Lany's Dress Complete, McCalls 3063

Our little knock off is complete. It has been very hectic here, lots of company and we went back to New York state to tie up some loose ends for a few days as well. I finished Lany's dress the minute I got home. This is the first child's garment I've done in some time. My piping skills were rusty. I threw out the first collar then reviewed my own tutorial to brush up on my skills. The second one came out fine and if there is a soon third, that one will hopefully  be even better.

This was an easy sew. I tried to honor the details of the original but wanted to finesse it up a bit. I think I have done that. Rusty skills or not, this is much nicer quality than the treasured original which I posted about here. I know it will be greatly appreciated by Mom and her tiny new daughter to be.

Pattern:

I used the bodice and sleeves from McCalls 3063, a Christening gown pattern. It is a size "small" and the way the Big Four run in children's sizing, I would say a size one. The original dress was a three. The skirt is simply gathered. and connects to the bodice with a classic fold over placket. ( I really need to do a tute on those.) The sleeves on the pattern are VERY full, too full and too long in my opinion. I cut back the sleeves by reducing the top and bottom edges  a 1/4 inch, so a total of half an inch out of the height.  I didn't want to take a full half inch off one edge out of such a tiny garment and by balancing it out I think it gave me the results I envisioned. 

This pattern has lots of different Christening gowns including a cute one I have used in the past for a boy. Other than the too large sleeves, which I think is a sign of the time of the pattern, ca 2007, it is fine. 

Fabric:

This fabric was gifted to me by Kristine Balinski of Couture by Kristine. She has a great blog, BTW.  Some time  back when she saw a post about the original dress she let me know that she had leftover fabric from a project for her daughter that was almost the same and would I like it. Her generosity is so appreciated and without it I could not have pulled off this very special project. It is a near perfect match.  Thanks so much Kristine. You just never know how what we do affects people. It is one of those shoulder taps that reminds what waves we make with just a little kindness. 

The fabric is a 100% cotton. It is a white and very soft blue floral, so quite traditional. I may have a fuzzy memory but I think back when the original dress reigned, so did chintz. My own daughter's first prom gown at the time was chintz.

Construction:

I did make a few changes particularly on the sleeves. The pattern shows long lace attached to the bottom of the sleeves giving a 3/4 length effect to the dress. Perhaps that is why the sleeve was so long. Whatever the reason, I cut back 1/4 inch on the top edge and 1/4 inch on the bottom edge of the sleeve where it hits the cuff. I also cut the cuff width by half. The pattern specs 4 cuffs be cut, two being facings. This would give you a cuff twice the width of what you see above, too much. Instead I threw out the facings and  interfaced the remaining cuffs completely. The piping was then attached in a 3/8th inch seam and the cuff and piping were stitched to the gathered sleeve bottom. The bottom half of the cuff was folded to the inside and handstitched  to the sleeve, encasing the bottom edge of the sleeve and giving a clean finish. 

The most important thing I did to alter the appearance of the sleeve was to cut them on the true bias. There is nothing fluffing up the inside of the sleeves. I think because of the bias they fall in much softer gathers and truly doubt that I will cut one of these types of sleeves ever again on the straight. They have not been ironed either. The bias just lets them curve so sweetly. This was a lemonade out of lemons situation as I just did not have enough to cut the sleeves on the straight of grain but could accommodate the true bias, Yay!

The collar was changed. I struggled with the piping on the corners until I finally threw that out, too! I got out my trusty small Gutterman spool of thread and used it to trace a curve around the corners of the collar, much prettier than sharp corners. The original dress had a foofy little pink flower in the middle. My knock off has a pompom made of cherry colored silk charmeuse. 

Back to the original---being from the eighties, the era of all things logo, the dress's tag was on the front of the skirt. I did the same with my Bunny tag. Normally  on this type of garment it would have gone inside but again, just trying to mimic the original. 

I am really pleased with the back placket as it falls perfectly and was made with no grief. The bodice is lined. The skirt gets a simple bound placket. If you've made these you know they are prone to puckers at the bottom or not lying flat and being hidden. Seems this was one of the skills my fingers didn't forget, unlike the collar. I think I may do a tute on that in the near future. ( I haven't forgotten the knit hem tute, either. )

I cut the hem extra long and actually did not need all the length. I removed about six inches and that still gave me enough to have a double turned 3 inch hem which I catchstitched in. I love those deep and heavy hems as they make the skirt stand away a bit yet hang nicely with all the weight. In other words, they don't look cheap like a 3/4 inch machine stitched hem would have. None of that for this sweet little girl!

The seams were French seams. 

Conclusion:

I hope you have read two posts back to the original "Lany's Dress" post. If not, there you can find the story behind this cutie and why it is so special. Mom is two days overdue and we are all waiting. Once she is settled in with her new daughter, I will visit and bring her both dresses. I have really enjoyed making a garment that has been in my thoughts for years. Thank you for letting me share it's story with you all......Bunny

Lany's Dress

Grab a cup of your preferred beverage and bear with me as I tell this story of my next project, one in the making for over twenty years.

Let's first check out this little dress.  I didn't make it. It has been put away in a special place for a long time, however. Now it's time for it to come back out. The fabric is a basic soft cotton.

Do you see the proportion of the sleeve compared to the narrow bodice yoke? Huge and puffy was the way back in the day. . Notice how the collar doesn't meet at center front but that is quickly remedied with the addition of the pink satin rosette. I suspect the manufacturer uses pre made eyelet collars that got put on garments no matter the size. There's no top stitching and yes, it is sorely in need of a good press but I pretty much just unpacked it.

This pic give s better view of the "interesting" proportion. Huge buttons can often be cute on a more whimsical child's garment but here, with the delicate blue and white print, they are just too heavy.  Ugh. Again, notice how the collar doesn't meet at center back either.

In the logo conscious early 1980s, this label was put on the front skirt of the dress, but of course!

Now go back and look at the picture with the buttons down the back. Right about center, to the right of the dress, you will see on the wall a blurry picture of a lovely, smiling brunette. This was my sister in law, Terry. That's right, was. Terry is no longer with us, having suffered instant death from an aneurysm at the age of 32 in front of her young daughter and husband, my brother. I love this smiling picture of her as she smiled a lot and laughed a lot. We miss her tremendously. Life went on. My brother added an apartment to his home so my parents could care for his little daughter now that her mother had passed. It was a really happy arrangement but choices were made fueled by grief and wife number two came on the scene far too quickly. She removed any reminders of Terry and my mom found them in the trash. She pulled out the framed portraits from a big trash can and also this dress. Terry, loved this dress. It was sweet, feminine and the colors went beautifully with her daughter's dark hair and eyes. She had her daughter's portrait taken in it. It was her favorite picture of Lany and she never failed to mention that. My mom remembered that as she pulled the framed image from the trash. My  mom knew where the dress had been kept and was afraid that it would be tossed as well. She went into the home while they were out and took it out of the closet and brought it to her apartment. She packed the picture and the dress away. My mom and Terry were extremely  close and my Mom missed her terribly. The marriage to wife number two lasted six months, as one would expect in these grief driven situations.

Life went on. I never knew my mom had the dress or the picture. As my mom's health declined she called me in one day to her bedroom and went into her closet and pulled out the dress and the picture. She gave me the dress. My mom asked me to promise to give it to Lany when and if she ever had her own  little girl. I told her I would. I took the dress and packed it way carefully with my best sewing fabric. It hung with velvets and hand smocked Christening gowns for years, moving through three homes.  I took it out this week. Lany is due any minute for her second child, a girl. I will give her the dress......... But  more.........

This is where the incredible community of sewing bloggers steps in. Some of you may remember a blog by Kristine  B. from the Chicago area, husband firefighter, made gorgeous garments, particularly gowns. She no longer blogs but we still keep in touch. She now has a terrific business making formal wear and SHE IS GOOOOOD. Back when she was blogging something came up and I told her the story of the dress and even showed her a picture. Out of the heavens, Kristine told me she was pretty sure she had the same fabric or at least something very close to it. She had made her own daughter a dress out of it and would gladly send me what was left if I was interested. Her generosity will tell you what a lovely person she is.  She sent the fabric. It was extremely close to the dress fabric and I decided I had enough to make something work that could be worn by Lany's  own daughter, should she ever have one. For Kristine B.'s generosity, I will always be grateful and so appreciative.

Today I pulled the fabric out and dug for patterns. I will do a similar back opening yoked dress. It will have puffy sleeves but hopefully more in proportion. I will do a plain white linen collar and sleeve bands.  The bodice will be lined. The skirt will be fuller. If I can find the right color, there will be piping on the dress as well. The back will have buttons but a much smaller scale.I will make a size one. My plan is to give it to Lany for her new baby girl as soon as she arrives. My mom took care of Lany through my brother's tribulations and grief and the two were always very close until my Mom's passing. I know she will love to have this.

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Back to the picture of the back of  the  dress... It kept twisting around and I took tons of pics. I never noticed that her mom's photo, on the wall of my sewing room, was also in the photo,  directly looking at the dress. I sure pray my hands pull this off and it goes well......Bunny

The Stella Weekender

Here it is: the Stella Weekender from Swoon Sewing Patterns. I waited a bit to get some lovely fall background for the main pic. I  think it will make a nice gift for my nephew's wife and new baby girl. It was not hard at all and it's size and softness made it quite manageable under the presser foot.

Pattern:
This is my first Swoon pattern and it is a PDF. The Stella Weekender is available from Swoon Sewing Patterns. It has regular handles on top and a removable long strap for some more convenience. There are two different sized cargo pockets on the front and a large zipper pocket as well. The outside of the bag has slip pockets on the back side. The inside is lined and there are slip pockets inside, too, but you can do an optional zip pocket inside if you like. I didn't.  Piping is not mentioned in the pattern itself but many of the versions shown on the site and on the Swoon FB page are piped. You know I love piping and this was a great opportunity. The PDF comes with clear pattern layouts.At no place does it tell you to fold the main panel to make the pattern for the Open Pocket which did flummox me for a while. I eventually figured it out and it was really no big deal.



One thing I like about PDF bag patterns is that there may be many pieces but they almost all are small and fit on one page or even several to a page. Other pieces are cut from measurements and that is fine with me. Rotary cutters and mats make that easy. This bag has 37, yes, 37 pattern pieces to be cut out and 31 pieces of interfacing as well. The biggest chore with the pattern, as with most bags, is all the cutting and fusing. Once that is done the project flies. Another thing I like about the PDF directions is the size of the pages and the white space on each page. I've made copious notes in that space as I've gone along and that will be really helpful for the next time.

Fabric:
The exterior fabric and lining are quilting cottons from Joanns. The exterior fabric was one of their "premium" quilting cottons and the lining was off the shelf. For the piping I used a poly/cotton blend called Symphony.

All of the lining is fused with SF101 from Pellon, a fusible cotton woven. The exterior gets fusible fleece and some SF101 as well. The gusset has a piece of Peltex fused in at the very end before adding the lining. Peltex is that really hard fusible often used for bag bottoms. In the end this is a soft bag. I've worked out a personal preference  for a different interfacing configuration that I use for most of my bags. That method adds more structure. But this bag is really meant to be rather soft and I think it looks fine that way. I also always like to try the construction the way the pattern specifies before I do my own thing with it.

There is black hardware on this bags to go with the fabric and black zips. I used black D rings and swivel hooks that I got on Amazon. It's not easy finding the black in the size I needed from the bag purveyors but Amazon had it no problem.

Construction:
I followed the pattern sentence by sentence and checked off  each sentence with a pencil as I completed it's task. You do have to pay close attention but nothing is difficult and the directions are definitely clear. It is critical to read through all of the instructions before starting.

Things I'd change next time: In the straps I would use Decor Bond on one side and fusible fleece on the other. I think it will fill in the pieces better and still give stiffness. I also think it would eliminate some of the wrinkling, not much, that happens normally on the concave side of the strap. I also really like to triple zigzag my bag zippers instead of topstitching. I find that attractive and sturdy, just my signature thing.

When piping I got a little overly enthusiastic and piped all around the cargo pockets. DON'T DO THAT. It totally messes up the measuring and placement and took me a lot of unnecessary fiddling to get right. Just don't do it, trust me.

Make sure you move the inner pocket of the big exterior zipper pocket out of the way before sewing down those cargo pockets!  I didn't and  my seam ripper got a workout!

If I made this bag again, I would do the flaps and gusset out of a black faux leather. The bags I've seen on the site, after mine was cut out, that had contrasting flaps and gussets  out of a contrasting solid really looked polished.

I also would make my piping smaller. I am used to tiny piping for heirloom garments and I think a thinner piping would make a sharper, crisper look. But, again, that is sort of my signature thing.I just like tiny piping.  I don't know what size cord I used here but it was home dec cord, may 3/32.

In conclusion:

I recommend this pattern but just not as a first attempt. I suggest contrasting flaps, gussets and straps for a sharp look. Be prepared for some serious cutting and fusing, the norm for bag making. The actual construction, especially if you don't pipe, should move right along. This could be really nice in a heavier tapestry or home  dec fabric.

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My boy bags are complete except for the addition of the frames. I bought the wrong size, my fault.  You can see that reality hitting as I tried to put the too big frame in the casing. The right size is on order and as soon as the frames are in I'll show you those. Not sure what my next project will be. I am toying with the idea of a fur backpack. Love what I have seen of those.......Bunny

Linen cushions are finally, finally done!

The cushion project for DD#2 is finally done. Cushion number one went perfectly, taking no extra time and falling into place like a snowflake on Christmas. Cushion number two: let's just say it was a friggin' nightmare. It took me five passes around the last boxing edge to get it finished. I've since calmed down, and the cushions are ready to be delivered on Thanksgiving. Here's the low-down.

DD wanted two cushions to fill the window seat of her bay window in the family room, 110 inches wide and 17 inches deep. On her own, she purchased the fabric and asked if I could make them. The fabric was a linen drapery fabric with a large repeat. Her purchase was done without my input. The linen was too light, IMO and would there be enough with the huge match? As far as the match, I made it with a six inch square piece to spare. Talk about close! But it matches nicely, on the covers and the boxing. Since the linen was too light, IMO, but was perfect for her room, IHO, I backed it all with fusible tricot interfacing, better.  For the insides I used the high density foam, thank you Joann's, and wrapped it with poly batting. The batting was loosely stitched together around the core and then was good to go.

I made miles of piping, 23 yards to be exact and too much but you just never know, and I used the technique for making bias found in the tutorial tab. The plan was to stitch the piping to one "cover" and then stitch the boxing to it following the previous stitching. That worked well and the first cushion came out perfectly.  The second cushion, not so much.

It took me five passes around the final boxing seam before I was finished. I sewed the boxing to the top and then took a couple days off to go to work. Then I stitched the remaining boxing seam to the bottom or so I thought. I am using my Kenmore and you can't see the spool from the front of the machine. I sewed the first four inches beautifully. Little did I know that the spool was empty after that. Remember in seventh grade Home Ec class they told you to look at your edge, not the needle? Well I did and thne stitched the entire boxing to the bottom with no thread, Pass Number One. OK, take a day off, start again with a full bobbin and spool of thread. It's going well. I got all the way around and about 12 inches from the end realized I had ALL THIS EXTRA fabric bunching up  at the end, GAhhhhhh. The boxed corners didn't match up from top to bottom either, Am I losing it? I am just shoving this away.

Another weekend and I rip out all the previous stitching that should have finished the cushion. Try again. This time I was really careful, lining up my corners nicely and spreading out any ease. Looked good and I decided I would baste it first just to be sure. I baste stitched all around  and all look wonderful. We are now into Pass Number Three. Let's finish this baby! I grab the cushion cover and start sewing.  I am excited to be done. and wha.....I restitched the OTHER boxing seam which was just fine, Pass Number Four. Can you hear my primal scream? Ok, here's comes Pass Number Five and I am going to get it right this time and I did! The Sewing Gremlins definitely took up residence in my sewing room for this project. Is not any project for someone else, whether we love them or not, doomed to major frustration? Sometimes I think so. But it is now done, and I am sipping my glass of wine as I write here.

Below you can see the two cushions. Because they are so long I couldn't get them all in the pic or close enough for detail. They are the same size and match nicely despite some sort of optical illusion going on.

I will be bringing the two cushions to New Hampshire and will  place them in their new home on the window seat in the way wide bay window. In the end, I think they will look nice and DD will appreciate my efforts. I am just glad it's done.

Hanging over the couch and visible in a few pics is the tapestry for my next project. I can't wait! I will be working on a much needed new bag for winter. Reading Marie Kondo's organizing book conned me into chucking nearly every bag I own. They didn't  "spark joy" in me. My next project will be making a bag that "sparks joy" in my heart. Better not have any gremlins.....................Bunny

Those pesky cording/welting ends!

While I have several posts on the blog about my previous excursion into cushion making, it occurred to me today that I didn't show what to do when you have finished stitching the cording/welting to the home dec fabric. They need to meet in a smooth, rather unnoticeable way and that can get a bit tricky to do.

On this project I am attaching welting all around the rectangle of fabric that will make the top of the cushion. The bottom of the cushion will get the same treatment. There will be a band of fabric, aka, "boxing" running around the perimeter of the cushion but that's later!


On the seam that attaches  the welting to the rectangular base, both raw edges are met, just like sewing any seam. I've made my seam and my welting seam allowances just a hair under a half inch . Stitching will begin about 2 inches up from the end of the welting. The welting is attached all around the rectangle.Stop sewing approximately two inches before the start of the seam.

You should now have an unsewn area of about two inches on the rectangle and  couple of dangling pieces of covered welting.

Trim the right hand welting to one inch in length. Open up the stitches on the left hand welting. Put some Fray Block on both ends to stop unravelling.

Go to the ironing board. Move the cord out of the way. Trim and fold back the end of the left hand welt and press into place. The left hand welt will need to be trimmed so that it is long enough to cover the right hand welt by about1/2-3/4 of an inch once folded and in place.

Wrap the fabric covering the left welt over the trimmed right welt. Trim and Fray Bloc the left cord so it meets up with the right cord.

Pin and take it to the machine. You can see my wet Fray bloc in all the pics.

Stitch with a 1.5 stitch length over the unstitched area. 

Still wet with Fray Bloc but done! Two points: this technique can be used with any sort of corded piping. Here it is on Home Dec but I have often used it with baby piping. Also, an effort should be made to plan the welting so that the joins are far away visually, in this case on the short side of the cushion.  Happy welting!......................Bunny

Newbies, I'm here for you!

In the recent rant I posted I mentioned  looking at higher end ready to wear to  oneself to what sort of techniques indicate quality construction. There are all different levels of quality when it comes to clothing. We don't all have access to "real" Chanel or D&G garments and that's not what I am really talking about here. You can follow websites of Dior and Chanel and so on. You can also get great visual knowledge from sites like Net-a-Porter. They are great fun to cruise. What I am really talking about tonight though is just your better quality garment available in nearly every town that has a department store or dress shop. Think Ann Taylor, not Kohl's. Most of us have access to some "better" quality stores and boutiques in our home towns.  Just be forewarned. Having a "big"name doesn't necessarily mean a garment is made with all quality techniques.

Here is a pair of capris I thrifted  recently and they are made by Izod. Now you can get these in a lot of places and they are not super expensive but they are made really well. I LOVE these capris. I will point out to you a few things that let you know a better garment, not what you would find in Wally World.

First, the fabric: This fabric is really really yummy. I love wearing it. It is soft like butter. It feels like a very expensive cotton but is 100% polyester. I have never seen poly like this in the fabric store. It does not sweat and comes out of the washing machine like a dream. If I could find poly like this I would wear it all the time. It is comfortable.

This is the waistband. It is piped all around, big detail you will never find in Wal Mart. Each side of the waistband is perfectly double topstitched.

The pants came with satin ribbons to hang them on the hanger. Pockets are made of mesh so you don't get all sweated up in your summer capris. Yes, the waistband is wrinkled and that looks to me like a poly/cotton blend was used in the thread and it in turn shrunk with washing while the fabric didn't That's the only fault I can find with these pants.

You can see how the pocket is faced with matching fabric and zigzag topstitched to the mesh.

Here you can see the pocket. It is topstitched. Where it meets the waistband is a tiny zigzag to prevent ripping out. The waistband has a double layer so there is a line across the waistband to secure the "flap: and keep the waistband flat as well.  Love that piping!

Under this grommet tie sort of flap is a perfectly executed fly zipper with a flap between the zipper and your tummy, another nice touch.

Like many capris, this pair sports flap pockets that stride the side seam.  Again, you can see the tiny zigzag reinforcement at the pocket corners. Look at the perfectly executed topstitching.While the appropriate factory machinery pulled this off, no doubt a skilled operator made that curve.I love how the inner stitches are small and the outer stitches are large. Makes sense, right? Would a double needle do that? I will have to try out that one.

When I wear these the pockets fall perfectly along my hips with no bagging or stretching out, not an easy feat with my wide hips.

So these are my fancy pants for beach and boating. I like them with a simple white tank, great summer wear.

I did this post to show  our newer sewists just a few of the details they can easily replicate. Details like piping and perfectly falling pockets and straps to hang your pants are all small details that can easily be mastered. Practice these techniques before you commit them to a garment. Practice makes perfect! Then stitch your garments knowing that you are duplicating far better quality than what you may be used to from the big box stores. That's a good thing. Wearing well made clothing will give you confidence and sewing quality clothing will give you a terrific sense of satisfaction, particularly when someone asks you wear you bought it.

The point of this post is for all of us to make ourselves more aware of what is really nice and what is rather shabby when it comes to garment construction. Go to those fancy department store designer departments and the high end boutiques. Try on the clothes. Look inside of them. Take pics with your phone of the insides. Cruise websites from designers or like net-a-porter.  Try on, try on, try on. Open them up. Keep a little notebook handy to jot down ideas. Bring a tape measure or 6 inch ruler to measure things.  Get out there and have fun. Then interpret what you have seen to your own sewing and practice those new skills. Each new skill will be another tool in your toolbox. A girl, one who sews at least, can never have too many tools in her tool box...................Bunny

Office Chair Slipcover

My valance project is waiting for a measurement from DD and until I get it I can't continue. So while that project is in a holding pattern I decided to get going on the office chair. I made the welting this morning and have the back front and seat complete at this point. I can't  do the back of the back (!) until I have the seat and ruffle complete and I'm not there yet.This has been a journey, I tell ya'. Once the front was all welted and sewn to the band it was time to connect the back, or so I thought. My plan for the back totally fell apart as my brilliant idea would not make a smooth transition to the sides/front of the chair. Back to square one for the back. I decided it would be wiser to get the seat completed and then fit in the back last. Hope I'm right, but who knows?

This matelasse is like sewing iron curtains. I wanted a gathered skirt utilizing the scallop of the bedspread. Are you kidding? There is no way this stuff gathers. So I am putting in box pleats which by the time they are stitched in look like soft gathers. I really like that look. I should have jjjuuuusssttt enough scallop border to go around. We are close to the end and I should finish this weekend. Then maybe, just maybe, I might get to sewing some clothing for myself. Many things have been on the back burner for my own wardrobe since last fall and I am itching to get started on some. I also need to get a handwork project going as well, not sure what yet.

And as happens whenever anyone sews an all white project, the never fail needle prick spits blood here and there, always before you feel anything. I am hoping the spit treatment will work.

We are rounding the bend with this decorating project in the studio.  Tomorrow DH and I are hitting Lowes for some crown molding shelving for over the cutting table. Hopefully that will be up soon. I'll post a grand tour when all is done....Bunny

The BB Dress, near completion

The dress just needs a hem and a good press. I should have it up tomorrow. Today I will share a couple of construction details. Above its the wrong side of the bodice. On the left is the back side of the smocked insert. You can see I fused interfacing to the back of the insert fabric before pleating. This helps plump up the pleats. I was limited in the amount of fabric I had and while I thought I had enough the interfacing just helped with a little more insurance. So when you want your pleats thicker with less fabric, FUSE.  On the right side of the pic you will see the side bodice. That is also fused with interfacing. I find when you have an insert, particularly if you have used piping, the adjoining fabric needs to be interfaced to hold up to the weight and stiffness of the piped insert. It helps prevent ripply seams along the join of insert and bodice or yoke.

Here you can see how I understitched the neckline seam. The piping adds bulk.The seam is graded and then understitched with a triple zigzag, a Nancy Zieman trick.

Above the waistline the bodice closes with buttons. Below the waistline it has a placket. On the other skirt seams I used French seams. On the CB seam of the skirt I used serged seams. This is pressed open and a cut is made to the seam line where you want the bottom of the placket to be. I cut the serging off of the placket seam as I didn't want the bulk or show through when pressed.

I cut a piece of fabric one and a half inches wide by the length of the placket, nine inches. The placket piece and the placket seams were placed right sides together. I start by sewing a half inch either side and across the clip. Then I sew the rest of the seam. It was then trimmed and graded. You can see how smooth it is.  The placket piece was folded and pressed to make a finished edge and then hand stitched down.
 

Once it is hand stitched down and pressed in place it all smooths out as you will see on the next post.

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I organized my interfacings. They are in a white trash bucket. I modpodged fabric to the top edge of the bucket. Each roll is labeled so all can be found quickly. I like the way it looks. Bit by bit I am getting things organized and changed in my little studio. On my next trip south I will hunt out some fabric to slip cover my office chair. I have figured out how to take the behemoth apart and it should be pretty easy to do......Bunny

The BB Dress Bow

This morning I finished the bow for the back of the dress. It' an important feature of the design as you will see. I have decided to also do some additional embroidery on the BB part of the dress so it will be a bit longer before the full unveiling. Hmmmm, what's that BB stand for?

The bow is interfaced with a hair canvas that has been preshrunk. The HCanvas is cut on the bias. This will be attached to the back of the dress with a few tacks on the left and on the right with snaps so it won't interfere with putting the dress on and off. No big fussy sash and bow. Sophie is getting a bit older and this tailored bow will be more appropriate I think. Now to go work on the BB part. ...Bunny

BB Dress Sleeves

I am determined to finish the BB dress today or early tomorrow. Then it will be moveon.bunny. There are a lot of gathers  where the sleeve meets the sleeve band. To space them out properly I used my oaktag pattern piece, aka template. Little clips came in hand to clip the ends down and then spread out the gathers evenly. I have one row of gathers (2)  riding each side of the 3/8th inch seam line, NOT on the seam line. This will allow for more even pleats that stand up nicely.

 

Next, I lay a strip of Wonder Tape to one side of the piping. The ends of the piping get snipped off to fit. I can now remove the sleeve from the template. All is to the correct size. The piping gets sewn down but not snug up to the cord, maybe a couple of needle widths away. Then the band is placed on top. Yay, it fits just right! Flip the pieces over so you can see the stitching line you just made to attach the piping. Stitch the band on going a needle's width closer to the cord. I find an edge stitching foot can help here as you just run the blade down the first stitch and move your needle one click to the left towards the cord. Now inspect your work. Do you see what I see? 

Yes, I have already ripped out a section of stitching. Do you see how the print snuck out of line? That looks nasty. So I unstitched, pulled the band back to where it was supposed to be and stitched the line again. It worked. My point here is something I have found out about piping that nobody ever mentions. After stitching you must inspect your work. Is some fat, some thin? More than likely it is. Even with today's great machine  feet I still almost always have to do some adjusting to the width of the piping. Don't get mad and walk away. Just expect it and just redo it. To me, if you want tiny piping you need to work at it till its just right. So inspect and redo. That's the piping game. Now I know some of you, I won't mention any names, can do it all perfect the first time around. But for us more mortal sorts this is the reality. I also find piping requires slow sewing so don't do this when you are in a hurry. I love doing piping and sure hope I haven't discouraged you. Now two sleeves are complete and it is back to my cave to keep moving on....Bunny