Sew-Along #8 - Lucy Dress - Lesson #3

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 3- Attaching the Lining, constructing the dress, making/attaching ruffle.

Welcome back! Today we will be putting together the dress, and you will begin to see the true fruits of your labor!

Note from Danielle: If you would like to reinforce your straps with interfacing, now is the time to do it.  This can help stabilize your button holes and reinforce the fabric under your buttons.  Whatever type of interfacing you use, please make sure to preshrink it.  The preparations post for this sew-along described how to go about doing that. 

First, make sure you have transferred your pattern markings to your lining pieces.  I also added a line across the top of my front lining straps.

Now cut four small pieces of interfacing to over the rectangular sections at the top of your straps.

Next, pin the interfacing rectangles onto the wrong side of your lining.

Sew along the line across your straps attaching the interfacing and lining together.

When you are done it should look like this.

Trim the interfacing closer to the line you sewed.  I forgot to do this and did it after I sewed the lining and dress together.  Do this before and it will be easier.  ;)

Attaching the Lining

We will start the day with attaching the lining to the bodice. 

To attach your lining, first place the lining piece on top of the corresponding dress piece with right sides together.  Pin in place around the piped edges.

 

Stitch at a quarter inch seam allowance.

Clip the corners and curves.

Turn right side out and press.

Constructing the Dress
We will begin by pulling your lining away from the dress, and matching right sides of the lining with each other and right sides of the dress with each other. Pin carefully, and make sure to match up the arm seams! 

Note from Danielle: Make sure to leave about 6 inches of one side of the lining un-stitched.  We will need this hole to pull the dress through when we hem it.  I usually leave this hole about half way up in the side seam.  Be careful not to create it too close to the bottom where we will be hemming.  Don't forget to backstitch at the beginning and end of the hole to keep your seam from pulling apart.

You want the piping to be laying towards the lining  This helps it stick up above the main dress once its turned right side out. 

Stitch at a quarter inch using your normal foot. Make a notch where the arm seams meet to reduce bulk.

Turn it right sides out, and you will see that all raw edges are hiding within the lining!

Note from Danielle: There is no need to finish your seams since they will be enclosed within the lining and will not show or fray.  It is a good idea at this point to press open your seams so that everything lies nice and flat.

Making/Attaching Ruffle
Let's get started on the ruffle! I decided that I wanted my ruffle to be about two inches when finished. 

• You could do a traditional hem on the ruffle, folding up 1/4", ironing, then folding another 1/4" and stitching. 
• Alternatively, you could double the height of the ruffle, then fold it in half wrong sides together before ruffling. 
• I did a rolled hem on my serger, so I did not have to account for hemming, only seam allowance at the top. 

I use my ruffling foot, which I know the perfect setting to reduce the length by half, once ruffled. Therefore, I measured my skirt pieces, then doubled that measurement to figure out how to cut the ruffle. 

 

You may use any other ruffling method if you don't have a ruffling foot. You could also increase or decrease the length of the ruffle for more or less fullness, depending on your taste :-)

Whatever you decide you need for the length of your ruffle pieces, make sure to cut them a bit longer then you think to give yourself a little wiggle room.  That way, after it's been ruffled, you can measure your ruffle across the bottom of the dress and cut it to the correct length. Don't forget to give yourself an extra half inch or so for seam allowance at each place your ruffle fabric strips will be joined together (quarter inch for each side of the seam).

Note: The pattern does come with a little sheet that discusses the different ways to do ruffles.  Pull this out and read if you would like more information about different options. 

Note from Danielle: I love to create my ruffles by doubling the fabric over.  That way, all raw seam edges are hidden inside. I just carefully measure and create my band (a big continuous ring of fabric), fold it in half with wrong sides together, ruffle it (or not, sometimes I just like a banded hem), then attach it to my dress.  It gives you a very finished look with no seams showing on the inside at all.

Now to attach the ruffle, you want to align the raw edges with right sides together. Pin in place, then stitch close to the basting/ruffling stitch.

That's it for lesson 3. Next time we will hem the dress and put all of the adorable finishing touches on!
Emily