Lining a sleeveless dress or bodice completely by machine

Hello lovely people! The making of this tutorial became a bit of an odyssey because I decided to draw the steps in illustrator, because my photos weren’t too good.

I love this technique and it can be used in any sleeveless bodice or sleeveless dress. By attaching the lining this way there is no hand sewing involved! This is also a nice way to finish a sleevelss dress if you prefer lining and/or want eliminate the need for facings or bias binding.

Disclaimer: Lining is a difficult thing to explain, so I want to apologize in advance if I don’t cover what you need to know! Also note: This tutorial does include some assumed knowledge, so have a read before you commit to using it!

 Heres the Burda-style pattern I used note: I did make a test garment and make a few modifications to it. The main one being, lowering the back of the neckline so that it slips over the head and does not require a zip.

There may be typos, but at this point I just want to add the images…because after 3 days of working on this tutorial I have had it for now! ;). Note: I may edit this tutorial at a later date if I find ways to make it better. I hope this helps someone! Xo Kath

OK now here goes…

 

Edit: I just realized that the picture for step 9. was misleading so I have removed it.

Step 9-10. Now (with wrong sides out/facing you) sew the left and right side seams of your dress together! (if you have any questions about this step please let me know).

 

Sewing notes: Butterick 5607

The dress is done (will post it tommorow) I thought I would share some notes and work in progress (sorry last boring post I PROMISE).

Here’s a sneak peek at the front of the dress:

Above: The zip is straight IRL I promise! it’s just how the fabric is lying, dammit!

Working with Butterick 5607 was good. I cut out a size 8 (for reference I am B 34/35 W 25-26 H 34 )

Recently my body has changed so I feel like I am fitting for a different one now. I don’t actually look any different, It’s just that clothing fits me differently. I guess it’s a symptom of walking everywhere and being low on money.

Above: Look at the SEXXAY styling from envelope it came in! 90s wedding/prom look! OOOH YEAH! (hehe sorry)

Above: My initial alterations. You can see the first lines where I took it in at the bust.

I drafted my own collar. I drew some VERY rough guides on my muslin of my desired collar because I wanted to get an idea of how it would look like.

I also drafted a wacky ‘all in-one facing’. I generally prefer linings to facings, but I am planing on wearing the dress during the Australian Christmas (summer) so I wanted it to be light to wear.

Oh yeah I also shortened the dress A LOT. I forgot to record how much I shortened it by (SO ANNOYING I should always record these things. It’s helpful!) 😦 Anyway I would guess I removed about 20-23cm or over 8-9 inches from the hem.

Fitting: I found myself removing some excess in tiny amounts at the upper bust, bellow the bust and a little at the waist (getting rid of the excess in the princess seams or panel lines).

I did not change the neckline at all. It’s a higher neckline, but happily it’s a comfortable/non-strangling one (a rarity among patterns with high necklines!).

I originally created two muslins/toiles for this project, but I ended up making more fitting adjustments on the dress after I made it in my fashion fabric as well. But after all the tedium I now have a pretty rocking basic a-line dress pattern :)!

I usually work with linings or bias binding, so I had to look up some info on pressing collars and facings in my trusty sewing book.

Note to self: When pressing facing. press down the middle of the seam first spreading them apart,trim/grade seams them press ALL the seams TOWARDS the facing (not towards the garment).

 Attaching facing or lining to a zipper opening by machine (how-to):

I know a lot of people know this technique already, but for those who don’t: I swear by it it!

Use a narrow sewing machine foot, move your sewing needle position, Sew over facing with wrong side out and zipper sandwiched in between. Then turn your facing the right way out and poke in cover with a pencil or point turner. NO pesky hand sewing (because I ain’t gonna live forever!)

Now come the pictures of how I attached the facing to the armhole without any hand sewing.

This is a weak attempt to remind myself of what I did.

I WISH I could explain this, but it seems impossible to explain without a video. The pictures are really just a reference for me for next time. :S

Pattern Alterations: How to remove gaping (or excess fabric) from neckline of a fitted dress

Above: don’t you hate this effect?

So as I mentioned in the last post a lot of commercial patterns (including butterick 5032) gape on me. There always seems to be excess fabric near the neckline that is lose. So in case anyone else has this problem here is how to eliminate it on the pattern.

You cant just take it out of the middle of the pattern because it will affect the grainline and the waist measurement so here is how to do it.

Note: I am obviously not a pattern maker or pro I am just self-taught so I don’t claim this is the best way. But anyway here is my way…

1. So after making a muslin or prototype try the dress on and pinch and pin out the excess fabric and measure how much you have pined out is the amount you want to take out. On one side of my bodice that was 2cms (making it a total of 4cms excess fabric, but 2cm is the amount we want to remove because we are only working with one side of the pattern).

2. Make a copy of your sewing pattern (So you still have the original pattern if the modifications are turn out to be incorrect)

I made a copy by putting Burda tracing paper and pattern weights over the bodice pieces and tracing it being sure to mark all notches and darts on the new pattern. Dont know why I photographed the original pattern over my traced one but um yeah should be the other way around.

3. Mark out a triangle, wedge/dart shape that starts at the neckline and runs all the way down touching the waist dart (or original dart). The distance of line I have drawn with red indicates the amount I want to remove from the pattern (in my case 2cms)

4. Cut along dashed lines. Where to cut is shown above as indicated by the green dashed lines in the picture above. where these darts meet in the middle cut leave 1-2 millimeters (or a tiny bit of paper) so that the pattern is not cut directly in half.

5. After you have cut into all the dashed lines move green dashed line so that it is touching the other thinner green line (that is adjacent to it but not dashed) and tape shut. and you have removed the excess. The waist dart (blue dashed line line) will have opened up more and now be bigger (this will NOT affect the waist measurement)

Below: temporary dart is now taped shut and bottom waist dart is larger resulting in the excess being removed.

5. Add paper to the now larger gap in the waist dart. If necessary add paper and blend and the neckline too.

6. Above is the new gape-free pattern piece. I used the same method to remove excess in the back bodice pattern piece too.

The easiest refashion EVER and other neat discoveries

This is a little quirky and I know its not everyones style.

But I am all about quirky style (well OK not the Lady Gaga I-wear-meat-or-just-underwear-in-public-level of weird) but a little kookyness is good!

Today while I was getting dressed I noticed I had a shirt in my wardrobe that no longer fit me and the print was a little OTT for  a whole shirt .

Perhaps its not a big revelation but I cut off the collar and now the collar is a frivolous fashion accessory that I love! It reminds me of those miu miu collars from a few years back…Wow I just discovered a tutorial here I am 3 years behind haha never mind.

Also I remember coveting these collars in 2010 when one of my favorite fashion bloggers made and wore them! She is adorable. Look at how she styled the collar here I love her colourful retro style!

Anyway here is my tutorial (I realize it may be silly to give a tutorial since its super easy/obvious)

1. Find a shirt you no longer fit or you no longer like (it has to have a 2 piece collar)

2.  Cut just below the stitching line of the collar stand.

Volia! insta-fun collar!

The container I am holding is from Daiso store in Chatswood, Sydney, Australia (it came in a set with 2 other animal contaniers). It’s from a Japanese shop where everything instore is $2.80 an item.

If you are a horder of have no storage space perhaps you should enter with cation. Such a great shop for cute/silly/kitchy items though :)!

OK so another thing I am excited about. Today I bought a small cookbook holder that makes a fantastic stand for my Samsung Galaxy Tab.

Yay! Now I can watch Gertie’s Starlet Jacket Course on Craftsy while I sew! Actually  I recently enrolled in almost all the craftsy sewing courses (thats where all my money goes…)

Those of you who have ipads or galaxy tabs you would know how expensive the proper stands are and this one does the job nicely for $4. This is so excellent also because I don’t have room for a TV in my sewing room.

Edit: I wrapped some cut pieces of rubber bands around the metal slats of the cookbook holder (where my tab rests on), that way it has a bit of traction and wont slide off.

OK perhaps this is the most trivial thing ever but if you are an Aussie and you hate cheesy tissue box designs with pastel butterflies and that sort of thing: The Reject Shop has leopard-print tissue boxes at the moment for $1.

I love leopard print so I was sold!

 

Now If only my sewing room wasn’t so cluttered I could get in and do some actual sewing!