Hi everybody! Here is the third tutorial about how to make this halter dress. At this point we have our fabrics all cut and we’re ready to sew!
The first thing I need to do is flatline the laser-cut fabric and the matte satin.
So I’ve pinned the front and back bodice pieces together. I also marked the front darts on the shell fabric and lining, so I will sew those too.
When you flatline, you just want to sew along the edge of the fabric within the seam allowances, and make sure the fabrics are completely flat. I’m sewing from the back side so the foil coated spandex doesn’t bunch up under the foot of my machine. It’s a knit and it wants to stretch, so the feed dogs help pull it along evenly. I’m also feeling to make sure none of the fabric is folded under.
I’m sewing the darts just like I did on the fit sample, treating the matte satin and laser cut spandex like they’re one fabric. If you’re flatlining and your fabrics don’t want to play nice together, you can sew them together through the middle of the dart and stop just before you get to the point. This way they will definitely act as one fabric when you fold the dart in half.
Start at the wide part of the dart and end right at the point. Leave long tails to knot them together, and then use a hand needle to thread the tails back through the dart before trimming them.
I’m using a ham to press my darts, first in half to set the stitches, then with the dart folded the way the pattern suggests. For me it’s pressed toward center, but for larger bust sizes they’re pressed open.
Next I can put on the fake binding. To do this I’m marking the half-inch seam allowance around the armscye…
…and marking a half inch on the binding.
Pin the binding right at the half-inch seam allowance, being careful not to stretch it.
I’m sewing just to the right of the stitch line. Then the binding will fold over and meet the edge of the fabric.
Press the binding into place, then trim away the extra seam allowance just a little more than a half inch so the binding fabric can fold around it without bunching.
Now I can sew the yoke onto the front bodice. I opened up the flatlining at the V and put a little piece of fusible tricot at the inside of the point to control it, then closed back up the flatline. I marked the seam allowance on the leather and the center of the point. I’m using wonder clips instead of pins, these are really handy!
I only pinned together one side to start so that I can sew just up to the point.
Then I snip the V almost to the needle so I can pivot and sew the other side.
Now I can pin together the other side and continue sewing.
I want the yoke to be dominant in the dress, so I snipped away the bulk at the point, and then top-stitched the seam allowance up into the leather.
Repeat for the lining, and press. I’m pressing the lining seam down to distribute the seam allowance bulk more evenly.
Now it’s time to attach the neck straps. I’ve decided on strips of chiffon instead of ribbon. I ripped two pieces of chiffon about 5” wide and pressed them flat. I’m going to give them a french seam, which is an enclosed seam. So I’m sewing the entire length with about a 1/4” seam allowance, and closing one end.
You can see above I’m pulling the back of the fabric – since this is on the straight grain I can keep tension in front of and behind the needle so the fabric doesn’t pucker (I also loosened the tension and shortened the stitch length).
Then I trim away the seam allowance to about 1/8” and veeeerrrry carefully turn it inside out.
Then I went back to the machine for the second stitch in the french seam. Using the first stitch as a guide, I’m gently pulling the fabric to flatten out the seam and stitching at 1/4” to enclose the original 1/8” seam allowance. And I turn the corner to finish one end. Then I turned it inside out again, which is right-side-out now, and gave it a good press.
I made the straps wider than the bodice shoulder so I could give them a little pleat to match the skirt.
Those get sewn onto the bodice shoulders, being sure to stay clear of the 1/2” seam allowance to either side.
Now I need to make the back bodice pieces. I want to put more of that tricot interfacing at the center back where the zipper will go, so I’m going to open up the flatlining (yes, I should have thought about this before flatlining, but I forgot). I’m fusing a one-inch strip of tricot to the center back of the laser-cut fabric to stabilize it.
Now that that’s out of the way, I need to resize my zipper. Check out this post to learn how to do that. It’s really easy to do!
Now I’m going to sew on the fake binding the same way that I did for the front. Mark the seam allowance, mark the stitch line, pin, and sew. Trim away the seam allowance to 3/8″ from the binding seam.
Press the binding into place and check to make sure they line up at the back.
I want one more little piece of fake binding at the open side seam, so I marked where the back piece’s binding ends on the front piece.
Then I can pin the binding on with about a half inch extended above the mark for a small seam allowance.
I’m sewing exactly to that mark with the extra folded back. It looks a little strange now, but just wait 🙂 Press the binding over and cut away the extra seam allowance.
On the back pieces it’s time to put in the zipper. I’ve pinned the zipper with the top and bottom seam allowances in mind, and I’m sewing close to the tape with a zipper foot.
Place the lining on one of the back pieces and turn back the center back edge so it doesn’t cover the zipper. Press it in place.
Then pin the lining and shell fabrics together.
Sew the lining in place at the top and bottom only. It’s like a little tube.
Now the not so fun part – understitching. It’s really pretty important, so don’t skip this step. I’m sewing the seam allowance onto the lining close to the stitch line. This helps the fabrics fold where they’re supposed to, it keeps them from gaping, it makes your garment look really good. But you can see how little visibility I have in this little tube. Just take it slowly…
The last thing to do at the back is give the pieces a good press and then hand-sew the lining onto the zipper tape.
Time to attach the back bodice to the front bodice. I marked out the seam allowance for the front so I can see exactly where to line up the back piece since it’s already finished at the top. Then I’m pinning exactly at the start of the lower binding and sewing the sides seams.
Now, finally, we can sew on the front lining. I tucked in the straps and back pieces and started pinning the shell and lining together, matching seams and edges. I stitched all along the edges except the bottom.
With that sewn I need to trim the extra seam allowances at the points. I like to put my fingernail right on the sewn point, and trim around it knowing I won’t cut through the thread.
I trimmed the leather seam allowance back to 1/4”, and then snipped into the seam allowances at the curves so it doesn’t pucker when it’s flipped. An easy way to see if you’ve snipped the curve enough is to gently pull the edge straight. If the seam allowance puckers up and won’t let it straighten out, it needs to be snipped.
I carefully flipped the bodice right-side-out. This is a point turner (well it’s actually a bone pendant that I got in a VooDoo shop in New Orleans, but it’s the perfect shape for a point turner and oh-so-smooth!), and I’m using it to press the points out at the shoulders.
Instead of understitching like the pattern says, I’m going to top-stitch the edge of the leather.
And I stitch in the ditch at the binding using a special foot designed to do just that. “Stitch in the ditch” is one of my favorite sewing terms and it simply means sewing right through a seam so the stitch line is invisible. The stitch in the ditch foot has a little guide in front of the needle that spreads the seam open and helps you guide it right where it needs to be.
So now the bodice is done!
See how the weird corner binding looks like it was meant to be there? That’s all for this tutorial, I’ll show you how to sew the skirt and finish the dress in the final chapter of this project!
I was so excited when I saw that bone pendant in NoLa! It’s the perfect point turner – it doesn’t snag fabric the way the wood ones tend to do and it’s so nice to hold. And my spider pin cushion was originally a candle holder until I put a little ball of fluff covered in fleece in it.
Do you have any items that you have repurposed to be DIY sewing tools? Share in the comments!
