Pretty in Pink, Round 2

It seems that I've been drawn to pretty feminine things this spring, and pink seems to be a common theme.  I was attending the annual End of Year Awards Banquet for our local Ski Patrol zone and I wanted something feminine, swooshy and pretty to dance the night away in.  After a lot of consideration and looking at a lot of patterns, I chose McCalls M6893.

I was really drawn to the halter style and the pretty overlay-style front bodice.  I chose  a mish-mash of the styles, using the halter style top with the shorter gathered a-line skirt.  I used a very feminine pink polyester chiffon for the outer layer of the dress that I purchased at Fabricland on a recent trip in Ottawa, a hot pink rayon challis for the bustier component (also from the Ottawa Fabricland), as well as the underlayer of the skirt.  

I underlined the rayon challis for the bustier, the waistband and the neckline closure with fusible interfacing.  I lined the dress with a lightweight pink polyester I had in my stash.

Spoiler alert - I didn't finish this in time for the banquet and ended up wearing another dress that I made a number of years ago but have worn less than a handful of times.  I made this decision early enough in the process and was able to stop stressing and enjoy the construction the rest of the dress (as well as the day of the banquet instead of stressing about getting it done!).

I cut a size 16, with an 1" FBA, and a 3/4" sway back adjustment, but ended up taking another 1/4" off the back during the fitting process.  I lengthened the skirt pieces from the original pattern by about 5", but then cut off about an inch to even the hem out while hemming.  

I added a bit of clear elastic to the inside at the top of the bustier from the side seam to just shy of the princess seam, as well as boning in the side seam of the bodice to add support.  I also stitched in bust cups to the lining so I wouldn't have to wear a bra.  I hate it when I'm constantly fiddling on the dance floor to keep the bra from showing at the lower back neckline of the halter.  I also added a waist stay to help keep everything in place.

I used French seams for the chiffon layer of the skirt, and all three layers are hemmed using a picot serged edge. I wanted something light and floaty for the hem to keep the layers from being dragged down.

I am so happy to see the finished fun and flirty dress on my dressform and can't wait to find the right occasion to wear it to!