"garden party explosion" dress finished!

here is the finished "garden party explosion" dress! i'm super happy with this one. the fit is comfortable and flattering. i love how slimming it is. since the midriff hits just above my natural waistline it skims over all the bits that need skimming over.


i have a few more pics of the finished product but first let me show you my insides. okay, not my insides, the dress's insides. you know what i mean...


once the bodice and midriff were constructed i added a lining to the midriff first to make sure this area was stabilized and second to conceal some of the interior seams. to do this, i sewed the midriff pieces together at the side seams then pinned it to the seam allowance at the top of the midriff and sewed right over my first stitching. this is left free at the bottom edge and will be slip stitched in place later.

before stitching i pressed the CB and bottom edge in at 5/8" 

next i pinned, gathered and attached the skirt to the midriff. then i did the same with the lining right over (on the inside) the outer fabric. isn't attaching the skirt to the bodice such a great moment? i love finally getting to see if my original vision will in any way resemble the almost finished product!


after this, i inserted an invisible zipper...

then hemmed the dress.

isn't this a lovely rolled hem? sooo glad i have a rolled hem presser foot!

almost there! now it's time to get out your hand stitching needle and thread. first i slip stitched the midriff to the skirt. it's best to pin this before stitching to make sure it lays straight.

once that was done, i pinned then catch stitched the armhole facings to the underlining. i used a catch stitch because it allows for a little bit of movement and it will keep any fraying of the facing edge in check. you can do the same to the neckline facing, but i simply tacked it in place at the shoulder and again halfway down the neckline. this facing doesn't really have the tendency to flip up like the armhole facings do.

armhole facing catch-stitched

neckline facing tacked down

i am endlessly fascinated by garment construction, so here is the final dress... from the inside!

oh, you want to see the outside again?

zoom in! i have nothing to hide in this one!

i did attach belt loops to the midriff before inserting the midriff lining, so now i'm on the hunt for the perfect skinny belt! or maybe make my own fabric-covered belt? hmmm... in the meantime i'll wear it anyway since the belt loops are totally lost in this print. now i just need an invite to a garden party!

and here's a peek at my shoes, as requested ;-)

see my review at patternreview.com

facings

i just finished my dress (i'm dubbing it the garden party explosion dress) and i am sooooo happy with the fit! making the muslin and the pattern adjustments seriously paid off. in fact, i love the cut much more than i expected and will definitely put this in my "to make again" pile. here's a grainy, heavily cropped pic as a teaser. ;-)

before i get ahead of myself and gush about how awesomely i made this, i promised to show you how to make facings. while most of the patterns i have used don't have instructions or pattern pieces for facings that doesn't mean you can't make your own. it's super easy, here's how:


take the bodice pattern pieces and lay them on top of tracing paper, pattern paper, tissue paper, whatever you have on hand. then, decide how wide you want your facings to be. around the armholes i cut a 2" facing which afterward i decided was a tad narrow, so when i cut the neckline facing i went with 2 1/2". 

traced the outer edge of the bodice

measured and drew a line 2 1/2" in from the neckline

these are the neck facings pieces. i made the back facing wider at the center where the
zipper will be for no specific reason other than i thought is would look nice. 

since i wanted my facings to match the outside of the dress and my outer fabric is so flimsy, i attached an underlining in the same manner as before. once you've done this you will need to finish the edges. a simple zig-zag stitch works fine, or if you have a serger please pack it up and send it to me. kidding. unless you weren't...


once you have constructed the bodice with your shoulder and side seams sewn (say that 10 times fast...) you will sew the two armhole facings together and the neckline facings together. it helps to include the little pattern markings at the seams when making the facing pieces so you can sew them together accurately.


with the bodice turned to the right side, simply line up the edges of the armhole and neckline facings right sides together and stitch at 5/8" (or whatever your seam allowance is).

here the neckline facing is pinned and ready to be stitched

after stitching, grade the seam allowance to reduce bulk. do this by
trimming the facing seam allowance by about half.

once the seams are sewn and graded, press the facing up, then understitch. understitching insures that the facing won't roll to the outside and it will give you a nice clean edge. the first time i used understitching i couldn't believe what a difference it made! if you're not familiar with how to do this, basically you pull the facing only over where you just stitched and press, then you stitch very close to the seamline through the facing and seam allowances. once you have understitched, turn the facing to the inside and press.

it's hard to see with the crazy pattern on the fabric,
but this is the attached and understitched facing

turn the facing to the inside and press

i have shown you pictures of the neckline, just treat the armholes in the same manner. pin facing, stitch, grade seam, press, understitch, turn facing to the inside and press again. 


when you're done it should look like this:

don't be concerned if your facings flop around a bit as you work with the dress. once all the construction is done you will catch-stitch the facing to the interlining where necessary to secure the inside edge of the facing.


facings give such a clean and sturdy finish to these seams and prevent any of the lining from showing on the outside. i highly recommend trying this out! this is really the first time i have used this type of construction and i will definitely be using it again, especially at the armholes. i always hate it when the lining peeks out even if i'm the only one who notices!

the importance of an underlining. a what? an underlining! just read on...

i finally got around to cutting my fabric for simplicity 2692!

i am using a lightweight woven material and, having used similar fabrics recently, i know i will need to stabilize it somehow. i am a stickler for lining my dresses. i think the inside of a garment should be beautifully finished. yeah, i'm probably the only one who will see it, but who cares? interior finishes lend integrity to the structure and longevity of a garment. what use is making a dress if it's all wonky and ill-fitting after only a couple wearings?


for this project i have decided to use underlining for the bodice, and facings around the armholes and neckline. in the past i have used just a regular lining—basically a second dress stitched to the inside. for this particular fabric, that sort of lining won't be enough. the material is loosely woven, almost gauzy. for added stability i need to underline all the bodice and midriff pieces. in various sewing books i've read about underlining but really just thought of it as an option and not so much a necessity. working with this particular fabric i realized that sometimes it really is necessary.


okay, so what is underlining? in short underlining is fabric sewn directly to the wrong side of the main fabric. each piece is underlined individually before constructing any part of the garment. knowing how to do this gives you so much freedom in fabric choices. say you want a structured dress, skirt or even jacket but you fall in love with a lighter weight fabric? underline it! this is such an easy technique and one favored in higher quality garments. while i certainly don't profess to know anything about couture finishes, i do know that underlining is one of them!


have i convinced you yet? here's how to do it!


cut your main fabric then, using the same pattern pieces, cut your underlining. i am using muslin as my underlining because it is stable, easy to work with and it feels nice against your skin. this is a dress that will be worn in the summer and i don't want anything clingy or stifling!


once cut, pin then sew each piece of underlining to the wrong side of it's corresponding piece of fabric. the goal here is to have these two pieces act as one once sewn together, so care must be taken that there are no wrinkles or shifting. sew around the perimeter of each piece about 1/4" from the edge (fyi: the distance between the needle and the right edge of the presser foot is usually 1/4").

very important tip: do not pivot at the corners!!!

instead sew right off the edge then stop and move on the the next edge. this is to decrease the possibility of the fabrics shifting and ending up rippled. once the pieces are sewn together, give them a good steam press with your iron. the iron is your best friend when sewing, don't be lazy! if you get out your sewing machine, get out your iron too!

see how sheer the fabric is on it's own?

see how much better the pattern stands out once underlined? okay, it's hard to tell from these pictures... just trust me! also, i have to say, the underlined fabric just feels good. it's stable, it won't shift when you start to sew it all together, you just know it will be a high quality garment.


so while i just got finished telling you that you must underline each piece individually before any garment construction takes place! i have one optional exception: where the bodice joins at the shoulder. this particular pattern came with separate lining pieces because the outer fabric is gathered at the shoulders. to reduce bulk at this seam, i gathered the shoulder seams and sewed together the bodice front and back of the outer fabric and the underlining separately before applying the underlining to the outer fabric. i'm sure that made tons of sense... here's a picture to show what i mean.

closer...

i'm pretty sure this one little shortcut won't ruin the dress.


once your fabric is underlined you can decide whether to use facings, bias tape or a regular lining to finish off the edges. i will be using facings and show you how to make them in an upcoming post!

the body is round... the pattern is flat...

[i know people tried to comment on a previous entry and the comments wouldn't post for some reason... i changed a few settings so hopefully that is fixed. so sorry! i'm new to this... bear with me! —lisa g.] 


i don't know what inspires you to sew, but for me it's a combination of cost and fit. i don't know that i have ever bought a dress that i loved, fit well and was at a price i was comfortable with. sure i could take dresses to a tailor but, like so many things in life, i think i'll just do it myself...

i found this fabric on clearance and loved the colors. it might be a little "drapery" looking but i think the bold graphics make it just modern enough for my tastes.

i wanted a dress pattern that didn't have too much detail or seaming because it would just get lost in the busy pattern. i had a particular style in mind and after looking and looking i decided on simplicity 2692 (the one shown in green, minus the really long front tied sash).


i like that it's gathered in the bodice yet doesn't have any crazy details. i hadn't made this silhouette before so i knew i definitely needed to start with a muslin to test run the fit. boy am i glad i did!!! i generally have to blend about three sizes to fit my body: small on top, slight leftover baby pooch and hips that just did not go back to their original location after having four kids! (yes, four... you read that correctly. what if i told you they are all between the ages of 2 1/2 and 7? did you just spit out your coffee? wipe off your computer screen and keep reading...)

once i made the muslin and tried it on i immediately realized the following: 1) i really do hate a side zip, 2) my ribcage does not narrow much and 3) the bust will need to be dramatically reduced! fortunately, numbers 1 and 2 are easy to remedy. 

to move the zip to the center back (CB) i will simply not cut the back pieces on the fold and i will add a seam allowance to accommodate a CB zipper. then i added room to the bottom of the midriff pieces by not tapering them in quite so much. easy enough!

now a good fit in the bust area is slightly more challenging. i started by taking room out of the center front (CF) seam, about 3/4" then i redrew the neckline. just doing that solved most of my fit issues. to shape the bodice further (or un-shape it, in my case...), i made an inverted dart from the fullest part of the bust narrowing to the shoulder and midriff seams, pinched up that part of the pattern piece then smooshed the paper flat and taped it down. sounds real technical, i know. since this is a gathered bodice there is enough wiggle room to fine-tune the fit as i stitch the pieces together. if i were working with a smooth, darted bodice or princess seams this would need to be much, much more precise! if, after making these adjustments, the shoulder or side seams have been distorted, simply re-draw the lines to straighten, or true, the seams. don't forget to adjust the shoulder and side seams of the back pieces to match.


with all that work out of the way i am super excited to start cutting the real material and begin sewing in earnest! it does seem like i had to do a lot of fussing and manipulation over this pattern (i almost gave up to work on something easier!), but really that's just part of the process. how satisfying is it to take the extra prep time and come up with a garment that is custom fit? to take flat fabric and flat pattern pieces and make them work on a curved body? it doesn't matter if you're an 8-10-12 or a 14-16-18; making your own garments is all about the fit. the tiniest manipulations are truly the difference between an okay dress and one that you are really proud to own and wear.