Fabric
When choosing pillowcases or fabric put your hand under the fabric if you can see your hand outline fairly clearly than that fabric is too light!! It breaks my heart to receive a dress with all the love that went into it and that dress is made out of fabric that is too light. If you already have fabric but it is too light then use it to make bias tape. Or if you have a wonderful antique pillowcase and the fabric is too light use another pillowcase under it as a lining... cut the tops and armholes at the same time and sew them as if they were one pillowcase.
Backstitching
Always... always did I say always... yes always backstitch at the ends of the bias tape... and especially where the bias tape joins the top of the dress (both back and front) and at the top of the pockets.
Elastic
We have found that making the elastic one inch longer for the back casing of the dress makes for a better fit. And that makes sense when you think about the muscles in the back.
Straps
Please make sure that your straps are long enough. But on baby dresses do not make them too long (choking hazard) We recommend:
Baby 27" x 2
XS 34" x 2
Small 34" x 2
Medium 36" x 2
They are sew cute and they add sew much to dresses... check and see if your sewing machine or serger has a ruffling foot... it makes these cute accents go sew much more quickly. Now this may seem obvious but I must tell you have have been sewing for years and didn't realize that I had a ruffling foot. Now it takes me less than 5 minutes to add a ruffle to my dresses.
Back Seam
When making a fabric tube I often put the seam in the center back because it just looks more like a regular dress with the seam there. Whether you put the seam in the back or the side please make sure that it is a serged seam or that you finish that seam off in some way... zigzag the seam after straight stitching it or french seam it. If you just straight stitch the seam it will ravel and that dress will not last long!!
If you have any other suggestions please put them in the comments box. I always love hearing of new ideas that help to make our dresses!!
Great suggestions!
ReplyDeleteAnd my mother always over emphasized the back-stitching when teaching me to sew....now I do the same with my girls! :) It really does make a difference though!
Thanks for sharing!
And thinking that these dresses might be washed in a river or on a rock means making them sturdy!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tips, Suzanne. I am (finally) planning to make some dresses. I didn't even think about whether or not the fabric would be too thin! Should we add a lining, or just use other fabric?
ReplyDeleteYou can do either one... if you already have the fabric go ahead and line it but just be careful not to buy light material...
ReplyDeleteI just shared this on my facebook page. Really helpful. Thank you. I'm following you now too! x
ReplyDeleteIt is not difficult to learn how to sew. The only difficulty in learning this skill is to learn how to make clothes pattern as well as taking body measurements. After you have learned these, learning how to sew is very easy. Learning how to sew is a fun activity that you can do as a hobby or as a source of income.
ReplyDeleteSteph... either way is fine... add a lining or just use another fabric!!
ReplyDeleteHere is a hint for long lasting pattern pieces:
ReplyDeleteRepurpose plastic ringed binder covers. They usually are clear and easy for transferring details and they last forever. Use for pockets, armhole patterns, etc.
You can repurpose ringed binder covers for pattern making. Most are clear and easy to transfer pattern markings onto and they last forever. Perfect for the small pieces of the armhole pattern or pocket pattern.
ReplyDelete