Monday, August 24, 2009

Simplicity 3775 - Floral dress w/ tummy ruching

I had to sew one final sleeve on the morning we left for west Texas, but I did get it done. This reminded me of a certain someone I grew up with that was always finishing her sewing projects right before we had to be somewhere. But I won't name names.

I completely love the design of this dress. V-necks elongate the body (according to Stacy and Clinton) and tummy ruching hides a multitude of sins. I don't care how thick or thin you feel, every woman, especially those who've had babies, appreciates some camouflage in that area.

The fabric is a thin polyester knit bought from Gorgeousfabrics.com last fall. I was waiting for the perfect fabric for this pattern that I've had in the stash forever. It needed to be a pretty thin fabric for all that gathering to remain flattering. I also thought the floral pattern of this cut small enough for a busy design.

Here is the neckline close-up. It does reveal the slightest bit of cleavage. However, the Modesty Police (aka my hubby) didn't raise any eyebrows, so I thought it safe to wear to an older-crowd family function.

The drafting of this pattern was wonderful. The tummy ruching is actually a two piece construction, with the outer fabric being long and thin and then pulled width-wise and sewn onto the shorter and wider inner fabric.

I used french seams for almost all of the construction. You don't have to do this - knits don't ravel. I just happen to like neat insides, so I spend the extra time. I slip-stitched the neckline binding down on the inside instead of the machine stitching as per the instructions. I also used bias tape to cover the sleeve seams.

For knit dresses with cap sleeves, I like to cut the sleeves double, sew together and understitch on the inside. It's a lining for the sleeve except you use the same fabric. This eliminates any wonky stitches from having to topstitch on knits, and also gives it a nice clean finish when there's no other topstitching present. You can see the same technique used on this dress.

Here are the french seams on the top, middle and bottom sections. I always alternate pressing them to one side or the other, even when there's only two sections present. This causes less bulk and it lays smoother on the body.

In other sewing news, I started on this pink top yesterday from McCalls 5809. I was suppose to match the gray capris made earlier in the month and an orphan white linen jacket. Granted the fabric is not my favorite - no give and resists pressing - but finding the right shade of pink at the end of summer is no easy task. The fit is A-W-E-F-U-L!!! Droops were hanging over the front crossing bodice, even after I took a SMA. I guess I should be happy I got this trial run with the pattern before I cut into my wardrobe fabric I planned to use with it as well. But I'm bummed about this cute design. I had such hopes for it.

I'm not sure what's up next. I'll have to look through my humongous stash of projects and pick something that can be finished before the first of September.

25 comments:

  1. Your dress is beautiful, and looks so nice on you. As always, you do a very professional job of finishing.

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  2. Gorgeous dress! I had problems with that McCall's top, too. It took a lot of work to get it to fit properly. First I had to lengthen the upper bodice by 3 inches to get the band to sit under my bust, and then took in under the arms and had to add a center back seam, taking out over 2 inches at the back of the neck to get the top to not gape. I did ultimately end up with a wearable top, but it was a huge pain in the you-know-what to get there.

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  3. The dress gorgeous.The neckline is just at the right height to elongate your neck and add just a hint feminine beauty without leaving you feeling like you have to keep adjusting yourself. The hint to good fitting clothing is to be able to forget you are wearing it.The ruching adds a interesting detail, and i agree doesn't matter what size you are you can still worry about certain aspects of your body. That's why smart designers come up with ideas to hide your flaws. The finishing details are excellent, I have read on many blogs that one of the differences of something looking homemade or professional is the finishing details. You did a great job. Well done and your blog is a fantastic read :o)

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  4. Very nice! I like it when you show so many pictures of the construction. This dress is really cute and looks like it would be comfortable. Cute fabric, too.

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  5. That is a very flattering dress. The tummy ruching is fabulously done. Appreciate the detail of the cap sleeve finishing. It simple and looks effective. Will be trying that out if a pattern calls for something like it in future.

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  6. The dress is gorgeous and very flattering.

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  7. "This reminded me of a certain someone I grew up with that was always finishing her sewing projects right before we had to be somewhere. But I won't name names."

    Hey!!! You wouldn't be referring to moi now would you??? ~smile~

    Very pretty dress. Sew summery!

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  8. Very well done and very flattering.
    I did not know it was possible to use french seams on knits. What stitch do you use for them? slight zig-zag?

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  9. Lovely dress. If I thought my tummy would look that flat in this I would make it right now! I agree that is my favourite sleeve treatment fro cap sleeve knits too.

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  10. Since you mentioned you were going to make this dress I have been eagerly awaiting a photo - and it looks fantastic. I have made this dress in the round-neck version but now that I've seen yours I definitely want to make it again with the v-neck. I love your fabric and finishing techniques.

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  11. Beautiful dress. Love the fabric. I have a serger but love to use my sewing machine on knits better. Maybe I need to get better acquainted with the serger but I like the construction with french seams better. With a serger, everything stretches out too much. It is probably the operator! I, also, double the cap sleeves! Nice touch.

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  12. This is a very pretty dress - I love your photos of the insides - so neat and tidy - thanks for sharing and inspiring us!

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  13. Gorgeous. Now this one has to go on my list too.

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  14. Love the dress! It is so flattering and such a lovely shape. I love what you do with seam allowances on the inside of garments- I wish I had the patience to make mine so neat!

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  15. Your dress is so very pretty! Thanks for the tip about cap sleeves! I really want to try that out now.

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  16. Amanda as always your dress is as beautiful inside as out. This dress is so flattering .

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  17. Love your version of this dress. I've made this one twice, myself - but need to the v-neck version.

    Congrats on being the featured PR member today!

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  18. What a very pretty dress, and beautifully made. Lovely.

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  19. Fabulous! As well made on the inside as on the outside!

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  20. Hi Amanda. I have made McCalls 5809 twice now. The first one was too tight so finished it and gave it to a friend who is much smaller than me. I then made another in a size 14 and it fits just beautifully. Have you still got this wadder? If so, can you overlap the two a little more and eliminate some of the gathering to make up for the extra overlap? This may help the front a bit.

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  21. I found your blog post by googling "sewing a ruched dress" and this is the second time I've seen this pattern now, but sadly, I couldn't find it on the Simplicity website :( A couple weeks ago I drafted/stitched up a similar style dress but didn't know how to do the ruching properly and it looks terrible. Are both layers stitched to the skirt top? Or is the ruched layer "floating"? I really want to get back to fixing up my dress!

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