I bought the McCall’s M7981 pattern last year during a sale. I had recently gotten a Singer Buttonhole Attachment for my machine and wanted to sew everything with buttons!
The M7981 pattern is for unlined skirts with length variations that have front band and pockets. The skirts from Views A and B have gathers and side front pockets. Views C and D are flared skirts with side seam pockets. I chose to sew View C, as I wasn’t sure how the gathers would work with my fabric, and I wanted a knee-length skirt.
The pattern has five sizes, but in two sections: XS, S, M, and L, XL. I hadn’t sewn a McCall’s pattern with this sizing before, so I wasn’t sure what size to choose. In the end, I cut out a size XL because I could always take it in a bit. I don’t know if I made mistakes or stretched my fabric, but I found that the skirt waistband did not match up with the skirt top. Thankfully I could adjust them so they were equal length.
To make the skirt, I used a beautiful blue and white floral print fabric from my stash. I bought it at Fabricland last year but never got around to using it. It’s a linen-rayon blend, so it’s beautifully cool for summer and has a lovely drape. As the print is rather busy, I didn’t bother with pattern matching across seams.
Once I finished the skirt, I noticed that the waistband didn’t quite fit right. I find that rectangular waistbands don’t fit as well as curved waistbands. To make the skirt fit better, I just took in the sides of the waistband by a centimetre or two. Perfect!
Thankfully I had seven medium-sized black buttons in my stash. Therefore, I didn’t have to buy and wait for new buttons like I did for my previous dress, the M7920. I used my new buttonhole attachment and added those buttonholes in a pinch. It’s been so hot in Toronto recently, so I’ve been wearing this skirt regularly. I might even have enough dark orange linen left from my B6674 to sew another skirt from this pattern! I’ve seen many sewists online sew coordinating tops and bottoms from the same fabric. This way, they can wear both together to look like a dress or jumpsuit, or wear them separately with other pieces. I love that kind of versatility! Thankfully I have enough of my blue and white fabric left to sew a coordinating top. Now I just need to decide on the pattern!
If you want to sew a M7981 for yourself, get the pattern here.
Tank is by atelier b from Montreal.
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