Grab your pattern and fabric kit today. Our kits contain everything but the thread and make joining in so easy.
We have both Christmas themed and non-Christmas themed dresses that she can wear on throughout the new year.
Use the coupon code SAVE20% before 11:59pm MT Monday, 11/23, to save 20% off your kit and pattern purchase.
Then, join our Facebook Group for a chance to win some great prizes during our sew-along!
Happy Creating!
Danielle Storm
The Bistro Dress by Liesl+Co
** If you would like to see an image on our blog in a larger format, just click on it to enlarge.This might be VERY helpful for the section on embroidering the yoke.
Note: Links to products within this post are either links to our website or affiliate links.
Today we will be sewing the sleeves, hem on both the dress and dress
lining, and the sash. These will be our last steps and our final day of our sew
along. I hope you ladies are excited as I am! Let's go!
Sleeves
1. Sew a gathering stitch at the top of the sleeve between the notches
on both sleeves. Next, sew a row of basting stitching with a 5/8" seam
allowance. This line will help us make a nice, neat, even hem.
2. Press your sleeve bottom up just at the basting stitch row. Then,
fold the top raw edge of the sleeve into the fold crease and press
again to make a narrow hem. Repeat with second sleeve.
3. Unfold the sleeve hem at the side and sew with a 1/2" seam. Trim and finish seam here. Repeat with second sleeve.
4. Refold the sleeve hem and press well. Stitch the hem in place. Then remove your basting stitches. Repeat with second sleeve.
5. With your sleeve right side out and your dress wrong side out,
slip the corresponding sleeve into the inside of the dress (the right
side of the dress) matching notches and seams. Pin. Gather
threads gently so there are no pleats or puckers. Pin in place all the way around.
Stitch with a 1/2" seam. Trim the seam and finish the raw edge. (I
used my serger for this step.)
6. Press you sleeve seam towards the sleeve. Repeat with second sleeve.
Onto the Hem!
1. Sew a row of basting stitches a 1/2" from the raw bottom edge of the
dress, this will be our pressing guild. It makes it easier to get a
lovely hem on a curved surface. Press the hem up at the 1/2" stitch
line.
2. Take your tailor's chalk and draw a line 1 1/2" up from the
bottom edge of the hem. Press up at this line, pinning in place.
Stitch in place.
3. For the lining we will need to cut off 2" from the bottom. To do this, take your tailor's chalk and draw a line around that
is 2" up from the raw bottom edge. Cut this part off. Repeat steps 1
and 2 with the dress lining.
Sash
1. For the sash we will press each short end up a 1/2" to the wrong side. Fold in half length wise (or the long way).
2. Sew down only the long side of the sash, not on either short ends.
Trim the seam to 1/4" and press the seam open. Then, turn the sash and
press once again with the seam in the center back (just like our belt
loops.)
3. Fold and press the ends 1/2" up inside the sash. Either hand stitch or machine stitch each end closed.
The last and final step?!? Try your new dress on!!!! Well, okay, if you are
me I had already tried my dress on without sleeves, with one sleeve, then
with the hem....well you get the point. Now you can show this dress
off!
Do you have left-over voile from your lining and want to make a infinity scarf to coordinate? Check out the free directions from our Penelope Sew-Along.
Please share your dresses on Facebook page as well as in our sewing album! We are excited to see what everyone has sewn!!!
Sharon
* If you would
like to earn entries into the prize drawing, please make sure to submit
a photo of your completed Lesson Four to this Facebook Album by 12:00 noon CST, Tuesday, November 17th. If you
have any questions the Facebook Group is a great place to ask.
Happy Sewing,
Danielle Storm
www.whimsicalfabric.com
The Bistro Dress by Liesl+Co
** If you would like to see an image on our blog in a larger format, just click on it to enlarge.
Note: Links to products within this post are either links to our website or affiliate links.
Today we will be sewing the shoulders and the neck lines, I sewn mine
with View A but I will also give a run down on View B as well. So let's
get started on today's lesson!
Collar, Shoulders, Facings
1. For View B - If you have not done so already, fuse the interfacing to
the wrong side of one set of collar pieces. Sew your collar pieces
together with right sides facing only on the curved edge. Trim seam
allowance, then turn, and press.
Place the collar pieces onto the right
side of the front dress with the dot of the collar matching the dot you
transferred from the pattern onto the dress front. (Let's pretend mine
is not the pattern here and is a collar piece.) The collar piece
will only go as far as the shoulder seam and not onto the back. The side
raw edges of the collar will be sewn into the shoulder seam.
2. For all views, pin shoulders together on main dress only and sew together.
3. I trimmed my seam allowance here and then pressed my seams open.
4. For View B Only - Now
we are going to do some more pretending here for a minute. My yellow
chalk lines are where your View B dress lining is cut at. (Mine is cut
for the lining of View A) Take your back facing piece and pin the
bottom of the facing to the top of the center back with right sides
together.
Pin the outer edge of the facing to the top edge of the shoulder. Now,
working slowly, pin the rest of the facing to the dress lining, cutting
notches into the dress lining as needed. (Be careful not to trim into
the seam line itself.
Stitch with a 1/2" seam allowance. Trim your
seam and press seam towards facing.
5. For View A Only - Take
your front and back facing pieces and pin together with right sides
facing, stitching together at shoulder. Trim should seams and finish
this raw edge. (I used my serger for this one).
6. Serge or zig zag stitch the bottom raw edge all the way around. Set a
side.
7. Sew the lining of the dress front and back together at shoulder
seams, right sides together on both views. Press shoulder seams open.
Zipper
Now onto sewing the zipper in. If you have not sewed with an invisible
zipper yet, don't worry, it really is not as hard as you think. My first
invisible zipper I ever sewn was with and Oliver and S pattern. It
came out great with the directions given by Liesl!
1. With the zipper closed and facing wrong side up, mark the zipper tape where the top of the zipper sits.
2. Now, with a lower setting on your iron (as not to melt the zipper teeth) you
will unroll the zipper coil and press it flat with the zipper wrong side
facing up. Do this to both zipper sides. The flat zipper will be easier
to sew in correctly.
3. With the right side of the back of the dress facing up, working
on the wear's left side, place the zipper with the wrong side of the
zipper facing up and matching the line of the top of the zipper to the
dot you transferred from the pattern onto the dress. To help get the
zipper placed on right I always lay my zipper onto the dress as if it
were sewn in and finished, then I flip the zipper over the pin in
place. This way I do not get my zipper all turned around and twisted. I
have done this a few times on my second side and taking seams out on a
zipper is not any fun, trust me.
4. Now, line the zipper teeth edge up with the seam allowance line you
made and pin in place. The pattern recommends that you baste the zipper
in place before sewing. I will not lie, if you do this, it sews in much
easier, but instead I pin mine a lot, then sew the zipper in place.
On the bottom of the zipper transfer that bottom dot. This will be your
sewing stopping point. The top one is your stitching starting point.
Sew the zipper in place as close to the teeth of the zipper, but with out
sewing over them. **Note, if you have an invisible zipper presser foot
be sure to use it here. If you do not, use a regular zipper foot. I used just a
regular zipper foot to sew mine.**
5. After sewing on one side of the zipper, zip the zipper closed and
mark on the un-sewn side of the zipper where you stopped sewing on the sewn side.
6. Now, unzip the zipper again. Pin the zipper on the
opposite side of the dress with the right side of the zipper and dress
facing. Be careful not to twist the zipper.
Match up the top mark on the zipper to the top dot on the dress, pin
place. Next, pin the bottom of the zipper where you just marked onto the
bottom dot on the dress. Pin the rest of the zipper in place.
Before you baste and sew the zipper in place, recheck to make sure
that the zipper facing the correct way, not twisted, and will zip
closed. I have made this mistake way too many times...... all on one
dress, always check first. LOL
7. Stitch the zipper in place as close to the teeth of the zipper,
without sewing over them. Zip your zipper up to check to
see if you have sewn close enough to the teeth. If you see a spot or two that you have not, now is the time to resew those places.
8. Take the top of the zipper and fold it over the raw edge a bit Stitch in place.
9. To finish the side seam of the dress, pin the dress sides together
above and below the zipper with right sides together. Using your zipper
foot still, sew the top of the dress to the zipper with an 1/2" seam,
stopping at the dot on the dress. Sew the bottom part of the dress, again
using your zipper foot, starting at the bottom dot. Sew down 2", stop, change your presser foot back,
then continue stitching down the side seam to the bottom of the dress.
10. Press your seams open. Flip your dress and admire your
invisible zipper and seam!! Yep, that zipper really is hardly
seen.
11. If your zipper is too long like mine was, sew the zipper about 2"
below where the bottom of the zipper is sewn onto the dress. Cut off
the extra part of the zipper below this. Then, sew the bottom part of
the zipper that is hanging down (the two inches that is left)
onto the seam.
12. Take and pin the wear's right side together and stitch. Press seam open.
13. On the lining of the dress, on the wear's left side, pin the lining
together with right sides facing, but not pining the area between the
dots. These dots were used for the zipper on the main part of the
dress. Sew the seam starting at the bottom of the dress and stopping at
the first dot, then starting up again at the next dot and sewing up to
the top.
Press this side seam open and press the un-sewn area between the dots
with a 1/2" seam as well. This will be where the lining sews onto the
main dress zipper area. Next, sew the second side of the lining in same manner as main dress second side. Press seam open as well.
14. For View B Only - Place the dress lining over the main
dress with right sides together, pinning all the way around the neck
line. Sew with a 1/2" seam, trim the seam, turn and press well.
15. For View A Only - *** This is a modification I made to
the dress to fully line this version. This step in not in the pattern.
*** With dress right side out, slip the dress lining inside the dress. The dress lining's wrong side must be facing the main dress's wrong side. Pin
around neck line, then baste in place using a 3/8" seam.
16. Take you neck facing and pin it to the dress at the neck line
with right sides facing. Stitch around the neck facing using a 1/2" seam
allowance and also following the stitching guild for the V notch.
17. Carefully trim the neck line and V notch to 1/8".
18. Press the seam, as close to the V notch as you can, towards the facing.
19. Top stitch the seam allowance to the neck facing all the way around and as close to the V notch as you can.
20. Fold the neck facing to the inside of the dress and press well.
This is where we will leave off for today. Come back tomorrow so we can finish up our dresses!!
Sharon
* If you would
like to earn entries into the prize drawing, please make sure to submit
a photo of your completed Lesson Three to this Facebook Album by 12:00 noon CST, Monday, November 16th. If you
have any questions the Facebook Group is a great place to ask.
Happy Sewing,
Danielle Storm
www.whimsicalfabric.com
