It is a truth universally acknowledged that any crafter during the holiday season must be in want of a project.

As it’s currently spooky season for only a moment longer, I couldn’t let Halloween drift past without crafting something to celebrate. As I’m taking things such slow and easy this year, my original 6 Halloween projects all got put on the back burner and instead, during a very rainy and migraine-fueled afternoon, I decided just to do a little simple sewing. This is another ‘saved from the stash’ episode (I really need to think of a better name for this series), but essentially, I pull out some fabric from my stash that I am sick of looking at and use it on a simple project. These projects are designed to stop me from overthinking, overplanning, and just making a few simple wardrobe pieces, mainly for running around the house in. So, who you gonna call? Stashbusters! Halloween edition!

Wanting to leave actual Halloween projects for their glory moment on the blog, I went through my fabric stash and came across 2 meters of candy corn fabric, which was originally intended to become a seasonal apron. However, before I started this project, I just so happened to clean out a few cupboards in the kitchen, and I discovered that I do not need another apron, in fact, I really should cull a few. So my candy corn fabric has sat in my stash for about 7 or 8 years now and I figured, it might as well be a cute spring dress. Yes, some of us celebrate Halloween in spring; it’s a wild concept. My candy corn fabric came from Art Gallery Fabrics (AGF) studio’s ‘Spooky ‘n Sweet’ collection and is titled ‘Sweet Tooth’. Unfortunately, I struggled to find any of this fabric anywhere online so I can’t link it anywhere. As it stands, I had about 2 and a half meters of this fabric and I originally bought it from fabric.com (RIP). Well, let’s look at some patterns then shall we?

As of this post, I have put myself on a ban from using Vogue 9100 so that went out the window. Instead, I started browsing my vintage patterns and I came across McCalls 8938 in a size 16/Bust 34. This pattern, originally from 1952, a summery thin strapped dress with a flat neckline featuring a collared cuff. The dress’s skirt is a-line, featuring some side skirt pockets. The pattern also includes a matching belt pattern and bolero/jacket. This is a really cute summer dress pattern with a style that would still look cute, classy and elegant today. The hopes are high for this one.

With my fabric and pattern chosen, it was time to actually get started with some sewing. I was so happy to see that the pattern pieces for the dress were already cut out for me, meaning this pattern was definitely used before me. Personally, I love seeing signs that someone had used a pattern before me, be it in the form of pin holes in the patterns, a scrap piece of fabric from the intended project (my favourite score!), little handwritten notes on the envelope or instructions or just the fact that someone has cut out the pattern before I even got there. I always like to envision how their dress turned out, where they wore it and hope it made them feel beautiful.

Before I start getting into too much sewing details, I will preface this by saying I was struggling with a really bad migraine as I was sewing this. If I wake up with a migraine, I’m in for a doozy of a day. As I can’t look at screens, I took my time just chipping away at this sewing project instead and unfortunately, I made a lot of mistakes. Any migraine sufferer will know that their brain feels like it’s made from cotton wool balls and not all thoughts can form. This did mean that throughout making the dress, many things went wrong so I didn’t want to make this post an accurate pattern review as there was too much user error. This particular migraine was quite juicy and lasted an entire week. Brain thoughts be hard right now (yes, I still have that exact same migraine right now). But, we medicate and move on!

McCalls 8938 is a relatively simple pattern that can definitely be done by a beginner sewist. My first mistake came from how I cut out my bodice pieces. I got confused by the front and back bodice pieces and didn’t cut out my front bodice piece on the folded fabric edge. I realised this too late and couldn’t use any scrap fabric to rectify which resulted in me sewing the two front halves together with a 3/8 seam allowance. I then trimmed the seam allowance and pressed the seam as smoothly as I could. This did result in some weird warping when worn, as there was a curve put into the pieces that didn’t come out right once I had to sew in that extra seam. This also meant that my facings were slightly out of alignment and had to be adjusted.

When it came time to add on the neckline cuff, I realised that I still hadn’t purchased myself any fusible interfacing for added structure. My migraine brain thought I had bought some so I spent about half an hour diving into my fabric stash looking for something non-existent. This resulted in my cuff not being as rigid as the pattern would like but it came together smoothly. For added support and strength, I did do a fair amount of understitching along the neckline edges which I think helped. The bodice of McCalls 8938 has no lining and instead uses facing. As mentioned above, I had no interfacing so it was omitted and as soon as I have a minute, I’ll pop to Spotlight to get some interfacing.

When it came to attaching the straps, the pattern tells you to adjust as needed. Looking at the garment critically now, I think I would have liked to make the straps longer but so that the neckline sat lower on my chest. I think this would have been more flattering at least for me, as it felt like the garment’s bodice sat very high and tight across my neckline and armpits. I’d also like to point out that the pattern has really clear shoulder strap markings on the pattern, which include the angle to add your straps in for a perfect fit. Somehow my migraine still sewed them on a little wonky, but oh well. The bodice came together without any major issues that weren’t migraine-induced. With the bodice done, I could move on to the skirt.

Having only a total of two and a half meters of cotton, I had no way of actually using the original skirt pieces as I simply didn’t have enough fabric. I wanted this dress to have a fun and summery feel so I figured I could keep practising my circle skirt making. However, trying to fit a full circle skirt that will cover my essentials within a very small piece of fabric took some planning. After starting off by having some dinner and some couch cuddles, I used a circle skirt template from The Littlest Studio and marked my waist area. From there, I guessed that I could fit at least a 22-inch length skirt into my fabric, and I was so happy to be right. At 22inches of length, both halves of the circle skirt were able to fit (one was cut into quarters to save space), with only an inch margin between them.

At this point, I could tell my migraine had won and I had about an hour left before it all got too much (the auras were already making it impossible to see clearly and oh gosh, the nausea was terrible). I sewed the two skirt quarters to the skirt half and used the leftover fabric to make some big pockets. It wasn’t until I started pinning the skirt to the bodice that I realised that my skirt was cut way too big. I’m not sure what I did wrong as I measured the bodice I made and from those measurements made my circle skirt but honestly, all I can say is migraine. To rectify this issue, I ended up just trimming a few inches of skirt from the back seam, which felt a little wasteful, having so little fabric to begin with (and I originally hoped to add a ruffle layer to the skirt) but it was the best I could do. To finish up my dress I added the back zip and hemmed the skirt. With that, she was done!

When I first put on the dress I realised it was a little tight across the waist and bust. Although the pattern should have fit me perfectly, I do wonder with migraine if I made things incorrectly, resulting in the odd fit. I wasn’t a fan of the neckline and instantly wanted to change it. I ended up creating a little gather, which may not have looked the best but it did make it more flattering (at least in my opinion).

When it came to bust fit, I felt a little squashed and pancaked which is never ideal. The placement of the darts was not the best for my personal body shape and I think this is the main reason this dress and I don’t vibe. The darts were not overly flattering and probably because of my migraine, they came out bubbly and look like extra nipples at the peaks. Just not a fan. As odd as it sounds, the bodice felt too long for my torso and I wish I took in the back waist seams about an inch to ease some of the waist bunching of the skirt. despite the straps being adjusted to fit me several times, they still felt wrong; I felt that they may have been made slightly too short as the dress feels like it wants to bury itself in my armpits.

This dress would be super fun and cute if it fit me properly. McCall’s 8938 feels like the kinda pattern where once you really nail the fit, she will see you through almost everything. Hopefully, next year, I can do fewer projects but focus more on learning how to fit patterns to my body a little better. Sometimes I feel so rushed to finish and get a garment on the blog that I don’t focus on fit much, which should be the best part of making your own clothes. Next year, hopefully this can be something to work on as a sewing goal.

This dress however, is still really cute and fun. I’m not sure how much wear I’ll get out of it due to the fit and I kinda think I’ll end up stripping it and using the fabric for other projects. A little part of me wishes I hadn’t added pockets to this dress, not because I hate pockets, but because I wish I had saved that little bit of fabric for something else. Please don’t think I hate this dress, I really don’t. It just doesn’t fit me right and feels uncomfortable due to the fit, and that’s ok, not everything I make will fit me like a dream and be perfect. McCalls 8938 is the kind of pattern that I know one day I’ll return to and try to adjust, as the vision is there, it just needs time, which I don’t have much of at the moment.

Overall, this was a fun little seasonal project to get going and even though I didn’t make something that I’ll keep (might gift to a friend or repurpose) I’m glad I spent an afternoon enjoying some sewing and trying a new vintage pattern.

To anyone who suffers or is currently suffering from migraines, you are not alone. Especially as seasons change over and migraines flare, just keep looking after yourself as best you can.

Note: This is not a sponsored post. All opinions and thoughts expressed are solely my own and not influenced in any way. There are no affiliate links and I do not benefit from any link clicks or purchases made.