A walk on the wild side - McCall's 5890 Knit Dress pattern review

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I admit it. I like animal prints. Although I typically wear them in small doses - a top worn underneath a suit jacket, a pair of shoes or a belt. You see I have a secret fear that I will look like that Laverne character on the old Sonny and Cher television show ... the one clad head to toe in a tacky leopard print.

However, when I saw this McCall's pattern, 5890, I pushed my fear aside and decided to go for it. I searched the Internet for an animal print knit, which was harder than I had anticipated. Not finding exactly what I wanted, I settled for a cheetah print from Gorgeous Fabrics.

The dress itself is so stickin' simple to sew that there is hardly anything to say about it. Here's my observations about the pattern:

• It's a princess seam knit dress, perfect for adjusting the fit in the bust, waist and hip while maintaining the shape of the design.
  
• The only adjustments I made to the pattern were 1) forward shoulder adjustment and 2) sway back adjustment.
  
• The pattern seems to run large. I do not like my clothing tight so I typically cut a size larger in the waist and hip giving myself lots of extra ease. This time I did that and there was way too much ease - the dress hung on my with no shape at all. I needed to take the waist in about four inches and it is still loose enough for me.
  
• The neck and sleeves are simply turned under and stitched in place. I used light steam-a-seam to give it some stability before topstitching. A binding would look nice also. (Of course I thought of that after the dress was completed.)
• The dress is long. I cut the shorter view with no adjustments. I cut 1" off and sewed a 1-1/2" hem. Next time I will hem it another 1/2" to 1" shorter.
• In my opinion it needs to be worn with a belt to help define the waist.

All in all, its a keeper. It was the perfect work dress for the sweltering summer heat we finally are experiencing. Yea for hot summer weather! and I better not let my husband see what I just wrote as he's been complaining about the heat all day.