I love it when I find a great pattern, especially when I
want to make every variation possible! I can honestly say that I have never made or even owned a maxi dress… until now!
The great thing about this pattern (Simplicity 1355) is the wide variety of
fabrics that you can use. Cotton Jersey and spandex blends are recommended. I
decided to use our kelly-green-mod-diamonds cotton jersey.
I started with the bodice and really enjoyed joining the
front and back facing. The iron-on interface works beautifully with this
fabric. When I made the straps, I did panic that they may be too short but the
back part of the bodice does come up quite high, so they are a perfect fit. Crossing
over the back part of the bodice was also nice and easy but do make sure you
baste these layers together before attaching it to the skirt. If you are
worried about the back 'v' shape coming down too low, you could always add a
small popper at the very end.
The pattern also mentions understitching as close to the
seam as possible, around the front and back facing. I must confess that I found
several very useful YouTube videos to remind me what understitching was but it
was so straightforward. It really does help to keep the facing from popping
out, when you are wearing it!
The skirt was so easy to sew together, even with the added
pockets (which I love). I then pinned the bodice to the skirt.
Once you have sewn the bodice and skirt together (making
sure you stitch in at least a 2cm seam). You need enough space to feed through
your elastic. To form the waistline casing, the pattern mentions pressing the
skirt seam up and pressing under 6mm on the raw edge. This really isn’t
necessary on cotton jersey, as it doesn’t fray.
The split was a dream to sew up and I used my twin needle
along the hem.
The belt was simply two lengths of fabric stitched together
at the ends and folded in half. Once these have been stitched right sides
together, you can leave a gap in the centre to pull it through. Left to my own
devices, I would probably have left the gap at the end of the belt and then
struggled to turn it through!
Overall, I am very pleased with the finished dress and even happier with my choice of fabric. Now all I need is some sunshine!
Of
course, now I want to make several, including the lovely jumpsuit!
In case you hadn't heard, the Great British Sewing Bee is back (it started yesterday so if you missed it click HERE for the BBC I-player link).
There is also a great introduction to all the contestants HERE.
We're sad that the lovely Matt Chapple who was guest of honour at our opening (click HERE for more pictures) will be handing over his crown but want to wish the best of luck to everyone involved this year!
Who are you rooting for?
For more ideas, patterns and tutorials, follow Girl Charlee's board on Pinterest.
Don't forget to sign up for our email updates to keep up to date with all our New Fabrics, Sales, Giveaways and all our Knitty News! The sign up box is top left of the blog.
Happy Sewing!
~ Jen & The Girl Charlee Team
No comments:
Post a Comment