Style no.1 ‘Satin collar dress’
January 23, 2007
BEFORE YOU START:
Check through kit, get to know each piece of cut cloth. (see DIAGRAM 1)
Set your iron to WOOL setting.
Press each pattern piece to get rid of packaging creases.
THINGS YOU NEED TO NOW:
Smiley face sticker means that IT IS the RIGHT SIDE of the cloth. Not RIGHT as in LEFT, but RIGHT as in RIGHT SIDE-right? Thought so. Good. Onwards…
NOW YOU’RE READY:
Thread your machine with your desired ‘Satin collar’ colour. Machine stitch length should be about 2.5.
1. Peel away the paper backing from the Bondaweb and place the ‘bondaweb piece’ (b) onto the centre front area of the dress front (a) then place the ‘satin button stand piece’ (c) on top of the bondaweb. The bondaweb acts as an adhesive between the satin and the wool. Press the satin so that it is glued to the dress front-this helps keep it steady when you sew it in place. Carefully stitch the satin onto the dress, keeping your stitch about 2mm from the edge of the satin. (see DIAGRAM 2)
2. Pin the pairs of ‘satin collar pieces’ (d) together, making sure that you have the RIGHT SIDES together. Stitch around the curved edge only, the stitch should be 1cm from the edge. Next, carefully cut the spare seam allowance back to 5mm, this helps when turning it inside out to make the finished collar. Turn the collar inside out and carefully press edge so that it lies flat in an even curve. You can top stitch this if you like, 2mm from the edge will match your stitch on the button stand. (see DIAGRAM 3)
Thread your machine with your desired ‘Main dress colour’ thread. Machine stitch length should be about 2.5.
3. Lay the ‘back dress pieces’ (e) on a large flat surface, and position the ‘front piece’ (a) so that the shoulder seams meet along the seam allowance, there’s a notch to show this point. Pin the RIGHT SIDES together and sew them with a 1.5cm seam allowance. REMOVE PINS AND PRESS SEAMS FLAT. (see DIAGRAM 4)
4. (see DIAGRAM 5) Carefully place the collars onto the neckline and pin them in place, so that the neck edges are equal and the collars meet at the CF (centre front). Stitch them into place, 1cm from the edge, remove pins and press.
5. Take the ‘satin bias binding strip’ (f) and pin one end to the RIGHT SIDE of the back neckline, gently sew in onto the neckline so that the stitch line is 1cm from the edge (see diagram 5), make sure when you reach the other end of the neckline that you have folded the bias binding closed.
6. Carefully cut the spare seam allowance back to 5mm. (see DIAGRAM 6)
7. Then fold the bias strip over the raw edge and pin it closed. You can then hand sew it neatly to finish the neckline. (see DIAGRAM 7) . HANDY HINT… When hand sewing the binding closed, try to catch the back of the machine stitch visible on the WRONG SIDE of the opening, it’s the back of the machine stitch you used to sew the bias strip onto the RIGHT SIDE!
8. Now, starting at the OPENING NOTCH pin the RIGHT SIDES of the CB (centre back) seams together. Sew them all the way to the hem, REMOVE PINS AND PRESS SEAMS FLAT.
9. (see DIAGRAM 8.) Take one of the ‘bias binding strips’ (f), pin it onto the RIGHT SIDE of the BACK NECK OPENING and gently sew in place like earlier, taking care to go around the direction change at bottom of opening.Then fold the end of the bias strip over to hide the raw edge and pin it closed. You can then hand sew it neatly to finish the neckline as before. PRESS THE BIAS EDGE TO NEATEN.
10. Starting at the underarm seam, pin the S/S (side seams) together and sew all the way to the hem. REMOVE PINS AND PRESS SEAMS FLAT.
11. Starting at the underarm seam, use the bias binding strips to finish the armholes. SAME TECHNIQUE AS BEFORE. Make sure you fold in the bias strip ends when you get back around to the armhole seam where you started. Fold over the bias and hand stitch them closed as before. PRESS THE BIAS EDGE TO NEATEN.
12. Finally, fold the hem edge over 4cm and press flat. Pin this fold in place before you hand stitch the hem closed and regular intervals of 2cm (see DIAGRAM 9), taking care to only catch the BACK WEAVE of the dress panels.
13. PRESS THE HEM LIGHTLY. Finally sew a hook & eye onto th ereverse of the bias binding between the two back collars… Spare fabric and covered buttons are included, however the dress looks great with or without buttons. You’ve now finished your dress.
