Sew-Along #2 and #3 – Bella Pants and Bella Skirt - Preparations

Pink Fig Bella Pants and the Bella Marie Boutique Bella Twirl Skirt

Before we begin the sew-along you will want to gather some items and do a few things to prepare. 

Items to Collect

1. If you have not yet purchased the patterns, please do so ASAP.  You may purchase the patterns from our shoppe by clicking here.
2. If you do not have fabric for the project, you will want to purchase that ASAP also.  At the time of this writing, we do have some fabric kits for these projects available.  Click here to see the project kits.  Our project kits include pretty much everything you will need to complete the project.  We also have lots of fun fabric selections on our website.  For your shopping convenience, on the patterns linked above you will find a list of all of the items needed to complete the projects.  Look over the lists carefully to make sure you have everything you need.
3. You will also need coordinating thread to complete these projects.  The project kits did not come with thread, so please make sure you have some.
4. You will want some sort of fabric marking instrument.  You can use chalk, a marking pencil, washable fabric pen, even a bar of soap will work. 

Optional Items to Collect - The following items are totally optional.  These are items I use often because I feel they make sewing easier for me.  You will most likely see me using them in the sew-along, but by no means do you need these items to complete the project.

1. Freezer paper to trace the pattern and cut out your fabric pieces.  You can find this at most grocery stores with the wax paper and aluminum foil.
   

Things to Do

1. Make sure to prewash and preshrink your fabrics.  I always wash my quilting cottons in hot (or just warm if the colors are very deep and I fear color fade) and then I dry my fabric in the dryer with no softeners.  I always preshrink this way when I am using fabric for clothing construction.  I would hate to work hard on something only to have it shrink and not fit when I was done.  Please note my Facebook post regarding the skirt fabrics.  

   NOTE: I washed my fabric (ballerina skirt) on hot and dried all the way to test. All the fabrics were fine with plenty of room except fabric A on the size 5/6. Fabric A was very close, not a 1/4 of an inch to spare. So, if you are making the 5/6, just beware. If your fabric shrinks more than mine, you might be a tad bit short on the length of the pettiskirt pieces. I remembered that from the last time I made that skirt, and did the test run to make sure. So be careful.

2. Press your fabrics well.  I try to do this straight out of the dryer so that the wrinkles come out easier. 
3. I will be using my serger to create rolled hems, overlock seams, and gather my ruffles for these projects.  You DO NOT need a serger to complete these projects; but if you plan on using one, you might want to spend a bit of time reviewing how to do these three things if you are a bit rusty.
4. I might be using a ruffler foot on our sewing machine to create some of the ruffles on the twirl skirt.  I have in the past and it works great.  If you have a ruffler foot and are interested in a great, free tutorial; check out this one here.

Happy Sewing,

Danielle Storm

www.whimsicalfabric.com