I'm going to make a dress, it'll be fine, right?

[BlackAmericanoNoSugar]

I do sew a lot because I make quilts, so I'm ahead in that regard, but the last time that I made a garment was a nightdress at school which was <cough> over 40 years ago.

I choose a 'confident beginner' pattern to have an easy start on sewing clothes (pic below) but I'm also planning to hack it a bit because I can't do anything the easy way. I'm going to change the neckline to scoop neck and also put some pinch pleats into the bodice to look a bit like the top of the jumpsuit. The fabric I've ordered is quite similar to the one in the pattern photo.

While I'm waiting for the fabric to arrive I am binge watching sewing tutorials on Craftsy and YouTube, because I'm a natural researcher.

Pattern is Gabby from Fibre Mood thefoldline.com/product/fibre-mood-gabby-dress/ and it's very much my hot summer's day style.

Actually, I have some quilt backing that I bought on impulse without an actual quilt that needs to be backed. Do you think it would be a bit, um, wild? It's 108" wide so I would make the dress across the width of the fabric rather than the length. Quilt fabric is pretty stable so it shouldn't matter that I'm going perpendicular to the grain line. I wouldn't do the pinch pleat detail because, frankly, there is enough going on in the fabric as it is.

And I'm just going to keep talking to myself until someone replies.

You'll be fine! That's a lovely and not too tricky pattern.

I would make a wearable toile in your quilt backing i.e. a first go to check the fit etc. which, hopefully, will work well enough to go into your wardrobe. I always do this with a new pattern.

If you want to add pinch pleats as a decorative feature rather than to change the shape of the dress then you'll need to slash and spread the pattern itself so that you don't end up removing all the space in the bust.

By the way, with Fibremood make sure you check they have added the seam allowances - they won't necessarily be on there!

Everyone who has ever sewed dresses made their first one first. So go for it OP!

I'm expecting to only have the cutting line on the pattern, I bought it from thefoldline.com so it's a pdf and they also do a print on A0 and they say "Note: Seam allowances are included in this pattern. The copy shop file we print for you shows the cutting lines only (not cutting lines and stitching lines) to make it easier to know what size to cut out."

I don't think I would use my quilt backing as a test piece, it was expensive, about €90 worth. The fabric that I've ordered that looks a bit like the fabric in the pattern photo would be better to test with as it was only around €8/m, so less than €40 altogether.

You’ll be fine. If you don’t want to make a toile, it’s worth taking a few measurements and see how those compare between your body and the pattern.

For a pattern like this, I’d check the distance between the shoulder seams as that’s pretty much the only place where this pattern needs to fit well. The other thing is to make sure that the bust dart ends up in the right place (not too high, or too low).

Good luck 🙂

How can you tell whether the bust darts are in the right place, should they be more or less centred on my boobs or a bit underneath?

The dart should point towards the bust apex, basically the nipple, but not go over it. It’s fine if it’s a little bit off, but I’ve sewn up patterns before where the dart is a couple of inches too low and that looks really weird as that creates a rounded shape where there’s no need to have one.

This explains more:

www.threadsmagazine.com/project-guides/fit-and-sew-tops/qa-where-to-place-bust-dart-points

Thanks PureGrit

Make sure you wash and dry the fabric using the method you intend to wash and dry the garment. You need to ensure that all shrinkage happens prior to garment construction. Fabric does tend to shrink more in length than width so this is particularly important given that you will be using the fabric in the wrong orientation.

I would also prewash the toile fabric - yes I know it's only a toile but some of my toiles have ended up wardrobe staples.

Yay good luck! I started sewing in lockdown, firstly adjusting clothing after weight changes, then with the encouragement of the very experienced ladies on the stitch and bitch threads graduated to making actual clothes and I'm hooked! Feel free to come on over and share your triumphs and tribulations. My advice would be not to skip any vocabulary that you don't understand. Google and YouTube are so amazing, I could never have learned without them.

Bust darts too high is also awful - I ALWAYS have to drop them loads. But a loose fitting dress like that should be fairly easy to fit. Point of the dart should be approx 2.5 to 3.5 cm away from your bust apex, not right on it, and pointing to it as a pp said.
In terms of grain, perpendicular to the grain is fine, there's just less give that way so if it was a fitted dress I'd compensate for that in the bodice by adding a tiny bit more ease. But that dress has loads, so it won't matter at all. It's only when you're on the bias or slightly off grain that it'll distort.
I LOVE the quilt back fabric, make both! Garnett sewing is so addictive. You'll love it!

Oh stay stitch your neckline as soon as you've cut it! It's so worth it to stop the curved or bias bits from distorting!

As it happens the stars seem to be aligning for me. I am going for a crafting weekend next month with a few friends and another friend has just decided to join us. She is a very experienced dressmaker so if I have any problems I will be able to just bring it all with me for a bit of help. I'm planning to do a load of quilting so I'll have my sewing machine with me anyway.

Of course you can :) Sewing is easy when you have a pattern. Just read each section a few times to make sure you understand it before you start.

PSA: sewing clothes is addictive. You have been warned!

Truth. But it also kicks your arse sometimes.

@NutellaEllaElla Also true 😂 I work with 40s and 50s patterns with very scant instructions and often find myself extremely confused.

@BlackAmericanoNoSugar do you mind me asking where the jumpsuit pattern is from? It's so lovely!

It's not a pattern, it's something that popped up on my Pinterest feed as an advert. It was being sold by a different company every time the advert popped up and all of them were dodgy as fuck unfortunately. I wouldn't ever wear a jumpsuit anyway, but I did like the pleat detail so I plan to hack it into a dress.

If I was going to make a jumpsuit that looked like the one in the photo then a hack of a pattern like this might work. jumpsuit I would never make a jumpsuit though I hate having to totally undress in order to pee, plus this pattern has a zip at the back and I have poor shoulder mobility so I would almost certainly end up wetting myself.