Stitch and bitch #7. Hanging by a thread

@Jins thanks for the dress pic. Definitely not a 6yr olds dress 😂 But yes I see what you're doing with the elasticated piece. Fingers crossed it works, it's a great fabric

@Jins same. I’m not big on gathers and frills but this looks really interesting. I fell asleep last night trying to work out how I’d do it 😂
I can’t buy it though, from an ethical standpoint I refuse to buy from Shein (I’m not perfect by any stretch but I’m trying to avoid polyester, not use Shein or temu, and try to sew my stash before buying)

Sewing my own clothes has made me so much more aware of the work that goes into it, and that someone, or multiple someone’s are being exploited when a t-shirt costs under £5.

@SBAM I’ve had a go at recreating it with satin bias tape and that’s the way to go I think. I suspect they will have used hemming tape to secure it

I’ll dig some out and see what it looks like

@Jins i was envisaging strips folded, stitched and turned through like you would for a belt, the top one would finish the raw edge and the rest would be laid over the fabric, because I think that would leave a clean finish on the reverse too.

I found it on the website but no pictures of the insides - don’t they know how helpful that would be!

Yes that’s going to result in a cleaner finish @SBAM but it’s shein so who knows 🤷‍♀️

Is it just on the back? That would make it easier

Finally ordered a walking foot and an invisible zip foot after months of vacillating. I'm on A/L but have a heavy cold plus it's raining so I think I might attempt a top or perhaps even a new pair of jeans.

Zips are my downfall! So good luck with that @dubyalass . I hope the cold clears up quickly.

Thanks! It’s quite nice to have a self-indulgent day of not doing much. I really struggle with zips too; getting the zip back up past the needle is my biggest issue. Need to watch a few videos on it.

So I’ve abandoned altering the charity shop pattern and have studied the first few chapters in the hard text book! With the help of my technical drawing husband I’ve sort of managed to create a bodice block. Now going to have a go at making it up in old sheet fabric

I second everything @Jins said about the floaty voile as I have just used some very fine cotton voile to line and underline something. Straight stitches all the way, use gutermann extra fine if you can get hold of it and be extra careful trimming loose threads (there will be millions) and unpicking because it will move all over the place and is quite easy to nick. I couldn't even overlock mine because there was no combination of differential and tension that didn't instantly gather it!

And mine Didn't have the complication of being crinkly!

Zips are my nemesis too. I did a 1 day course at abakhan but all I can remember is that she was all about hand tacking in place first so it doesn't shift around while you're sewing on the machine. I'm too lazy for that on long zips so I use that double sided magic tape.

My invisible zips aren't good though, but I don't practice and actively avoid doing them.

I've got an invisible zip foot and my game has resolutely stayed in the 'could do a lot better' zone

Lucy from Sew Essential has done a video which helps but it's the whole moving the zip up and down midway through that always gets me!

I haven’t seen a zip for decades. I don’t wear clothes with zips so haven’t needed to.

I was at my machine earlier and spotted the bobbin of turquoise shirring elastic. So I’ve shirred in the ditch rather than stitched for a 4” length each side and that’s made a huge difference to the dress. I may get away with that but will make a final decision when I get back from my week away

@NutellaEllaElla can we see a picture? If it’s pulling how I think it is then it sounds to me as if you need to size down and do a full bust adjustment. Usually drag lines point to where you need more fullness.

The back shoulder pulling could be a result of not enough room in the front for the bust, so I’d say tackle one thing at a time.
Without getting overly personal, is the dart pointing at your bust apex? If it’s too high then the fullest part of the shirt won’t be where the fullest part of the bust is and that could be causing all the issues with drag lines on the front and back shoulder. This is a simple guide to lowering the dart.

If you’re happy that the shirt should fit from the finished measurements compared to your measurements then I’d just look at the dart position. If you think you might need a little extra room then try a full bust adjustment first and then look at dart position to finesse the fit.

I don’t know I’m afraid. I tend to reposition the dart while doing my full bust adjustment by keeping the feet, moving the bust point, then doing the lines to do the bust adjustment but I don’t know if that’s the proper way to do things.

I wonder if the sleeve hole could do with being a bit larger as it seems quite high in the armpit.
The bagginess in the back seems to be down to that pleat opening out. A good iron would sort that out, or a stitch or two to hold it in place a bit lower down.
The bust dart points a bit too high.