Logan's Run: The Jessica Dress

A Jessica dress in 20 easy steps. 

Step 1: Trace muslin onto fabric, adjust accordingly.

Step 2: Fray-check the heck out of everything. 

Step 3: Sew shoulder seams together. Check neck line.

Step 4: Apologize to blog readers for ugly no makeup face and wet hair. 

Step 5: Decide you hate neck line and that the fray-check itches like woah. Have miner freak out. Do what any person would do in this situation and run crying to Mother. She takes approximately 0.2 seconds to solve all neck line issues. She also suggests sewing in a facing to the collar. 

Step 6: Tell your mother she is awesome. Rip out shoulder seams. Install facing. 

Step 7: More fray-check.

Step 8: Resew shoulder seams with a larger seam allowance. Press flat. More fray-check.

Step 9: Test new neck line. Approve. Do happy dance.

Step 10: Sew and press side seams. 

Step 11: Figure out where elastic waist will go. 

Step 12: Sew on casing (not shown)

Step 13: Grab the GREATEST sewing tool EVER and thread elastic through waistband in 6 seconds. 

Step 14: even out elastic and scrunching.

Step 15: Close casing, sew down elastic so it doesn't move around on you.

Step 16: Compare costume to original. Approve of costume.

Step 17: Take costume for a test drive and decide on hem length.

Step 18: Install pretty lace hem tape. 

Step 19: Sew Blind Hem by hand for the first time since Highschool. Decide it wasn't as bad as you thought it would be.

Step 20: Pat yourself on the back.

Ruby Sew-a-Long Day 3: Cut out fabric!

Day three of the sew along was cut out fabric day! On the advice of some of my fabulous commenters I went with the pink Polyester/Linen Blend. (By the way, this stuff is VERY stretchy. Hope it doesn't stretch out and give me saggy-butt later in its life.) This is a better picture of the color. Yay natural light.

Much prettier than the one I posted yesterday I think. I washed and dried my linen blend while I fixed some of my alterations on the pattern. Then I set to pressing. The fabric actually washed fairly well. Not too much fraying, which is a good sign for the sewing to come.

After it was all nice and pressed into shape I started to channel my Grandmother. You see, my Grandmother is capable of using half the recommended amount of fabric every single time she sews, just by moving around the pattern pieces. So I set to work. And BOO-YAH is all I'm saying. See that tape measure in the picture below? That's the one yard mark on 48" width fabric.

The pattern calls for 55" fabric, but I figured it could be done in less than 1 3/8 yards of that. Little did I know it could be done in less than one yard of a smaller width fabric. (Just to note here, I cut out a size 34"/36" combo and I'm not making the belt.) As you can see I still had to cut out pattern pieces 3 and 4 once more and 8 is not pinned down. That's because 7 & 8 are only required to be cut out once, so I cut out 7 double and then cut out 8 on one of the two pieces. I promise you it all fit in one yard of fabric. I can now call these shorts a one yard wonder!

And there you have all the pieces cut out and ready for sewing. I checked and I almost have enough fabric to make a second pair of shorts if I make them a little more Daisy Duke. Which-- lets not kid ourselves --will probably not happen. Here's the sanctioned sew along schedule for the rest of the week.

Thursday - Steps 6-8 (pockets)

Friday - Steps 9/10

Saturday - Step 11

Sunday - Step 12, done!

I will probably not be following this schedule, since tonight I have a previous knitting engagement. Instead my week will look something more like this.

Thursday - Nothing!

Friday - Pockets!

Saturday - Sew everything else together!

Sunday - Button holes and button stuff!

So no sew-a-long update tomorrow, but since I didn't do a Vinspiration Tuesday this week I'll do some Vinspiration tomorrow instead. See ya!