McCall's 6074-Summer Sew Along #2, Day #4

Note: this post comes a day early so some people who move at a faster pace can finish the dress. I posted day #3  earlier this morning.

Today we'll finish the dress! This involves hemming the armholes and the bottom of the dress. I found the instructions for the final hem unnecessarily complicated, and I'm not a fan of that type of hem either, so I hemmed it just like we've been hemming everything else on this dress: with a narrow hem.

If you're not caught up through step #8, visit day #1, day #2, and day #3 of this sew along first. We'll start at step #9.

9. For views A, B, D: Finish armhole edges of dress with a 5/8" narrow hem.

*If you're making the reversible variation of this dress, you should have already completed your armholes when you finished the "all in one facing," described here.

You already know how to do a narrow hem, but the armholes add a new level of complication. It is a fairly tight circle, which makes it difficult to stretch/not stretch the fabric as you go. It is more difficult to avoid bunching and to maintain the right amount of stretch under the arm. I'm not 100% pleased with my armhole, so I'll include some tips I thought of after the fact to make yours fit better.

Finished armhole. Mine isn't perfect, see below for tips!

McCall's 6074-Summer Sew Along #2, Day #3

Today, we'll put the gathering in the front of the dress, under the bust. This is pretty simple-you'll create a little casing for the elastic that you'll sew to the inside of the dress, and then you'll thread the elastic inside and secure it in place. We're starting at step #5 of the pattern instructions. If you're not up to that step, check out day #1 and day #2 of this sew along.

5. Press under 5/8" on long edges of CASING (3). Trim pressed-under edge to 3/8". Press under 5/8" on ends of casing. Trim pressed-under edge to 3/8".

*If you're doing the reversible variation, ignore this! You actually don't need this piece at all.

This is a really complicated way of saying you need to fold over all the edges of the fabric you cut out so there are no raw edges showing. I added an additional (optional) step here: I sewed the fabric in place so the raw edges couldn't accidentally pop out as I tried to manipulate this tiny piece. It's up to you whether you want to do this or not. It didn't add that much time and ensured a more polished looking final product.

Fold the edges and press them.

I sewed the edges in place to keep them
from moving in subsequent steps. 

The casing, with all its edges sewn in place. You don't
have to sew them down, but at least press them well.

6. Pin casing to front, wrong sides together, matching centers and having long edges along placement line. Edgestitch long edges of casing. Cut a piece of elastic 4.5" long.

Again, this sounds more complicated than it is. Remember how you traced the "stitching line" onto your fabric before you started sewing? Well it basically makes a box. Put your casing (piece #3 with the edges folded (and optionally stitched) in place) into this box. Pin it there so it fits perfectly. Sew close to the edge of the box on the long sides, using your stretch stitch.

*If you're doing the reversible variation, place the inner and outer dress fronts together, with the WRONG sides of the fabric together (so you're sewing on the side of the fabric you want to show). Find your stitching line markings on both and line them up perfectly. Stitch two lines (the long sides of the box you drew).

*If you're doing the maternity variation with extra gathering, your casing piece will be longer than the box you drew. That's good. Just center it. Cut your piece of elastic to 5" instead of 4.5".

Sew the casing to the dress front along the
long edges.

McCall's 6074-Summer Sew Along #2, Day #2

Today we'll put together most of the dress! You should have already cut out your fabric, based on day #1 (click here) of this sew along. This is a quick sew because there are only 4 long seams, 2 shoulder seams, some hemming, and the gathering in front.  However, because you have to sew each seam twice, I think it takes more than an hour (the pattern envelope says one hour)! I'll split the sewing into four days, with today constituting the majority of the dress, tomorrow focusing on the front gathering, and Monday focusing on the hemming. I'll try to post both tomorrow and Monday's sew along instructions tomorrow in case you want to do it all at once.

I recommend that you glance over a few tutorials on sewing with knits. The pattern instructions recommend to stretch the fabric slightly while sewing. You want to retain the stretch of the fabric (if your stitching is tight, it won't stretch!), but I've found that if you stretch the fabric, the stitching looks bunched up. I have read quite a few tutorials and decided to hold the fabric taught but not stretched. It's very important to use a stretch stitch, though! If you use a regular stitch, then you'll lose the stretch of the fabric. On my sewing machine, the stretch stitch is #5. If you don't have a stretch stitch, I've read that a narrow zigzag stitch will do.

Check out these two helpful tutorials/descriptions of how to sew with knits: this one from Birch Fabrics and this one from Sew Mama Sew. I didn't do everything they suggested due to lack of supplies, but the general tips are very useful. I used a regular narrow needle (though one did snap into pieces at one point). I also didn't try to do the mock coverstitch thing (will come into play Monday) because I didn't have the special needles. I apologize that both examples focus on children's clothing! I guess there are just a lot of knit kids clothes.

The stretch stitch on my machine. The
number on yours will likely be different.
Look for the lightning bolt shaped stitch.

Remember, I'm following the instructions for view A! Some of the instructions in the actual pattern itself are mislabeled (for example, the sleeve instructions say they're for View C, when on the pattern envelope, View D has the sleeves). If you're making sleeves, it really doesn't matter which view you chose, just find the correct instructions! I am not providing sleeve instructions here.

I'm going to walk through the steps on the pattern instructions and include my own commentary and photo descriptions as we go. I'll also indicate what you'll do differently if you're making one of the two variations I listed (reversible or maternity). Before starting, read the "Sewing Information" on the front page of the pattern instructions, next to the pattern layouts. This defines words and diagrams the pattern instructions will use.

1. Stitch the outer seam of BACK (1) using a double-stitched seam. Press seam allowances to one side.

This means you're going to sew one 5/8" seam, and then afterwards, you'll sew another seam so the seam allowance can't roll and add bulk to your dress. I chose to make my second seam an overlock stitch. In theory, you could trim your seam allowance before starting and use ONLY an overlock stitch, but I felt more comfortable doing a regular stretch stitch first.

Here's where I probably added a LOT of time (but also made my final product look nicer): I pressed the FIRST seam open and then back together before sewing the seam allowance together! I did this because once you've sewn the second row of stitching, you can't get into that first seam with the iron to really make it lay flat. I use my standard pressing technique: press over the stitching, press the seam one way from the right side of the fabric, press the seam the other way from the wrong (visible seam) side of the fabric, and then finally press the seam open. Then I just pressed it flat again before sewing my second seam. This added a lot of time, so it's totally optional, but it looks nice.

I previously described the overlock stitch here.

Pin together the two back pieces, right sides
together. Remember to match up the piecs
using the notch you cut!

McCall's 6074-Summer Sew Along #2, Day #1

Today we'll prep the pattern and cut and mark the fabric. This dress should be really easy to sew. The biggest difficulty will be getting used to sewing knits. This pattern could be easily modified, so I'll include instructions for two simple variations (a reversible dress and a maternity dress) at the end of each day.

Here's what you should do today:

First, read through all the pattern instructions so you have a sense of what you're going to do and what each pattern piece corresponds to. Also, make sure you understand what the grainline, crossgrain, and selvedges are. If you don't, check out this previous post. Commercial patterns like this one include seam allowance, so you don't have to worry about that. I'm making View A, so I only need pattern pieces 1, 2, and 3.

Cut out your pattern pieces. Don't cut right on the line,
leave a nice inch or so for now. If you're making one of
the short versions (like View A), you can cut right along
the hem line for View A.

Save the bottom piece of pieces #1 and #2
(the front and back). Make sure to label
them clearly! You'll want these pieces in the
future if you choose to make a different
style of the same dress.

Iron the tissue paper pattern pieces. Use low heat, no steam.
It's best to use a dry iron (no water inside) so you don't
accidentally get the tissue paper wet. You want your
pattern to be flat-a big wrinkle could change the size of
the pattern piece.

Summer Sew Along #2: McCall's 6074

McCall's 6074, click the picture to purchase online

As promised, I'll start this second sew along soon (the end of August, 2013). I plan for Day #1 of the sew along to be a week from today (Thursday, August 29th). Like last time, I'll have you spend a day or so cutting and pinning with minimal sewing, and then I'll feature the bulk of the sewing over the weekend.

This pattern is VERY EASY. The most difficult aspect is that it uses knit fabric, which can misbehave while sewing and cutting.

I'll walk you through how to follow a commercial pattern-what different marks mean, what certain instructions mean, etc. Don't feel intimidated if you've never followed one before!

There is no zipper, so all you need for this pattern is the correct amount of fabric (calculate your size based on measurements, and then purchase your fabric accordingly). This pattern calls for a stretch knit fabrics, like jersey. You should pre-wash your fabric as you would wash the future garment. Most jersey knits, etc., can go in the dryer, but they might shrink, so make sure to do this before any cutting!

You'll also need matching thread and 1/4 yard of 1/2" elastic. The elastic goes in the center front under the bust where the dress is gathered.

There is a current pattern sale on the McCall's website through today (August 22nd, 2013), so if you haven't purchased the pattern yet, order it!

At this point, just make sure you have your pattern, fabric, thread, and elastic, and wash and dry the fabric before next Thursday when we'll start.