It is HOT outside and I need some new summer dresses right now! So I’m not going to bother with my usual method of tracing the pattern onto pattern paper. I’m not even going to make a fit sample. I’m going to trace this pattern right onto my fabric. I know, crazy right?
I’m using McCalls 6745 dress pattern for this project. I like view C – I do like halters, but they tend to cut into my neck too much and the halter cuteness wears off after about an hour as the neck pain sets in. Then they just sit in my closet looking cute but not being useful. So sleeveless dress it is!
I’m going to use this red and black striped fabric. It’s a polyester cotton blend, and it seems to have a lot of sizing, which is like starch and makes it stiff (see little piece in my hands above). So I machine washed and dried it to soften and pre-shrink it (see larger piece to the left above). If you’re working with cotton fabric (even blends), definitely be sure to wash it before cutting! It really sucks to watch your freshly cut fabric shrinking under the iron as you start sewing and pressing 🙁
I’m checking the finished measurements on the pattern to decide what size to cut this in because I only like an inch to an inch and a half of ease. So I’m going to cut the bodice in a size 6, and the waistband/skirt in a size 10.
I’m using transfer paper and a tracing wheel to transfer the pattern lines directly onto my fabric.
To make up for the difference in sizes, I’m blending the back bodice from the size 6 at the armscye to a size 10 at the waist seam.
On the front bodice I’m going to decrease the size of the dart to make up for the difference in sizes at the waist. It’s a quarter inch grade per size, so I’m going to take a quarter inch off each side of the dart.
Since I’m using this striped fabric, I don’t want to cut the skirt on a curve. Instead I’m going to cut a rectangle that’s 33” long (that’s how long I want the skirt including a hefty hem allowance). I’m measuring and making a small cut at 33″, only about an inch or so. Then I can rip the fabric and get a “cut” right on the grain. This doesn’t work with all woven fabrics, and it doesn’t work at all with knits.
I’m using a measuring tape to walk the waist seam so I can get an accurate measurement to cut the rectangle down to.
First I cut off the selvage, which is that outer edge of the fabric. It’s not the same as the rest of the fabric – it has to be strong enough to support the fabric as it’s woven in the mill, and then wound on bolts. Sometimes it’s not even made of the same fiber content as the rest of the fabric, and it can shrink and distort. It’s a good idea to avoid using it in your garments, so I cut it off before measuring and cutting the large rectangle down to the dimensions I measured off of the skirt pattern pieces.
I’m using a contrast fabric for the waistband. But this is polyester, so I cut the lining out of the stripes because there’s at least some cotton in that, which will be more comfortable to wear.
I want to add pockets in the side seams of the skirt so I’m using a pattern from another project for the pocket bags. You could easily make your own pattern, just trace the side seam and waist of the skirt, put your hand on it, and trace generously around your hand.
Now everything is cut but I still want to test the pattern before I start sewing. So I pinned along the seams and darts, leaving the center front open. Then I carefully tried it on inside-out, and adjusted the seams easily and quickly by re-pinning.
The bust was too high on me, so I let out the shoulders to 3/8” seam allowance. The bust points were still too high. They shouldn’t hit right at your actual bust points, they should hit at least a half inch below. So I’m dropping the front bust dart points 1”. The back was a little loose, so I’m doubling the width of the back darts, and raising the dart points 1” to keep them smooth. Changing the back darts will affect how the back bodice attaches to the back waistband, so I should cut the waistband down the same amount too.
With my adjustments marked I can pin and sew all of the darts. This dress is self-lined, so there are 8 darts to sew! I’m sewing from the wide part of the dart, just to the fold at the point of the dart. I’m not back-tacking at the point. Instead I’m leaving long threads to tie in a knot.
On the front I’m giving the dart a little bit of shape by curving out and then tapering in back to the point. See it’s just a little bitty amount of curve so the darts don’t look pointy.
Now trim away the front dart seam allowance and pressing them open.
I’m smoothing the curve around a ham to get a nice shape while I press.
The back darts I press flat first, then fold the darts toward the side seams on the lining, and on the shell fabric I’m pressing them toward the center back. This way they don’t overlap each other, and it won’t be so bulky at the waist seam.
I pinned together the shoulder seams, and then I marked the center front sew line, and the neck seam allowance. Then I pin the center front pieces together, matching each stripe intersection with a pin. I only want to sew below the neck seam allowance that I marked (see where the needle is starting in the photo above). Then check that the stripes are still lined up after sewing. Press that open and the shoulder seams open too.
Now I need my piping. I’m using this matte satin from another project. It’s already cut into 1.5” bias strips, and I’m going to use a zipper foot or piping foot to sew the cording into the fabric. Learn a little more about making piping in this post.
You can get really nice cording from Wawak. The best kind they have is the Snow White Micro Cording. My favorite is the 3/16”. It takes curves beautifully and doesn’t get lumpy after it’s sewn like some of the other cordings do.
To sew the piping onto the garment I like to pull out the cording and cut off at least as much as the seam allowance is (so about 5/8″ for this dress). Then start it kinda fold down so it tapers to nothing at the seam. Sew it along the edge, being sure not to stretch it. At the shoulder seam I cut away the seam allowance so it’s not so bulky.
At the other end I’m trimming the piping and cutting out the extra cording from the seam allowance.
Then sew it so it tapers away right at the edge of the seam just like at the start of the seam.
At the center front point, I leave the needle right at the tip of the V and pivot the fabric (see photo above). Remember I didn’t sew the center front all the way to the top, I left that seam allowance open. If I had sewn all the way to the edge of the fabric, I would just snip the fabric to the side of the stitches to let it pivot like this.
Alright, piping is in and now I want to sew in the lining. First I’m trimming away the seam allowance at the shoulder seams.
And then pinning the lining onto the bodice. We’re going to sew along the edges that have piping, so the armscyes and the neck edge only.
I’m sewing from the bodice side so I can follow the stitch line of the piping.
Once that’s sewn I want to grade the seams, which is making each seam allowance a different size so they taper. I cut the lining seam allowance down to 1/4″, and I trimmed 1/8″ off of the piping seam allowance. I’m leaving the bodice seam allowance alone, because I want that one to be the longest so it hides the others.
Now I’m snipping the seam allowances at the curves. Lots of snips…
Okay now it’s safe to turn it right-side out. There’s not much of an opening to flip through so I’m putting just a few fingers through.
Then I can grab the back and pull it through the shoulder.
Flatten it out and give it a good press. If it’s bunching up anywhere it probably needs more snips at the curve.
I pinned the side seams, matching each stripe.
Then sew the side seams, pushing the armscye allowance toward the lining. Check to make sure the stripes didn’t shift in sewing.
Press the side seams flat. See how the piping that we had tapered to nothing at the seam edge is now butted up to each other?
Don’t forget to try your handiwork on from time to time to see how it’s going. At this point I tried it on and the front armscye was cutting into my skin so I had to open it up and cut the curve a little deeper in the front.
I sewed the waistband side seams together and pressed them open. Then I trimmed the seam allowances close to the stitch line where the bodice and skirt will join. And the lining pieces (which is the striped fabric for this part) are trimmed back even more.
Then I stitched the piping onto the top and bottom of the red waistband piece. I taper the ends just like I did on the bodice, so I cut the cording short of the seam, and fold the piping back to stitch it down to nothing.
Now I want to put on this cute spiderweb trim! I think it will be a nightmare to try to get through a machine, so I’m pinning it in place and sewing it by hand with lots of little stitches.
I pinned the waistband onto the dress bodice, matching the side seams. I’m sewing from the waistband side so I can use that piping seam as a guide.
I can also pin and sew in the lining waistband now too. Then press both seams into the waistband.
This is a good place to stop for today. I’ll show you how to sew the skirt and finish the dress next time 🙂
Pre-washing your fabrics is a tedious chore but it’s really important. I’m pretty lax about it with polyesters and other synthetics, but natural fibers, especially cotton definitely need to be washed first!
The first time I learned that lesson I was 13 or 14 and (my mom) had bought my first pair of black jeans. I lived in a small town and if you didn’t wear blue jeans you were a freak, so I was already on my path to today 🙂 But I threw them in with the regular clothes and they got washed and dried on high heat and shrank to little baby size jeans. I was so upset, and the store had already sold out of them when I tried to get another pair. So, lesson learned, pre-shrinking is good.
Have you had any losses or hard lessons due to not pre-shrinking fabrics? Share your horror story in the comments!
