Sew-Along #11 - Exchange Dress - Preparations

The Exchange Dress by Trisha's Treasures

Before we begin the sew-along on January 27^th, you will want to gather some items and do a few things to prepare.

Items to Collect

1. If you have not purchased the patterns yet, please do so ASAP.  You will need BOTH the Lucy pattern by Children's Corner AND the Exchange Dress instructions.
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 a some fabric kits available.  We also have lots of fun fabric selections on our website.  If you look at the picture of the back of the Exchange Dress listing you will be able to see a list of fabrics required for each of the sizes and can put together your own kit if desired.  This picture can be clicked on and made larger so you can read it easily.
3. We will be making our own piping during the sew-along.  For this you will need petite cording and trim fabric.  All Exchange Dress fabric kits come with plenty of petite cording and trim fabric to complete your project.  We also stock petite cording on our website.  Or you can look for cording at your local craft store.  I have heard of people using drapery cording with success.  I haven't done that myself as I have always used the petite cording that we stock.  You can check out our cording here.
    
4. You will want some sort of paper to draft your pattern onto.  The Exchange Dress fabric kits come with Swedish Drafting Paper.  I highly recommend it.  If you didn't purchase a kit, please make sure you have some sort of large/wide paper.
5. You will also need ½" buttons to complete this project.  The project kits did not come with buttons, so please make sure you have some.  Again, look at the picture of the back of the Exchange Dress for quantity.  
6. You will need coordinating thread to complete this project.  The project kits did not come with thread, so please make sure you have some. 
7. You will need a 6" wide (6½" for size 7/8), see through, gridded, quilting ruler.  If you don't have one this wide, I will show you a little trick you can do with a slightly narrower ruler.  But, it can be a bit confusing.  So, you might want to pick one up if you don't already own one.  I did see a 6" wide ruler at my local Walmart last time I was there.
   
8. 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.
   
   
9. You will probably want to have some basting spray or a washable glue stick to baste your lining fabric within your panel pieces.  Odif Usa 505 is my personal favorite. 
10. Pick out some of your favorite appliques and/or embroidery designs to embellish your reversible/interchangeable front panels.  The Exchange Dress kits come with enough fabric for you to make two panels, or four sides.  Here are a few of my favorites!
    

Hang To Dry Applique	Embroidery Boutique
Stitch Away Applique	Embroidery Boutique
Hang To Dry Applique	Stitch Away Applique

11. And finally, you will need pins, a sewing machine that does button holes, a good iron (a steam iron is preferable for sewing), and a pair of fabric shears or a rotary cutter and mat.  
    
    

Optional Items to Collect - The following items are totally optional.

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.  All Exchange Dress kits did come with enough freezer paper to trace your pattern once.
   
2. A sharpie or other permanent marker for tracing your pattern pieces onto the freezer paper.  I recommend a black sharpie as the colored ones, though more fun, can tend to iron onto your fabrics.  Ack!  Had that happen recently and I was so sad.
3. The Exchange Dress instructions do suggest using removable scotch tape for holding your pattern pieces down when tracing.  I just use masking tape myself. 
4. I like to use fusible interfacing underneath the button area on clothing I create. I have a little girl who likes to get dressed all by herself, but has a bit of difficulty with buttons sometimes.  She tends to pull on them and the interfacing really helps to support and keep those buttons in place.  If you choose to use some interfacing for this dress you will need about 3" x length of dress.

Things to Do

1. Make sure to prewash and preshrink all of your fabrics.  I wash my fabrics on warm/hot and then I dry my fabrics 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.
   

   Note: Please make sure to ALWAYS preshrink fusible interfacing.  If you don't, it may shrink up when you wash your creation.  This will make your fabric look wrinkled and wavy.  It can also become wrinkled and wavy due to shrinkage just by using steam when you press.  To preshrink fusible interfacing you will need to soak it for about 5 minutes in very warm water.  You don't want the water too hot to avoid removing the iron-on finish, but you do want it warm enough to shrink the interfacing.  After soaking, just pat it with a clean towel and hang it to dry. 

2. Press your fabrics well.  I try to do this straight out of the dryer so that the wrinkles come out easier.  
3. If you haven't already, join our Facebook Sew-Along Group so you can post your progress pictures.
   

Happy Sewing,

Danielle Storm
www.whimsicalfabric.com