My latest project is Vogue 9100, which claims to be a “very easy” pattern. Although I’m satisfied with the finished garment, it proved to be anything but.

I wanted to make a simple sundress to take part in the Sundress Sew-A-Long 2015 hosted by Handmade By Heather B. Also, this the Monthly Stitch Challenge for July is Checks so I thought I’d kill two birds with one stone and make a checked sundress. I cut out View A in a size 12 but when I got to the skirt pieces I was stumped. They did not line up at all. I was totally confused so I did a little online research and discovered the pattern was to blame. There must have been a printing issue or something but other sewers had similar issues. I decided to take the hem for View B and tape it back onto View A so that the pieces would be more closely aligned.

After that, I laid the two pattern pieces on top of one another and then trimmed the hems so that they would be as close a match as possible. I had to ignore all of the markings on the pattern pieces as they were totally off and would not match up. After doing my best to fix the pattern pieces I was good to go and finished my muslin.

The pattern calls for a lined bodice. I decided to underline my skirt, too, even though the pattern does not call for it. My outside fabric is a cotton madras and I used cotton broadcloth for my underlining, which I hand basted to the skirt.

This process is a little tedious but I think you get a nicer finish this way. Your basting stitches should be inside the seam allowance so that they won’t be visible when your project is finished and you won’t have to pull the stitches out.

This dress features a full gathered skirt. I’ve always done my gathers the old fashioned way: two rows of basting stitches. I figured it was time to graduate from gathering by hand so I researched a few tricks and tried out a new method. What you do is you line up a piece of cord, or in my case some embroidery thread, and secure it to where you are going to begin stitching. Once it is secure, switch to a wide zig zag stitch and stitch over your cord, pulling the cord taut as you go along. This will cause your fabric to gather.

This wasn’t a fool proof method but it was faster and easier than the old fashioned way. This youtube video is helpful, although I did not do it exactly as how she describes:

To hem, I serged off the bottom about 1/4″. Then I basted the bottom at 5/8″. I pressed my hem along the basting stitches and then did one row of stitching over the serged ends, using the serged stitches as a guide. I like doing it this way because then I only have to fold the fabric under once and the hem comes together quickly and neatly.

The gathers in the skirt ended up making my waistline look rather voluminous, a look most women would prefer to avoid, so I added a belt to help cinch in the waist. All in all, I’m pleased with the dress, although I haven’t achieved a perfect fit along the shoulders. The straps don’t want to sit nice. **Sigh** Oh well.

As an aside, I had to drive to Cincinnati on Friday for work so I decided to stop by Ikea. I picked up some cool new prints for my sewing room.

I think it’s important to have a work space that feels inviting and that inspires you. I’d prefer to not have a sewing room covered in wood paneling, but it’s a rental so I make do. I’m just thankful to have a space that I can work in and that’s all my own.

Anyway, what’s new with you all? Is anyone else doing the sundress sew a long? There’s supposed to be a flikr group but I haven’t joined because I don’t want a yahoo account.