BILLIE JEAN SEW-ALONG #4 - SKIRT ASSEMBLY - BOTH DRESSES..

Good Morning sew-alongers! Hope you had a great weekend, and hopefully squeezed in some sewing of your Billie Jean dress?!

Today's sew-along post we are tackling the skirts for both dresses and creating the darts, in-seam pockets and the skirt gathers. After this post you will be well and truly on the way to having your Billie Jean dresses taking shape!

Below are all of the previous sew-along blog posts, if you need to catch up:

#1 - Getting started 
#2 - Full bust adjustment aka FBA 
#3 - Assemble the bodices 

So lets get started:


DRESS 1 - Create the darts 

To create the darts on the skirt front (6) and back skirt (5) fold along the marked dart lines, right sides together meeting these lines together. On the inside of the skirt, pin the darts in place at right angles to the folded dart lines.
Stitch each dart from the wide end (waist line) to the end point of the dart. Repeat for all darts on front and back skirts.
Press the darts towards the centre of the skirt.
*Repeat this process for the skirt lining.

DRESS 2 - Pockets, side seams & centre back seam

SKIRT POCKETS - Woohoo  we are up to assembling the in seam pockets for Dress 2 - I love
 in-seam pockets, they are truly one of  my most favorite things in the world!
And they are really easy to create and before you know it  you'll  have some awesome pockets to hide your treasures in! And the best part is is they are so easily adapted to any skirt or dress design.

So here we go....

I recommend snipping the skirt side seam & pocket piece ( 9) in the seam allowance, just to make it easier to match up the skirt and pockets - Remember don't snip too far into the side of the skirt!

Starting with the front skirt, right side together, pin your  pocket pieces (9) to the left and right sides of the skirt, matching up the  seam allowance snips, you just created.
* Repeat for the 2 back skirt pieces.

Stitch from the top to the bottom of the pockets, starting roughly about 1 cm above where the pockets are pinned, and again 1 cm past the edge of the pocket, to secure in place.

Finish this stitched pocket raw edge.

Fold each pocket into the inside of the each skirt piece, and press.

With right sides of the skirt  together, match the pocket pieces together and pin the pockets and the skirt side seams in place.

Stitch the skirt side seams together, stitching in a continuous line around the pockets and down to the hem.

Finish the seam edges and press.

TA DA! Your finished in-seam pockets!

Dress #2 Creating the skirt gathers 


To create the skirt gathers along the waistline, use a long basting stitch and create 2 stitched rows.
The first  baste stitch row, will be t 1.5 cm away from the waistline edge, and will start from the back skirt edge ( where you zipper will be inserted).
As you stitch along the waistline edge, stop and start your basting at each skirt side seam i.e where your in-seam pockets are, leaving long thread tails as you go at each of these points.

Stitch the second basting stitch a 1 cm distance away from the first basting stitch row, again starting from the back skirt edge and stopping and starting your stitching at each skirt side seam, making sure to leave long thread tails as you go.

On each skirt piece gently pull  the 2 long thread tails together you have left at each skirt side seam to create the skirt gathers.
Distribute the gathers evenly across the waistline.

Change your stitch back to your normal stitch length and stitch across all the gathers on the waistline to secure them in place. Be careful not to catch any part of the skirt or gathers while stitching.Once done trim all the long thread tails.

SKIRT BACK SEAM

Lastly, right sides stitch the centre skirt back seam up , leaving an opening for the zipper. Finish seam and press.

There you have it, the skirts are way on their way to being completed!

Sew-along recap:

Dress 1 - You so far will  have your bodice and bodice lining sitting aside, with princess seams stitched, but  not the shoulder or side seams. Your wiggle skirt you should  have your front and back darts done, on both the main skirt and skirt lining.

Dress 2 - You have your main bodice and bodice lining stitched up including the  shoulder seams, but not the side seams. For the full gathered skirt you have stitched in your in-seam pockets, created the skirt gathers, stitched up the skirt side seams and centre back seam  and left the opening for the zipper to be inserted.

I hope your enjoying the sew -along, remember to post on the Flickr group your sewing  progress, ask any questions you have or just follow along on Twitter using the hashtag # billiejeansewalong or post on Facebook page.

Enjoy!


Abby
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