Sew-Along #8 - Lucy Dress - Lesson #2

The Lucy Dress by Children's Corner
*If you need to see more detail in any of the pictures please click on them to enlarge. 

Day 2- Creating Pockets, Attaching Pockets, and Attaching Piping.

Hi again! I hope you enjoyed lesson one, and are ready to work on lesson 2!

Pockets
First up today are the pockets. These were a labor of love for me. They took me the better part of an afternoon, but they turned out so sweet! Definitely worth the extra effort, particularly if you won't be adding any other embellishments. Alternatively, you could just use the pocket tops following the pattern directions.

Now that I've run through this, I would do things a little differently, and one of the things I would change is doing the piping in one continuous piece for the front pockets, rather than doing the curve and the top separately. My photos show the first method, but I will be explaining the second since it will be easier on you guys. Isn't it great when you can learn from someone else's mistake?!

The first step for adding piping to the pockets is to add piping around the entire front pocket section for both the left and the right side. Trim your piping to 1/4" width by cutting off around 1/4" from the raw edge. I thought that was a bit scant, so I left mine a little wider to make it easier to work with.

Note from Danielle: When using 1" strips to make my piping I don't ever feel the need to trim it before applying to my garment. It's just not necessary and as Emily said, it can get to small and become very hard to work with if you do. Just leave it and trim the seams later if necessary.

Begin pinning the piping around the front pocket edge, right sides together. All of the raw edges will be aligned. When you get to the corners, you will need to clip perpendicular to the cording, making sure to get close to the stitching without cutting through it. This will allow the cord to bend without the tape puckering.


(^^^ This picture does not show the pocket, since I used a different method, but it is the correct procedure!)

*You might want to check out the "Continuous Piping" tip below before proceeding.

Continue pinning around the pocket. Take it to your machine, and using your zipper foot and a normal stitch length, stitch all the way around the front pockets, near the cording.

Note from Danielle: You should be stitching right on top of the piping stitch line that you made when creating your piping. Just follow that line, super simple!

Tip from Danielle: Continuous Piping
I find it best to start my piping on the edge of the front pocket section that is longer. When starting your piping leave about an inch loose.
 

When you get to where you began, cross your two strips of piping to make a sort of V shape.

Stitch right over the top of the cording to secure your ends.


When you turn it out it should look like this.

Then, pipe only the top and approximately a quarter of the way down on the longer edge of the back pocket sections. In my example, I only did the top of the back pocket, and it left a bit of the edge exposed. I don't mind (at least not enough to redo it, so I just added a bow to cover it!) Make sure you do opposite sides to ensure symmetry when finished! I don't have a clear picture of this step since I did things a little differently.

Note from Danielle: Here are my silly pocket drawings. The blue line represents the top of the back pocket pieces.

Another Note from Danielle: Stack the front pocket section on top of the back pocket section just like you will be placing them on the dress. The blue lines represent the back pocket sections. Mark with a fabric marker just a smidge below where the back pocket section starts to come out from behind the front pocket sections (red X). This will be where you end your piping. Note, the green X is where you will start your piping, you will continue across the blue line, down the side, and stop at the red X.

Tip from Danielle: Adding Piping To the Back Pocket Section
To start piping on the top edge of your pocket you will first need to make a snip in the piping like we did for going around curves.

Next, line your snip up with the edge of the pocket. Green X above.

Pin the piping in place.


You will then fold the piping at a right angle with the excess hanging off the top edge of your pocket.


Stitch right across the folded cording and continue to attach the piping to the pocket top. You can stop and secure your stitches when you get half way across the pocket top.


When you are done it should look like this.

Trim off some of the excess.


Now, when you you flip up your piping the edge should look like this.


Continue to stitch your piping to your pocket top, turning the corner by clipping your piping like discussed previously. When you approach the mark you made to show where the pocket front covers the pocket back you will want to curve your piping like we did before on the continuous piping tip, except you will only be forming one side of a V.


Stitch right over the edge of your cording to secure it.


Click this picture to make it larger if needed. You can see that I stitched right over the edge of the piping, securing the cording.

When you flip up your piping you can see that you have a nice, closed, edge.

Now, layer all of the pocket lining pieces right sides together on top of each pocket piece. Still using your zipper foot, stitch around each pocket piece, leaving 1" open to turn it right side out.

Note from Danielle: I find it's easiest to stitch on the dress fabric side as opposed to the lining fabric side. Stitch right on top of the stitches you created when attaching your piping.

Trim the seams, clip the corners, and make notches around the curved edge to help everything lay nicely.


Turn right side out, and press. Make sure to press the raw edge of the opening under, so that when you topstitch, everything will be enclosed!


Attaching Pockets to Dress
Layer your left front and left back pieces on top of each other, mark your placement on the dress front, and topstitch in place. Repeat for the right side.

Note from Danielle: I always find it easiest to do a quick basting stitch to hold my pocket fronts and pocket backs together before I stitch them to the dress. This takes more time, so skip if you feel confident without doing this.

 
Whoo!!! Those crazy adorable pockets are all finished! Take a coffee break, then we will dive into attaching the piping!

Attaching Piping to Dress
Next, we will attach the piping to the dress. Begin pinning the raw edges of the piping matching up with the raw edge of the dress front. Make sure you are pinning to the right side. Again, when you come to corners, you will need to clip the bias tape without cutting the stitching.



Stitch in place using your zipper foot. Repeat for the back dress piece.

 
That's it for today!! See you all again Friday for Day 3!
Emily