Sewing a dress pt. III

Okay- let’s wrap this up, shall we? I’ve measured myself, picked out a pattern, prepped the fabric and traced the pattern. Now it’s time to lay out your pattern on the fabric:

That’s a horrible picture- my sewing area is in the back of the house, away from any natural light- I’ll have to take pictures in the morning from now on, ugh!

Cut out the dress, and sew the darts:

Darts can be tricky! I basted them in by hand first, then made a final machine seam. Make sure you iron all your seams before going on to the next one- it sets the stiches, and makes the material easier to handle. Now, sew the front and back together at the shoulders, then sew the sides together and check the fit. And at this point, I should mention that I didn’t baste the neckline curve- the material I used wasn’t too stretchy, and I had a different plan for finishing the neckline, so I skipped that step.

After trying the dress on for a fit check, I decided the side seams were way to big, so I shaved a 1/2'” off them:

Again with the horrible lighting! After all is said and done, I should have left the side seams alone- the dress is too tight now to wear over an undershirt. That’s why this is a fitting toile- I’ve made all kinds of notes that I’ll share at the end of what I intend to fix or change on the next one. So, I ripped out the old seams, pinked the seam allowance down a bit, and used a folded edge seam finish. Look- pretty!

You can also see in this shot how I finished the armhole seam- a double turned hem of about a quarter of an inch. This dress is made of plain old quilting cotton, and it frays like crazy, so I wanted a seam finish that would stand the test of time. I plan on washing this a lot over the next few months, mainly because it will get softer the more I wash it, and wanted to protect the seams as much as possible.

The neckline edge I was planning on just turning a half inch hem and zig-zagging it down, but then remembered my sewing machine has a few fancy stitches, so I did a nice little flowers and vine stitch:

It’s in thread that’s the same colour as the fabric, so I’m not sure if anyone will be able to see it. I like the tonal quality, so I finished the bottom hem in the same stich. It has some width to it, so it had the same coverage quality of a zig-zag stitch, only much prettier!

So, after finishing all interior seams- some turned and stitched, some whip stitched- I hemmed the whole thing with a double turned hem and called her done!

Here are my notes on the whole operation:

1. After all is said and done, it’s pretty itchy material. Look into cotton voile for the next one.
2. Keep pattern seam allowance intact for layering possibilities.
3. Take an inch off the width of the neckline (collar bone area).
4. Lower darts by half an inch.
5. Increase the overall length by another 3-4 inches (surprising since I already lengthened the pattern by five inches).

Overall though, I really like the fit and look of this dress! I am using this one as a nightgown right now, which is another perk- If I keep up my sewing I may never need to buy another nightgown ever again! Never say never, right? Thanks for following along my first ever sew-along! Next time I’ll know to keep the posts shorter, and not outline every-single-little-detail to keep the pace moving along (I had a few complaints from the viewership this week: “wow- that’s a reeally long post!”).

Now what have those Faeries done with my quilting supplies?!

Hello Spring!

I was starting to think we wouldn’t make it! But Spring is here- albeit a wet and windy one:

A few of the more delicate herbs got squashed this weekend- the Dill will have to come out, but at least the Rose’s aphid invasion has been stopped in it’s tracks- they got blown off by all the wind and rain from Saturday’s storms.

It feels like a whole new year out there today- let’s go out and enjoy it, shall we?

This week’s List includes:

Finish hemming That Dress…

Make a Library run…

Find a new Park for Spring picnics…

Assemble the Watercolour quilt…

Make a new bag for Spring…

Prep the week’s dinners (this one’s already done!)

and Go Outside!

In the present

Happy Daylight Savings Time! Ugh. I woke up early today- before the sun was even up! My honey had to get up in the cold and dark to go to work in this first week of Daylight Saving, so I got up to keep him company.

Uh-huh, right. I got up to play my new addiction, err- game, Star Wars The Old Republic. It’s very moreish, as in one more minute/quest/hour. . . It’s also a time suck, which is why I get up at the crack of dawn to play it, so I don’t loose any crafting/sewing/cooking/chore time for the rest of the day. Which is how I’ve been able to get this done for you:

My first sew-along! I’ve been working really hard (okay, so it’s only got two pieces. . . I’ve done other things, too. Like gotten to level 10 in three days! ahem.) Let’s get started, shall we?

I’ve been wanting a new spring dress like this for a few years, but never had the guts to start one, ‘cause I thought it would be too hard. Darts and all, you see- darts are hard, right? Not as hard as I once thought. I am soo glad I made up this dress! This first dress is what’s called a toile- a first draft, a warm-up, a fitting shell as it were. I like it a lot, and plan on wearing it as is- but I’m glad I went to the trouble of making it, so that I was able to locate the areas that need a little work. The next one I make should fit perfectly- and, I now know what size patterns to buy, since I took the time to measure everything. Let’s look at the steps I took to make this, shall we?

Step one- I measured everything. And I mean EVERYTHING- I had my husband help me measure my back. Then, and here’s the sneaky part- I added an inch to every measurement. That adds your ease, automatically. I then used that measurement to pick out my patterns, and you know what? It worked! Turns out I’ve been buying the wrong size for years, which is why nothing I ever made fit, and why I lost patience time after time and had almost decided I hate to sew. I am soo glad I gave it another shot.

Step two- deciding what I want to make. I went through my list of demands, and went to the store with an idea in mind of what I wanted. Here’s what that list looked like:

1. less than five pattern pieces
2. no sleeves
3. darts
4. no gathering
5. cotton fabric

I resurfaced from the fabric store with about five different patterns- they were on sale, and I needed to start rebuilding my collection with the right size range anyway, so it was an awesome deal. I’ll get to the other patterns later in the year, now that I’ve gotten a successful project under my belt- finally. It feels good to be sewing for myself again!

Step three- picking out the fabric. I had a lot of quilter’s cotton in shades of pink, mauve and purples I wanted to use, so I dug those out of my stash, washed and ironed them. I know there’s a whole wash-don’t-wash before sewing debate out there, but that’s for quilters who want their quilt to come out looked smooth or rumpled, not sewing garments. You have to wash your fabric before cutting it, or it’ll shrink and be a size smaller after you’re done sewing and washing it. Or worse, the pieces will all shrink different amounts (especially if your lining with a different fabric content!) Wash, dry and iron your fabric- it’ll save you some heartache, promise. That takes me a whole afternoon, so I decided to spend a day per step with this project- I’ve tried too many times in the past to rush my sewing projects, only to end up hating the results. I’ve learned for myself I would rather stretch something out over two weeks that try to get it done by the weekend.

Oh, and a note here- I don’t craft on the weekend. My husband works during the week, and I am done before he gets home at night, too. It is less stressful for me to get my “work” done while I’m at home alone- I can relax and focus on the job at hand without distractions, and I don’t have to get embarrassed that someone see’s me loose my temper with a crooked seam. . .

So, at this point I’ve measured myself, picked out a pattern, chosen my fabric and gotten it prepped for sewing. I’ll show you the next few steps after you’ve had a chance to catch up. Meanwhile, I’ve got to lock up the sewing machine before the faeries take it out for a spin. Last time I caught them trying to sew their shoes to their feet. Something about losing shadows. . .