McCall's M7377

[shadykittykat]

I have made two of these McCall's M7377 view E and I'm not sure if it's my substandard sewing skills or the nature of the cross-over back design, but the back gapes. I'll try and add pictures, you'll have to excuse the state of the blue one as it has just gone through the wash and I asked dd3 to put it on so I could take a quick photo! Also the gape doesn't seem so bad on the blue since washing (and also I put a snap fastening on when it kept falling off dd's shoulders when she tried it on before the wash)

[Fabric Lover]

It looks like both are too long above the waistline. Lovely daughters, how lovely to have daughters to sew for, I have sons, both fab (grown up now) and next génération (my sister's as I don't have any) are all boys!

[Ohsewsimple]

Looks too long to me too.  There is a lot of fabric in the back. Have you sewn them for their age or measurements?

[shadykittykat]

Thanks for the advice 

I sewed the blue one for the older of the two but she said it was too tight, so I sewed the next size up and then younger one had the blue one. I think it needs adjusting between sizes maybe? I'm not sure I'm up to that task! How is best to tackle that?

[Holly Berry]

To alter, I would take out the elastic and cut through where you want the waist to be, but don't forget to allow a seam allowance. Then shorten and fit the top, again allowing for the seam and rejoin at the waist. Then sew the casing back on. You won't see the waist seam, when the elastic is back.

You may find that not only is it too long, but maybe too big, so will have take in.

Repost after splitting the shorts from the top if you still need help

[shadykittykat]

Thank you. I might leave these two and try again from scratch. I'm very cack-handed and fear chopping in two will end up being cuts where there shouldn't be 

[Francesca]

As a quick fix, I think you could probably take them up at the shoulders. Would require recutting the neckline and the armscye possibly and rebinding that, but that is usually a "quick fix" I do on my own stuff (being short waisted).

I don't necessarily think they are too big in width, just that the waists look low.

Possibly you only need to take the shoulder up on the back part. Possibly this could be some form of hollow back? Or just that both girls are that shape where they have tummies and a rounded front shape.

I'd start by pinning up the back as the sleeves only, see how that goes, then pull up a little from the front too. Does the waist elastic dip forwards?

I'm just speaking from my own personal problems in this area, not an expert!

[Ploshkin]

To be honest it looks a bit of a weird design to me.  I think anything with a crossover at the back is going to gape with movement unless it is a stretch fabric and tight fitting or perhaps the ends of each side go all the way around to the opposite side seam.  Front crossovers when you have a bust to hold bits in place are tricky enough (I have a small bust and gave up on anything with a crossover front years ago) but on this, especially with the narrowness of children's shoulders, there's nothing really to hold the fabric in position (a lot of sellotape gets used on models).

[Ohsewsimple]

I don't think it's a great design either Ploshkin. 
However, if you want to make it shadykittykat make sure you take the girls' measurements BEFORE you cut the pattern.   Then check them against the pattern pieces and the measurements that they give for each size.  Don't guess which size to make or use their ages as a guide. Measurements are the best way to determine which size to make, just as with adults.