Whimsy Couture Sewing TutorialWhimsy Couture Sewing TutorialWhimsy Couture Sewing TutorialWhimsy Couture Sewing Tutorial

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Foreword: in the making of my patterns I used pictures from different projects so please don’t be disturbed if the fabric prints don’t match ☺

These are the pieces you should now have in front of you:

Please set up your sewing machine for straight stitching with a seam allowance of ¼ inch unless otherwise stated. Start with the thin strips of fabric to make your ties. Determine how long you want them to be and if you prefer to tie them into a bow or rather into knots on each side. For the knots you need them shorter. I described that in the sizing chart. Here is a trick to have it easier once you turn your strips inside out. Take a safety pin and a longer piece of thread. Double the thread and knot it. Insert the safety pin and position it as shown into the fabric strip:

Now sew around the strip and leave the other small end open. Start on the small end you see in the pictures above. Trim off the corners diagonally to prevent bulk once turned around.

This is how your strip should like now with the thread peeking out. The safety pin is inside the strip now. Grab it and guide it carefully towards the open end. Make sure not to pull very hard otherwise the thread might come loose. Turn your strip inside out until the safety pin comes out. Cut all threads and lay safety pin aside.

Trim off corners diagonally and press the strip. Repeat with other strip and lay both ties aside. To make the bodice pieces: Take the two pieces to make the front bodice and pin sides and top edge. Leave the curved bottom edge open (top edge is curved more than bottom edge). Don’t sew the back bodice piece yet!

Sew around all three sides and trim off all corners.

This is the front bodice sewn with corners trimmed:

Take the back bodice piece and determine the distance for the straps placement. Please find the guide in the sizing chart.

Once you know where to place the straps lift up the front side and place the strap as shown:

Place the other strap and flip the front side of the bodice piece back into place and pin the straps.

Sew all thee sides leaving the bottom open. Trim off both corners as shown:

Now you can turn both bodice pieces around (inside out) and press. Turn both bodice pieces inside out and press. Next step is to make the skirt part. If your dress is going to have a border on the bottom hem or a ruffle please do the following steps:

INSTRUCTION of ADDING ruffles to your skirt part: If you like to add a ruffle to your top or dress please do that BEFORE you sew front and back sides together! Cut a fabric strip of the width you want your ruffle to be. Take in consideration if you like to serge the hemline or fold it over and sew it. Cut your ruffle strip twice the length of the width of your dress. Easier said, if your dress pieces measure 35 inches in width cut a strip of 70 inches in length times two. Now 70 inches are longer than most fabric’s width. In order to achieve such a length please sew strips together until you reach the desired length. Then set your sewing machine to gather stitch which would be probably this setting “tension rod between 1-0” and “stitch length 5”. When sewing your ruffle strips to be gathered later on position the needle about ¼ inch from the edge. Sew along. Cut thread and start pulling one end of the thread to create the gather effect. It’s helpful to secure one end with a pin.

Repeat with second strip of fabric. Then pin your ruffle onto the bottom of each dress piece. Make sure to put right sides together. Adjust ruffle according to width to cover the entire garment pieces.

While removing pins one after one (some sewing machines don’t like sewing over pins) sew along the edge and make sure to sew over the gathering thread leaving just a little space. That way it won’t show on the right side of the dress. Serge/overcast edges, topstitch if desired and continue with finishing the dress.

Instructions of ADDING a BORDER: Please do this BEFORE you sew front and backsides together! For adding a border to your dress cut two strips of fabric the same length as your dress. Choose the width freely and double the measurements. Let’s say if you like your border to be 3 inches wide cut your fabric strips 6.5 inches. Then fold over the two strips (normally you should be able to cut a long strip from your fabric and cut it in half after you ironed it). Let the bottom edge meet the top edge and press. Cut it to the width of your dress pieces. Now lay the border with cut edges onto your dress piece as shown right here:

Sew along with an allowance of about ¼ inch. Serge/overcast edges of both dress pieces. Topstitch if desired. Now you may go back and continue sewing. To gather your skirt part please do the following steps: Take now one skirt part and set your machine to gather stitch which should be this setting “tension to 0-1 or 0.5 and stitch width to 5). Position the top edge of your skirt part to get ready for sewing. Start at about 0.5 inch from the left side and sew very close to the top edge which should be about ¼ inch. Sew along until you reach the right side of the skirt part. Start gathering by pulling on one thread until you reach about the middle of the skirt part and then pull on the other side. Once you reached the width of the bodice as shown below please knot both thread ends to prevent the gathers to loosen.

Flip the skirt part over and align the gathered edge with the open edge of the bodice piece and pin.

Sew with a seam allowance of 1/3 inch. Sew carefully OVER the gathered stitch making sure it won’t show on the outside. Serge or zigzag stitch the raw seam. Topstitch if desired.

Repeat this with the back side. Now you should have both sides ready to be sewn together! Align both pieces carefully starting at the bodice and pin. Sew from top to bottom and serge/zigzag stitch raw seams. Repeat with other side.

If you haven’t added a border or ruffle to the bottom hem you may now need to finish your bottom hem. Fold down the hem to about ½ inch and press. Fold down once more and press. Sew all the way around close to the inner edge. To finish off the side seams please topstitch them and tucking the loose hanging threads in from the inside. It also makes a smoother appearance and prevents the bodice inside seams from rubbing against the skin. You may also topstitch the bottom side seams to achieve the same nice appearance. To make buttonholes: Lay your almost finished garment infront of you and mark where the buttonholes will go. You will find the space between the buttonholes also on your SIZING CHART. Mark the center of your garment with a pin and take your ruler or measuring tape and place it over the pin that marks the center. Now measure the width and mark the spots with a fabric marker. Please make sure to go down about 1 inch from the TOP of the bodice. These

marks have to be very exact since that’s where the buttonholes with be sewn in. The pictures below shows you that I needed to mark the width to 6.5 inches and I have my middle pin placed at 3 ¼ inches. This has to be exactly in the middle of the garment. (the picture below is from a bodice with a straight top edge-your bodice has the curved top edge)

Set your sewing machine to buttonhole and choose a buttonhole opening of about ¾ inch. You can easily insert a button with this circumference if your buttonhole attachment has a space for a button. If not just measure to sew the buttonhole ¾ inch. It’s important to sew the buttonholes at the SAME height which should be ideally 1 inch from the TOP of the bodice. Once sewn please open the buttonholes with your seam ripper. A pair of scissors would also work but be careful not to cut any threads of the buttonholes. Loop the straps through the buttonholes and YOU ARE DONE! Bow version (with long ties):

For all questions or suggestions to make this pattern better please email me at ghiadean@hotmail.com Thank you so much for using this pattern! Copyright © Denise Knapp, 2009 (do not copy or distribute without my consent)