wasted time and materials, but were easy enough to correct.

The bodice lining was a lot of extra work for a costume. Ultimately, though, I’m glad I stuck it out with the lining because it makes such a difference in the comfort level of the dress. All of the bodice seam allowances are enclosed in the lining, minimizing itching and random threads.

The biggest blunder that I made was in choosing a pattern size based on my daughter’s bust size. I had made an unlined muslin of the bodice — really, I did! — and it seemed to fit fine. But it no longer fit well when the entire dress came together.

I’ve never paid close attention to full bust adjustments because — ahem — that’s not an adjustment I need to worry about when sewing clothes for myself. I should have realized my daughter would need one, but it didn’t click in my brain until the dress was almost done and I was struggling to understand why the bodice back was so large relative to the front.

I finished construction of the dress late at night, right before going out of town for a couple of days. My daughter wasn’t available for a fitting (because she was sleeping, like a sensible person) so I left the hem, buttons, and buttonholes undone. I would complete those final details when I had my daughter available to try on the dress, and when I was fully awake.

Over those few days that we were away, my mother-in-law offered to finish the dress. She was the one to discover the sizing issue. Then, from a distance, we had to figure out the best way to correct the fit without undoing (or re-doing) both the bodice and its lining. She ended up making two darts in the bodice back.

Once I was home again, I attached the ribbon. My daughter wanted to be able to tie and untie the ribbon, but didn’t want it to droop. I sewed on the ribbon in two parts, so the dress can still be unbuttoned in the back, with a small gap toward the front where she can tie a bow.

I also hemmed the dress one more time. My daughter wanted the dress to be long, so my mother-in-law had left the dress floor-length. That wouldn’t be practical for walking through our hilly neighborhood; I convinced my daughter to let me bring it up another inch (2.5 cm).

While the fit isn’t perfect, my daughter absolutely loves the dress and would probably wear it every day if she could. She’s talked my mother-in-law into making the short jacket from View A, and intends to wear it regularly. It’s going to be fun to see how her personal style evolves!

As for me, I think I need to take a step back and stick with “Easy” or “Beginner” garment patterns for a while longer. What have you learned from your recent projects?