McCall's 7778 Pattern Review

Mediterranean Magic

Before I started sewing, I would scour The RealReal every day to see if any of Dolce & Gabbana’s beautiful Majolica or Mambo print dresses were available at a price I was willing to pay. Spoiler alert: never happened!

So what is a good little sewist to do? Make my own Dolce & Gabbana-inspired dresses, of course! McCall’s 7778, from their Summer 2018 collection, is my go-to for my Mediterranean-inspired dreams. I’ve made three M7778s so far – a short lemon print dress made with Timeless Treasures’s Citron quilting cotton, a short pink and black version made with Lady McElroy peachskin crepe courtesy of Minerva.com and a spectacular maxi version made with a Dutch cotton knit from Emma One Sock.

The Pattern

Pattern Description

M7778 is a fabulous dress and jumpsuit pattern with a sweetheart neckline, princess seams and tie shoulders. There’s also the option to make a lace front bodice and a few different strap variations

Sizing

This dress comes in standard Big Four sizing – size 6 through 22 – with finished bust measurements of 32” to 45 ½”. I used a size 12 as my base.

Pattern Adjustments

When I first started sewing, I found princess seams to be incredibly daunting. My first attempt at dressmaking was working with a princess seamed bodice, and let’s just say, it was not a success. In retrospect, I’m a little surprised I kept sewing after such a spectacular failure, but thank goodness I did!

There are so many amazing tutorials out there for adjusting darted bodices, but there are far fewer for tackling princess seams. This tutorial from Heather Lou at Closet Case Patterns is a lifesaver! It has everything you need for getting the right bust fit.

After making a muslin, I realized that the biggest problem for me was the placement of the princess seams – the ideal placement is to have the seam sit directly at the true apex of the bust. I moved the apex about ½” away from center front. This meant that I needed to take in the side seams by a corresponding ½”. Other than that, I didn’t make any adjustments to the woven version of the dress.

In addition to being incredibly beautiful and fodder for a lifetime of Dolce & Gabbana-inspired dreams, my Emma One Sock Robins and Roses knit is very, very stretchy. I don’t have the exact measurements I used, but I cut the fabric using my standard woven pattern template and then altered it on the fly. The key was making sure the princess seams sat directly over my apex – which they did – and then I took in the dress from the side seams.

Design Modifications

I’m not sure if you can really call this a design modification, but I decided not to shorten the bodice. As you can see from the pattern envelope, the bodice is designed to fit about an inch or two above the natural waist. I prefer dresses to hit at my natural waist, which this one did straight out of the envelope, so I just left it alone. Volia, pattern hacking in action!

Construction Tips and Tricks

I’m not a big knit sewer or wearer, so I don’t profess to be a knit expert, but I always serge clear elastic into my seams to keep them from stretching out and I use fusible stay tape on the hem to prevent the hem from rolling. Both techniques have served me well so far!

The Fabric and Haberdashery

I love how little fabric it takes to make this dress! The pattern calls for 1 ¾ yards, but you can get away with far less, particularly if you don’t need to pattern match, if you’re willing to have a slightly less full skirt, and if you line the bodice with a separate lining fabric. I was able to make my maxi version with just 1 ½ yards of fabric, so it’s totally do-able.