Mixed Print Gingham Dress | M7889 Sewing Pattern Review

So, I have to start this off by apologizing. It seems I’ve been teasing you guys with this make for far too long. In all honesty, I thought I had posted it already!

So, you’ve seen my DIY Pumpkin Decor project using these fabrics. You’ve seen a bit of this dress in my Snaps tutorial, but now you get to see the whole thing! Ready?

Here she is!

This is my mixed gingham dress I made by combining three different sized ginghams. As you can imagine, the hardest part abut this make was assigning the ginghams to the different pattern pieces and then cutting it out.

So, let’s start from the beginning. I got all three fabrics from Style Maker Fabrics last year. They are 1/4”, 1/2”, and 1” black and white gingham. I had one yard of each fabric and used up just about all of it.

As for patterns, I knew I wanted a dress. I originally thought I would be making a shirt dress, but ended up using this variation of a shirtdress when it came out earlier this year. This is McCall’s 7889. I made view B pretty much entirely as it was designed. I had enough to think about with the fabric, so I didn’t want to complicate things.

The pattern is described as a Very loose-fitting top and dress with a button front clousure with separate front band, double front and back yokes, stitched pleat detail at waist, and neckline, sleeve and length variations. View B has Bias cut yokes, lower bands. Views B and C have a Tie belt. View D has a Neck band with tie ends.

I knew I wanted the body in the larger gingham. I just thought that the larger print would be more flattering. Then I started filling in with the 1/2” gingham. I used that for the front and back yoke, the belt, and the bottom bands. The pattern will have you cut the bottom bands twice the length, and fold in half before attaching to the bottom of the bodice. But, because I wanted this cut on the bias, I didn’t have enough fabric for that, so I cut half the pattern piece and did a baby hem instead.

All that was left was the front band and the sleeves, so that was what I used the 1/4” gingham for. The 1/4” gingham sort of looks like a solid grey from far away so just be mindful of that when placing yours.

There are a ton of different combinations for where you can place the different ginghams. Try not to think about it to hard and just go for it! The biggest tip I can give you for this is to cut your bodices on the straight of grain and then cut everything else on the bias. It’s more visually appealing to not have everything going vertically.

As I showed you last week, I opted for snaps instead of buttons which made quick work of the closure.

There is a lot of talk on the review sites about this pattern being HUGE. I would first like to point out that the pattern does describe it as very loose fitting. But, I used the finished garment measurements for the waist to make sure that would fit nicely and I feel like the fit I got is nice. It’s loose across the bust and hip, naturally, but the waist is fitted which is super flattering. The belt also helps cinch in any extra bulk that’s there.

For the next version of this dress, I would lengthen the belt. I can’t tie it into a proper bow because it’s just not long enough. I would say needs another 6 inches or more. I would also lengthen the dress entirely. I would lengthen it from the cut edge of the bodice and not the band though. I think the length of the band is proportionate as is. Another couple of inches would be in order for me.

My next version is going to be made from cotton voile which is a little lighter weight than this gingham. I will be interesting to see how the pattern looks in different weight fabrics. I think the sleeves will lay closer to the body as will the skirt. There will be a much more relaxed look to the garment all together.

Anyway, I really enjoyed making this and had so much fun thinking outside of the box with the fabrics. Print mixing is so striking when done correctly. I hope you are inspired to try it out for yourself.