McCall's 5576 Step-by-Step: Cutting

Now that your pattern is nicely laid out and pinned to the fabric it's time to take a deep breath and cut!  No going back now!

First, take a moment to look over your layout before cutting.  Are all of your pieces perfectly on grain?  Are you missing anything?  All the pieces facing the right way?  If so, great, let's go!

Although I normally use a rotary cutter, for this pattern I pulled out my trusty scissors just to ensure I still knew how to use them.  It was also a good reminder for why I prefer my rotary cutter.  Make sure you're using nice sharp scissors reserved for cutting fabric.  If your scissors have nicks and rough edges they can snag your fabric and ruin it before you have a chance to use it.  I've written "Sewing Scissors DO NOT USE" all over mine to help tell them apart from our regular scissors.  

Start with a long, mostly straight edge (the hemline is good) and cut with long, clean, controlled strokes.  Don't hurry!  Cut on the OUTSIDE of the black cutting line.  Again, go slow, there's no reason to rush.  Enjoy the cutting process and the sound of the scissors.  Be careful not to lift the fabric up any more than is necessary to fit the bottom blade under it.  This is one of the many reasons I love my rotary cutter - no lifting of the fabric.  However the mats and blades are relatively expensive so most beginners have to serve some time cutting out their patterns the way their grandmothers did.  It builds character.

When you get to a corner (such as when you move from cutting the hem to the side seam) cut a little past the turn then come back and start cutting up the side.  This helps keep everything neat and sharp.  

When you're cutting along a curve, especially a sharper one like you find at the neckline, continue with the long cuts but pivoting the scissors as you cut to follow the curve.  What you DON'T want to do is take little snips.  It's far too easy for those to turn out a jagged edge.  

After the piece is cut out take the time to mark it then and there.  (Lesson on marking coming soon.)  After marking the piece, leave it there if possible and move on to the next piece.  Picking it up can shift the fabric and mean a minute or two of resmoothing before cutting the next piece.  Unfortunately my cutting space is so small that I can only cut one large piece at a time so I do pick up just cut pieces, fold them a time or two, and put them in a neat pile off to the side.  Basically, do what works for you but do it knowing the reasons and (potential) consequences.  

Continue cutting out the various pieces until you're finished.  Now take a moment and look over the instruction sheet to make sure you've got everything you need.  More than once I've thought I was finished when I'd only cut out one sleeve or forgotten a facing or some other thing like that.  Double checking can cut down on a lot of frustration.  Now you're ready to sew!

McCall's 5576 Step-by-Step: Pinning the Pattern Pieces to the Fabric

Now it's time to pin the pattern pieces to the fabric.  This is an important step and well worth doing carefully because if you mess this up there's not much that can be done.  No pressure, though.  :)

First look over the pattern layout in the pattern instructions and take a moment to recheck which pieces you'll need and how many times you cut each.  Now lay down your first piece according to the instructions.  Don't pin it yet!

Find the grainline on the pattern piece.  Unless the piece is on the fold (we'll get to that in a moment) it's the long line with an arrow at either end.  Measure from it to the selvage or fold (whichever is closer) at several points.  Is it the same distance from the selvage/fold at each point?  If not (and it's probably not) then adjust it until it is.  Now put two pins in along the grainline.  If you skip this step you're likely to cut the piece off-grain and that can later cause the piece to hang wrong and try and twist around your body.  If you've ever had a garment whose side seam wanted to be in the front then you know what a pain it is.  And no, there's no way to really make an off grain piece behave like it should.  So don't cut off grain!

Now smooth out the pattern with your hand, making sure it and the fabric are flat.  Pin around the edges of the fabric, putting the pins parallel to the cutting line and about 1/2" in.  I put pins ever 6 or 7 inches on long straight edges and every few inches on more curved edges.

If you look at the picture you'll notice how I pin the corners.  Rather than pinning parallel there I put them at an angle.  It seems to hold the fabric better.  Make sure all your corners have pins as this will help you a lot when you get to cutting.

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Excursus: Pinning patterns that go on a fold.

Placing and pinning a pattern piece that goes on a fold is, in some ways, easier than other, non-fold, pieces.  Pieces that go on a fold are indicated by, instead of a grain line with arrows on both ends (or on one end in some cases), a line about 1 inch in from one side with arrows pointing to the edge.  That's the side you'll want to put on the fold.  I just lay it down and adjust it until the pattern is right on the fold all the way down and then pin it.  You can measure the distance from fold to grainline if you really want (I usually don't) but if you just line up the pattern edge with the fold then you should be fine.  And that's it!  Easy! 

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Repeat this for the rest of the pieces or at least as many as you can fit onto your cutting surface. Now you're ready to cut!

McCall's 5576 Step-by-Step: Tracing and Getting the Fabric Ready

I'm a half-and-half tracer - half the time I do it, the other half I just use the pattern directly.  So why trace at all, especially when you can get patterns at $1.99 on sale?  Lots of reasons but I do it for the fit and durability.  I trace onto the cheapest interfacing I can get at Joann's and because it's fabric-like I can sew it up, pin it, and generally assemble the pieces as though they're fabric to check for fit.  You'll see below how I did that with this pattern.  It's also great for doing modifications - I can draw all over with my colored pencils taking in some here or adding something there and it won't tear like the cheap tissue pattern.  Also it means if I need a different size then I can get it, even if the pattern's out of print.  This is the big one.  So there's a bit of an apologetic for tracing.  With that done, let's get onto the dress!

Tracing the Pattern

(1) Gather the Materials

- Pattern

- Something to trace onto (I used non-fusible interfacing, 99c a yard)

- Dark colored pencils

- Ruler

(2) Unfold pattern, find each piece needed, and trace over your size with a bright pencil.  It'll make the next step far easier.

(3) Lay the tracing material over the first pattern piece, pin the two layers together or use a heavy object to keep them together (I use the ruler) and trace the pattern.  Make sure to include cutting lines, notches, and all triangles and circles.  Label with pattern piece, pattern number, and the size you cut out.  Repeat for all other pieces needed.

(4) Pinfit.  Pin the pattern pieces together as they'll go in the final product.  Don't bother with facings or hems unless they're vital.  You're just trying to get an idea of how the fit is on you.  Put it on and see how it fits - is anything too tight?  Too loose?  How's the fit in the shoulder area?  Yes, it's hard to do this with only half a pattern but soon you'll be a pro.

Getting the Fabric Ready

(1) Look at the pattern layout carefully.  Look again.  It's not the ONLY way to cut out the pattern but it's a really good place to start.  Unfortunately this dress's layout for sizes 8-14 is HORRIBLE for a new seamstress.  Instead of an easy fold in half like the other sizes it has you fold in one side just enough to fit on the front and back pieces.  That's hard and it takes a lot longer than is fun.  So if you're reading this prior to buying fabric - BUY ACCORDING TO THE 18-22 LAYOUT.  It's just half a yard more (2 5/8 rather than 2 1/8) and worth every inch.  Unfortunately I bought according to the smaller amount so that's what you'll see.

(1b) If you haven't yet, wash the fabric.  Cotton especially has a tendency to shrink in the wash and you want this to happen BEFORE you've spent hours cutting and sewing.  Wash it on the hottest setting it'll take and, if your cotton is strongly colored, don't put lighter colored stuff in with it.  Dye always bleeds the worse the first couple washes.  

(2) Prep the fabric for laying out.  "True" the grain by taking a snip half an inch down from one edge, cutting far enough in to get past the tightly woven selvage.  Now rip along that cut.  Yes, you read right.  Cottons rip wonderfully along their grain line and it's kinda fun.  Now the top edge should be perfectly perpendicular to the selvages.  Lay it out along a grid to make sure.  If not tug the fabric into shape.

(3) Fold the fabric according to layout instructions

(3a) If you're following the 18-22 layout then fold the fabric in half length wise.  Pin along the selvage ever 6 or so inches to keep it all together, especially if you're cutting on a table smaller than the fabric length. 

(3b) I bought according to the 8-16 layout so I had to do this the hard way.  First I measured the widest part of the front and back pieces.  This plus half an inch (just in case) is how much I need to fold over from one edge.  The magic number for my size (12 tapering to 14 at the hips) was 11.5 inches.  I folded then measured at three different spots to make sure it was all folded evenly.  Of course it wasn't.  Fold and measure again.  And again.  This is why that extra 1/2 yard would have been a great investment.

(4) If your cutting surface is shorter than your fabric (and mine usually is) then there's a danger of the fabric getting stretched off grain as it hangs off the edge of the table.  This is a slight to moderate risk for firmly woven cottons and a guarantee for looser wovens like chiffon and some satins.  I just take the bit that would hang over the edge and fold it up to sit on the end of my table.  True, it makes my small cutting area even smaller but it's better than dealing with a skewed grain.  Trust me on that one.

Now you're ready to pin the pattern pieces on!  You're doing great!

McCall's 5576 day 1

I have four classes sketched out so far - an introduction to the machine, first pattern (a robe), introduction to zippers and sleeves and darts, and a skirt fitting class. I'm considering using McCall's 5576 for the intro to zippers et al class and figured that maybe, just maybe I should make up the pattern myself to see if it would work for newbies. Plus I get a couple dresses out of the bargan. Score. :) So the making of the dress, day one...



I bought some snazy (and, for Joann's, expensive) black quilting cotton with silver sparkles. I keep hoping I didn't make a mistake - it was more than I wanted to pay and it's pretty stiff - certainly not the nice soft stuff I'd recomend to students. But it looks really fantastically sharp. Part of the trepidation is knowing that I can't frankenpattern or modify this pattern like I normally would. The standard saves I'd typically make really don't help the students see what their dress will look like. Though, if it really looks that bad, it could be an example of a creative save. But hopefully it'll work out fine. For my trial version, though, I'm going to use a much softer cotton (also from my little local J's) in a beautiful black and green geometric print that I love and which has been aging a year in my stash but has waited until now to tell me what it wants to be. The print should help hide errors, as well.

Back to the black fabric, it came home and I wanted to wash it immediately but we just did laundry yesterday and I'm not spending the 75c our apartment washers cost for one length of fabric. So I googled how to wash clothes in the bathtub. Ask and you shall receive! I so love all things Wiki.


After washing the fabric I traced the pattern. I'm a very slow tracer. An hour and a half later I finished and pinfitted the traced pieces - looks good! Tomorrow I hope to cut and start on the actual sewing. Tonight I'm tired and I know better than to cut while tired - very odd things happen. So avoiding that. :)