After I made
Myra's dress, I wanted to make some tweaks to the sleeve, so I decided to make a couple more dresses. The first was for Myra's BFF, N.
Aren't they sweet? Both girls were really excited to have matching dresses. N even made the girls necklaces to match their new dresses. So cute!
In the original sleeve, I had a flounce that encircled the armscye. It was inserted just like a typical sleeve. But I really didn't like the little ruff of fabric that created under the arm, which you can see on Myra on the left.
I posted my displeasure on Instagram, and Amanda (of
Kitschy Coo and the creator of the
Skater Dress) suggested adding the flounce at the cap of the sleeve only and hemming the lower armscye curve. And it was perfect.
The girls are happy with their dresses and I love how sweet the sleeve makes this dress.
I think the tweak to the lower edge really made the sleeve sit nicely and flutter better.
I have a little more testing, grading and photographing to do, but if I can get this all tidied up, I'm hoping to give all of you a chance to add a flutter sleeve to your own Skater Dresses. Stay tuned!
Today's Tip
I love the way the bands for the neckline and sleeves on this pattern are put in flat and then seamed together. I think the biggest challenge with this method is in the seaming. It's so easy to get a little jog or mismatch where the edges of the band come together, but a simple trick will keep your edges perfectly aligned.
Basting before you sew is one really great way to make sure this happens, but instead of basting with a needle and thread, I like to use glue.
I use a regular washable glue stick. You can get glue sticks made for fabric, but they are about 4 times the price. So, I glue the seam allowances together prior to sewing them. I also use this trick to keep my seams aligned when sewing matchpoints together. It only takes a minute or two for the glue to form a tacky enough bond to hold together while stitching, but if you're impatient, a touch with your iron will dry it quickly. Once your edges are glued, just sew as your normally would!
7 comments:
What a great idea to make the girls matching dresses - I bet they absolutely love them! Thanks for the tip on the washable glue, I'm too cheap to buy the fabric glue but wasn't sure if the normal glue would hold well enough
Thanks for the glue tips! I really hope it works out with the flutter sleeve, because I really, really want to do it and it would make my life so much easier to have it all mapped out for me already. (I was going for the longest sentence possible there.)
I love, love the dresses. I have some brown with gold skulls knit that I want to use to make this dress for one of my girls and this sleeve is ideal for summer here.
By the way, they are such lucky girls to have each other- sharing dresses and necklaces!
The hemmed armhole looks so smooth! Thanks so much for diversifying the Skater Dress :)
I use glue too! I thought I was the only one. Great minds think alike ;)
The girls look so cute in their dresses.
Thanks for the tip about the glue.
I use glue stick for my zippers What a great idea for matching up those pesky seams!!
Cute dresses! I know the girls love being dressed alike. Doesn't it make you happy you can sew for friends too!
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