Sew-Along #28 - Bistro Dress - Preparations

The Bistro Dress by Liesl+Co

Items to Collect 
*Note: Links to products within this post are either links to our website or affiliate links. 

1. You must have the Bistro Dress pattern to be able to take part in this sew-along.  If you have not yet purchased this, please do so here. This pattern is an instant download and you will have access to download it as soon as your purchase is completed.
   
2. If you do not have fabric for the project you will want to purchase some.  At the time of this writing we have have lots of fabric kits available.  We also have lots of nice fabric selections on our website.
   
   Note: We greatly appreciate your purchase of patterns and kits from us.  These purchases help pay for the sew-alongs and allow us to continue to offer them along with the great prizes we give away. Thank you for your support!
   
   
   
   
3. In addition to the main fabric for the dress, you will want a lightweight fabric for the lining.  Lining the garment will make the dress look more professional and will give it a more luxurious feel when worn. We highly recommend voile for this as it feels amazing against your skin. Our value priced Spechler-Vogel Imperial Broadcloth also works well for lining and feels great against the skin. 
   
4. Along with your fabrics you will need some fusible interfacing.  A ½ yard should be enough. If you have or are purchasing a kit from us it does include fusible interfacing.  If you are not purchasing a kit you will need to make sure you have some on hand. 
   
5. The Bistro dress pattern requires a 16" invisible zipper.  If you can not find a 16" just buy a zipper that is longer.  Sharon will show you how to cut it down in the lessons.  Again, our fabric kits all come with zippers.  We like to make those kits easy for you.  If you are not purchasing a kit from us though, please make sure you have a zipper on hand.

   
6.  And finally, you will need pins, a sewing machine, a good iron (a steam iron is preferable for sewing), a pair of fabric shears or a rotary cutter and mat (a rotary cutter and mat is a lifesaver!), a ruler, and a fabric marker/pen or chalk. 
   
   

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

1. A quilting ruler will be very beneficial for making the darts.  It's not mandatory, but if you don't have one and are able to purchase one, we recommend it.
2. All Oliver+S and Liesl+Co patterns come with a really neat feature.  Did you know that the very last page(s) of the PDF is the complete pattern pieces on a wide format page?  You can take your file to most any printer and they can print this out for you. This will save you a lot of time, frustration, and tape.
   
   
3. If you do decide to have a printer print out the large format, you most likely won't want to cut into your pattern. I like to trace out all my pattern pieces on freezer paper.  We will not be teaching this step, but you can read more about it here.  Feezer paper can be bought at most grocery stores (by the wax paper and aluminum foil) or on Amazon.
   
    
   
   

Things to Do

1. Make sure to prewash and preshrink all of your fabrics.  I wash my fabrics on warm or hot and then I dry my fabrics in the dryer with no softeners.  I always preshrink in 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. 
2. I also prewash my fusible interfacing to preshrink it.  This will prevent any wrinkles or waves that might arise when you iron or launder your garment.  To prewash your interfacing simply soak it in a sink 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. 
3. Press all of your fabrics (but not your fusible interfacing) well.  I try to do this straight out of the dryer so that the wrinkles come out easier.  
4. Make sure to download the pattern PDF onto your computer, tablet, or smart phone. Your pattern will be located in your order history on our site.  Log into your account, then click on the My Account at the very top right hand side of our site.  You will then see a list of your orders.  Click on the correct order and a download link will be available.  
5. If you are having a printer print your last page, don't wait to the last minute to have that done.  Some printers have a couple of days wait for such things.  
   
   or
   If you are printing the pattern yourself, please make sure to have printed it and taped it together before lesson 1.  We have not included this part in the lesson.  For help in printing and taping, please see this previous lesson - Class Picnic Lesson 1.
6. Don't forget to join our Whimsical Fabric & Me Group so you can post your progress pictures. Everyone who posts completed lesson pictures, on time, to the Facebook Group, will be entered into drawings to win some awesome prizes!  Please note that this is a different group then what we have hosted the sew-alongs in the past.  Please make sure to join this group so you don't miss out if you haven't already.

The Prizes

At the close of the Sew-Along we will be giving away 5 Liesl+Co PDF patterns as prizes.  It's the perfect chance to snag some of these amazing patterns to sew for yourself this holiday season.  Make sure to join the Facebook Group so you have a chance to win! Each prize pattern has up to a $14.95 value.

We will give out entries for the prize pool drawing during the sew-along. There are three different ways to earn entries into the prize drawing.

1. Each day that you turn in an assignment on time you will receive 1 entry per item you create. Thus, the more items you make, the more entries you will receive.
2. We will also award 1 entry for purchasing the Bistro pattern from us using the coupon code SewAlongSavings.
3. In addition, if you purchased a kit from the Sew-Along #28 Category we will award you another 2 entries for each kit purchased.  *Note: Patterns purchased within the kit count as pattern purchases outlined in step #2 above.

Happy Sewing,
Danielle Storm
www.whimsicalfabric.com