My friend had this gorgeous, comfy sweatshirt dress from Roots that I loved. It was perfect: cozy, fuzzy, but still stylish enough to be worn out to brunch with a cute jacket and boots. When I saw something comparable for $10 at Joe Fresh, I felt it was meant to be. I wore that dress every opportunity I got, until one day, I noticed it was crooked. As in it was cut wrong. Like no one at Joe Fresh had ever heard of straight of grain. Of course I was never able to wear it again.

One of the items on my fall sewing list was a replacement to that dress. Using the same pattern, McCalls M7195, I basically made View D, but much longer. Using my newly acquired skills in basic pattern alteration and my roll of pattern paper, I extended the pattern and made a muslin. It’s a good thing, too, because my calculations had the ‘skirt’ part too tight on my legs. That was quickly fixed though!

The other main thing I changed was I added a lace pannel to the shoulder. I knew I wanted something lacy or sparkly, then happened upon this sparkly lace! I love it! I used the manufacturer’s edge for the bottom of the pannel, so it has a pretty scallopped effect and I didn’t need to bind it with anything (my contingency plan was bias tape, what else).

I’m super happy with the effect! It’s now my go-to weekend loungewear. Perfect for reading with a cup of tea over the holiday! Plus, it’s super duper warm.