Hey!
Lately I haven't been sewing a lot of expensive garments because I am transitioning into smaller dress sizes because I have lost a tremendous amount of weight, and so as I promised on my last video I was going to make this dress as it is stated in the catalogue of Marfy 2013/2014 and I actually wanted the dress to be in its sketched colour of aubergine because, some colours I am just attracted to for some silly reason.
Really, I am so happy to be in the demographic that 'fit' nicely into the small proffered range of sizes that Marfy has, and I know I have added on my seam allowances in the past but, in re-measuring my shrunken size I need only add 1/2 of an inch seam allowance which I will bump up to 1.5 cm because I am quite comfortable with that.
I will then sew all major seams at 1 cm except the CB which deserves the 1.5 cm for the zipper and I want more room this time.
Now, here is the "Look" of 3148 originally:
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| Picture from Marfy Catalogue Centre Back seam Massive pleats on hem line Pleats on front and back fabric belt and fabric rose |
I know I am a fanatic. I anticipate wearing these things as I see them in the catalogue so, my problem is playing the waiting game.
Now, as I have mentioned before, a little bit of planning needs to go into what you'll be sewing so I think this will work:
- Zipper is on the CB of the garment. Invisible is most appropriate but I don't think that a silver metal teeth exposed zipper would work. It will make it look a shade bit 'cheap', plus the metal teeth are a bit heavy.
- Minimal handiwork...as a matter of fact...none.
- The self fabric belt is however going to contain some bling. How about a silvery crystal buckle baby!
- Fusible interfacing for fabric belt.
- As a finished look to be worn with jewelry matching with the buckle motif.
So my job is to add 1.5 cm seam allowance on all seams and add my famous 2 cm hem allowance, use an invisible zipper, buy the lining later because I want to focus on the shell right now.
Oh and by the way, we get separate lining pieces for the skirt Who wouldn't love that!!!
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| I wanted this to be a silk crepe but I found this poly with a good drape for the right price and weight...and the lighting isn't great... NO WAY!!! |
Now what you'll need to cut out:
Front Bodice piece cut 2 on the straight grain
Bodice Back piece cut 2 on the straight grain
Side back skirt piece cut 2 the straight grain
Front skirt piece cut 1 on the straight grain*
*(This piece is wide. You must lay out your fabric in one layer and cut 1. This piece is not symmetrical, so DO NOT cut on the fold because there are numerous pleats to do, so, it is easier this way)
In preparing my pieces, since I have a poly fabric here, I serged the edges of all my pieces because there is a significant amount of fluffage.
Layout:
Since there are only 4 major pieces to cut here, not including the fabric rose piece and fabric belt, it is pretty self evident how it can be done the most efficiently.
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| Layout of front bodice, back bodice and side skirt DO NOT cut out fabric in the dart area! |
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| Front skirt. Lay fabric out and cut 1, using either salvage edge for the grain line |
Preparing the bodice darts:
Upon noticing that the front bust dart is a wide one, it will give you too much bulk. So, what we must do is trim it down because later on we do not need this bulk doubled when attaching the lining.
Prepare your dart the way you normally would. Mark the centre line of the dart. Sew and press dart seam. Decide which amount of seam allowance you wish to leave when the dart excess is removed. I chose to leave 1.5 cm to cut off until I hit the apex of the dart.
Cut the centre line of dart until you near the apex of the dart. Leave about 1-1.5 cm uncut from the apex.
Cut and finish the marked seam allowance to cut off excess.
Press out the uncut area at the apex of the dart so they lay flat.
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| Preparing front bodice dart. |
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| Prepare to cut the excess off from the wrong side of dart. I left 1.5 cm seam allowance here. |
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| Sew the centre front bodice seam. See the finished dart and uncut portion near the apex? |
Mark the notch on the centre front seam. With right sides together, sew the seam until the notch. There is no match point letter for the centre front seam, all it tells you is that there is a 'seaming half front'.
Press seam out.
Optional: see below
{ Insert belt instructions here if you plan to add a fabric belt from A seam to A seam L and R sides, otherwise keep moving along}
Sewing the side seam A on bodice:
With right sides together, sew the side seams for both R and L sides of bodice. Press seam out.
Sewing the shoulder seam:
With right sides together, sew the shoulder seams from the front and back pieces of both R and L sides. Press seam out.
Onto the skirt portion of the dress.....
Please mark your CB and A seam on your side skirt dress and on your front skirt piece. This is very important!
Here comes part of the project where time is spent meticulously trying to fight the pleat monster...
Yes, there are lots of pleats on this dress, and that is fine. We just need a way to tackle this issue without losing our cool.
Since I had a dark fabric and my white fabric pencil wasn't a good option, I used tailor's wax, and I have to think ahead here because this marker is gone after heating it with the iron, so, guess what? I have to baste mark all of my pleating lines. Fine. This way the pleat lines are permanent until I remove the basting thread. I also know that there are 42 pleats to do in total not including the lining.
So, keep in mind that the directions on the pattern pieces are there in the directions for a good reason. Basting your pleat lines will ensure we don't miss a step.
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| These are the 4 pleats on the Side back piece. Direct your pleats AWAY from the CB on each side |
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| A portion of the pleats on the hem area. I know it's a hot mess. Pleat directions are going in every which way. Take notice. |
Sewing the skirt A seam:
With right sides together, sew the A seam on each R and L side of the front skirt. Press seam out.
Attaching the bodice assembly to the skirt:
- Since this is a fun part of the construction, we should notice here that the CF of the skirt pattern piece is clearly marked saying 'Seaming half front' and there is a long penciled line as well.
- On your fabric you can make a notch or mark it.
- As well, the dart seam should match with the centre of the 2 pleats directed towards the CF on the front skirt piece.
- And, the A seams on bodice and skirt should match.
So, with right sides together, attach the bodice assembly to the skirt matching those key points I just mentioned. Press seam out and then press the seam towards the hem of the dress.
Sewing the CB seam:
Sew the CB seam, 'Seaming half back' that will be open above the notch. Secure stitching in preparation for the zipper. Press the seam open.
Attaching the zipper:
As always, I line up my zipper tape edge with my serging edge to line up my 1.5 cm seam allowance with the stitching on the closed portion of the CB seam. Fairly accurate in my view.
As good practice and techniques will show you, and yes, I have made mistakes in the past, it is always a good idea to baste in your zipper first because I have used pins and they wobble and shift things around enough to make it look like the installation is poorly executed.
Attaching the fabric rose: Optional but it's good to have
{See instructions below}
Hem:
Finish your fashion fabric hem as desired. A hand sewn blind hem will be most efficient since there are a lot of pleats!
Optional:
Onto the bling-belt :
I bought a simple buckle that has a space of 2 cm in width. So, guess what my finished width is going to be? That's right....
I know the catalogue picture shows a belt all the way around the waist and could be a purchased belt, but since my buckle has no latch, I want it to go from A seam LS to A seam RS. And remember, we don't want the buckle and belt to sag when I am wearing it, so I chose to sew it the exact distance.
It should work. I should also top-stitch the long edge of the belt, since my turning the belt right side out, I left a sewing gap.
Directions:
Cut 1 piece of area (50 x 6) sq. cm*.
Apply fusible interfacing to the wrong side of entire piece.
*Area cut will vary according to size you will sew and varying width you choose.
With right sides together, sew the 1 cm seam allowance on the long side of belt. Leave both short ends open and leave a gap somewhere along the middle so you can turn it right side out. Press out. Top stitch belt to close the gap and for aesthetic reasons!
Thread the buckle onto the open belt and affix the assembly to the A seam on the bottom of the bodice placing belt just above the seam allowance joining the skirt/bodice. Pin belt down so that it won't sag and affix your buckle to the centre bodice seam. Baste belt along A seam to keep it place.
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| The belt done with the buckle threaded on |
Place belt along A seam to secure the belt onto the dress**
** Sew the fabric belt at the time you are sewing the bodice A seam being careful not to catch this when sewing the skirt portion to the bodice.
Lining:
What you'll need to cut out:
Cut 2 Front bodice on the straight grain
Cut 2 Back bodice on the straight grain
Cut 1 Front lining skirt on the fold
Cut 2 Back lining skirt on the straight grain
Now, the lining pattern piece for the top and hem of the front and back skirt needs to be pleated but notice how they don't really give you specific placement lines?
My guess is that you would 'pleat to fit' situation, so you may need to place the pleat where you want them to go.
Anyway, if you are still struggling and wondering....okay place a pleat at the front darts directed towards the centre front and place another pleat directed away from the centre back in the centre of the bodice back piece. That would be the most logical place to put the fitted pleats.
Directions:
Sew the bodice the same manner as the directions above concerning the CF seam, A seam and shoulder seam. Disregard the belt instructions.
Sew the CB seam. Leave the portion above the notch open. Finish this for the zipper installation.
Sew the side seams connecting the front skirt to the back skirt.
Sew the bodice assembly to the skirt assembly matching A seam to the side seams. There will be extra space for the pleats. I only could fit one pleat per side on the bodice. Not that much ease.
With right sides together, sew the neckline of lining to the fashion fabric. Understitch the neckline.
Baste the lining to the zipper tape. Use a regular zipper foot to attach the lining to the zipper tape using the ridge of the wrong side of the zipper teeth as a reference so the lining will not catch on the zipper.
Attach the lining to the armhole circumference the same way you would attach a sleeve lining to a coat. Understitch this armhole circumference.
Finish the hem of the lining as you like. Leave the lining hem free from the hem of the fashion fabric.
Fashioning the fabric rose to the dress:
Cut 1 on the bias grain (don't have to add a seam allowance)
The only thing that I did was fold in half and knowing that the centre line was the fold line, I sewed right sides together, at the 6 mm seam line, finished the edge with a serge. Now, with this you shouldn't press the fold line.
Do a running stitch by hand along the sewn long side. Gather the ends together until your piece starts looking like a flower. Secure the gather with some hand sewing.
You can also gather and roll one end to the other end and secure it down or just gather it. Either way, it will start looking like a flower.
Tack the ends together to close the centre hole and hand sew it to the dress where it has the Z placement mark. You can further tack this down with crystal beads if you want.
Okay that is everything that goes into this dress. I really like my fashion belt on the front bodice...that really helped!
Pictures of finished dress to come later...the lighting sucks...really...it does...
Bye!!!
Finally, 3 days of miserable weather (snow) and now a sunny day...with snow
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| Finished Front |
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| Fabric flower tacked on to the Z placement between pleats |
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| Finished Back |
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| Lining |
