The Brightness of Princeton Orange Silk and McCall's 6794

Bold color choices are great any season!  I'm so lucky that they dominant my personal color palette.  Bright oranges, greens, purples and blues are the perfect match for my skin tone.  Lucky me Mood has such an extensive range of colors and fabrics available at their online store.

The spring color trends included celosia orange, a perfect shade for me.  I found Princeton Orange Silk Twill.  It's a deeper and softer orange color that is perfect for any time of year. This fabric may be used to make tops and dresses.   Any garment you choose to make will lighten up the room no matter what season it is.  If you are a little shy when it comes to being in the spotlight, it's great as a lining for a jacket or coat.  You may also pair it with neutral colors.  I decided to make McCall 6794, a cute high low top that can be dressed up or down.  For this review I'm wearing it with jeans for a casual look.

McCall's describes this pattern as misses' tops and tunics: very loose-fitting, pullover tops and tunics have neckline variations, front gathered into midriff, attached tie ends, and narrow hem.  A:  gathered sleeves and sleeves and bands.  C: shaped back hemline, wrong side shows.  It's available in sizes XS to XXL.  I used medium with modifications.

I made view C.  For the most part, it did look like the top worn by the model.  My version appears to be slightly shorter.  Next time I will add an inch or so to the length of the bodice front and the back, and I will make the tie a few inches longer because I like to bringing the tie to the front center like I'm wearing it here.  I think a few more inches will look better.

The instructions were easy to follow, but I'm always taking the liberty to change a few steps.  In this case, I did not finish the hem of the armholes and bottom of top as recommended.  I finished the edges using my serger and only turned the allowance under once.

I bought this pattern for view C.  I liked the high low top and thought it would be a good choice for my body shape.  My sister showed my a dress that she'd like me to make with similar design lines.  So I will use it for that as well.

It took me a while to complete this top because of some fitting adjustments. I finished it, distributing the gathers as recommended. There was some pooling of fabric at the center front. So I ripped out the side seams, removed the midriff lining, and detached the front bodice from the midriff. Then reattached it with no gathers at the center front to see if that made a difference. Not much difference. In the before and after modification photo, you can see that now the fabric forms a "U" shape at center front. I think if I add a little length to the bodice it will look better. This is only my first go round with this pattern. I will see how my changes effect the next version. More about that in a future post on my blog.

Alterations include FBA and prominent shoulder blades. I made a similar adjustment for this dress.  Sorry no picture of this the McCall's top.  But I think this picture explains how I made it.  For the shoulder blades I added a little width across the back.  I did experience some difficulty with getting a smooth finish around the neckline, but it's not too bad.  Could be a simple matter of a great press, which it will get at the cleaners.

The fabric and pattern are a good match.  I hope you will give both the fabric and the pattern a try.