Posting on the blog is going to be a bit spotty for the next couple of weeks – I have a pile of teaching and report-writing to catch up on and haven’t touched the sewing machine for a while. I am really looking forward to the end of the academic year so I can start clearing my queue of sewing projects!

So in the absence of any new sewing to post about I thought I’d post about my all time favourite pattern, McCall’s 5799, and share the love. I’ve made this up no less than four times and I have plans for a fifth. It’s a really simple A-line sleeveless dress with french seams. It comes in a range of cups sizes so fitting is straightforward, and it lends itself to a multitude of fabrics and variations. But McCall’s have gone and discontinued it. I’m surprised, but I suppose it wasn’t selling well enough. The envelope picture was slightly off-putting. I’ve got nothing against appliqué but it doesn’t scream ‘classic dress you will make again and again’. More ‘one for your inner ten-year-old’.

After 5799 the pattern I have sewed up the most is McCall’s 2401, which is still in print.

This is a sheath dress with multiple sleeve and neckline variations. I only made it up once as-is, but I’ve used the pattern as the basis for several other things. My favourite adaptation is probably the Star Trek dress.

This pattern has also morphed into my TNT T-shirt pattern, and I’ve used the sleeves to add sleeves to other patterns. So this one comes highly recommended.

Apart from those I have a couple of patterns I’ve made up twice and everything else has been once only. Do you have patterns that you make over and over and over again? What are they? Do share!