ODETTE SEW-ALONG #5 - Sewing time (All Odette variations)

Today we actually start sewing!  Instead of starting off slowly we will be jumping straight into a whole heap of sewing.

Find all the previous Odette sew-along posts here 

 ALL VIEWS - BODICE DARTS

First things first lets tackle those bodice darts. When you cut out your bodice ( front and back) pattern pieces you would have marked the darts with your preferred method. I marked my darts using wax tracing paper and rotary marking tool. On the wrong side of the bodice front (1) and the bodice back (2)  pattern pieces pin each dart in place. To do so, meet the marked lines o f the darts together making sure the marked lines match correctly.

Once you've pinned each dart in place you can start stitching each of them up. 
Start your  stitching from the wide end of each dart  continuing up to the narrow point of the dart, be careful not to stitch over your pins!

 Front bodice dart view. Sorry its a little hard to see the darts on this fabric.

Back bodice dart view

 Press the front bodice bust darts down towards the hemline and press the waistline down on the front bodice towards the center front of the bodice. On the back bodice darts press each dart towards the center back seam.  Also pressing each dart using a tailors ham will give you a  nice and clean finish.

 Remember to also stitch your darts on the bodice lining ( front and back) following the same steps above.

ALL VIEWS - SHOULDER SEAMS

Next up let's sew up the bodice at the shoulder seams. 

Again the below steps apply to the bodice shell and the bodice lining.

Right sides together pin your front and back bodice pieces together.

Stitch each shoulder seam together. Trim and press the seams open.

VIEW A - ATTACH BODICE LINING & SIDE SEAMS

These next few steps are for View A the sleeveless version of the Odette dress. If you're sewing up View B & C versions you can skip these steps until later in the post.  At this point you should have your bodice shell and bodice lining all ready to go with all the darts sewn up and each bodice sewn up separately at the shoulder seams.

Lay your bodice lining on top of the bodice shell right sides together. Pin the bodice lining and bodice shell together at the front and back necklines and at each armhole.

Stitch the bodice lining and bodice shell together at the neckline first, starting your stitching at the back center seam.

Once you get to the 'V' on the front bodice stitch all the way down to the where you marked the bottom of the slash line and pivot your stitching and continue on.

Pivot at the bottom of the slash point of the 'V' on the front bodice.

Continue stitching the remainder of the bodice neckline.

Below is the finished stitched neckline.

Grab your scissors and cut straight down the 'V' to the slash mark, or as close as you can get. You'll be cutting through the bodice shell and bodice lining fabric. If its easier before you cut you can simply mark a line from the top of 'V' to the slash mark for you to follow when cutting.

Clip the neckline seams  as well as grading the corners. This will help the bodice neckline lay flat when turned right side out.

Once the neckline is stitched up you can stitch the lining and the shell together at each armhole. Trim the armhole seams, I simply used my pinking shears to trim the seams.

TURN BODICE RIGHT STRAIGHT OUT THROUGH SHOULDER SEAMS

Now comes a little bit of a tricky part but once done a first time its a whole lot easier. These next steps are a tad hard to photograph, but i tried my best so i hope it makes sense!

To turn the bodice lining right side out you need to pull it through the shoulder. There's no delicate way to do this, simply pull the lining through the shoulder seams, one at a time until pulled right through.

 This is what you'll end up with when its pulled through.

What your bodice should look like when turned right side out.

BODICE SIDE SEAMS

OK, so you've gotten over the trauma of pulling your bodice lining right side out, now we will stitch up the side seams to finish off our View A bodices.

Pull the bodice lining way from the bodice shell and pin the  shell and lining together with right sides together at the side seams. See the pic below.

Below is what the bodice will look like from the outside when the side seams are pinned

And below is the view from the inside of the bodice with the side seams pinned.

Now simply stitch the bodice side seams up, stitching the shell and lining together in one continuous stitch. Now turn on your iron and  go ahead and press your bodice at the neckline, armholes and the side seams.

If you're sewing up View B & C of the Odette dress you will at this point have your bodice shell and bodice lining as separate pieces, unlike View A which have been now been sewn together. Simply pin and stitch the side seams together for both View B & C bodice  shell and lining. Finish and press the seams.

VIEW B & C SLEEVE PREPARATION


View B& C versions haven't had much love shown to them this sew-along post, so from here on in we are dedicating the next part of the post to them with prepping our sleeves. View A sleeveless Odette peoples we will meet up again tomorrow.


These following steps apply to the short and 3/4 sleeve versions of Odette but the photos show View B( short sleeves).


On the wrong side of each sleeve ( View B &C )  baste stitch two lines of stitches 3/8'' and 1/2'' along the sleeve top, between the notches and leaving long thread tails on each side.

Right sides together stitch each sleeve together along the underarm seam.
Finish the seams and press towards the back of the sleeve.

Remember the above steps apply to View B & C sleeves.


VIEW B - HEM SLEEVES

The below steps apply to the View B sleeves only.

Fold each hem sleeve to the wrong side 1/4'' and press down. Fold this edge up again another 1/4'' and press down again.

Stitch this folded edge down on each sleeve and press.



VIEW C - SLEEVE CUFFS

If you're sewing up View C the below steps apply to you. 

Right sides together stitch the shorter end of each cuff together. Trim and press the seams open. Now fold each cuff in half,  wrong sides together making sure that raw edges are even and press each cuff.

Grab your two sleeve pieces and right sides together align the raw edges of each cuff to the bottom edge of each sleeve. Pin each cuff in place.

Stitch each cuff in place. Finish seams and turn the cuffs down, pressing them on the right side.


 View B & C - SET IN SLEEVES

OK, now that we have prepped our sleeves for both View B&C we can attach them to our bodices.

Holding the sleeve towards you and right sides together, place each sleeve into the bodice shell armhole; match the notches and underarm seams of the bodice and sleeve.

Gently pull each thread tail, adjusting the fullness evenly around the top of the sleeve until the sleeve fits evenly into the bodice shell armhole. Pin in place.

I like to baste stitch my sleeves in place before the final stitching just to get the fit properly and adjust the sleeve into the bodice armhole if necessary. If you are confident that your sleeves are fitting and sitting perfectly then go ahead and stitch them in place to the bodice. If you have chosen to baste stitch them first, then make your adjustments, fix any puckers etc and then stitch each sleeve into their final position to the bodice.

Once the sleeves are stitched in finish them seams and  grab your tailors ham and give each sleeve a good press on the right side.

Now the sleeves are attached to our bodices for View B&C we can now attach our bodice linings. To attach the bodice lining for View B&C we basically follow the same steps as attaching the bodice lining for View A minus a few steps as we will be only attaching them together at the neckline only. We will finish off the bodice lining armholes for View B& C further down the track in the sew-along, so you can leave them as it at this stage. Simply follow the steps  under the heading:

 VIEW A - ATTACH BODICE LINING & SIDE SEAMS 

to attach the bodice lining to the bodice shell for VIEW B& C - neckline only.

PHEW! Was that the longest post or what!? Promise they’ll get easier from here.
 

See you tomorrow for some more sewing!

Abby

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Vintage bed sheets..

A few months ago i got gifted some pretty cool sewing stuff from a family member. In the pile of goodness there were 2 vintage bed sheets, I'm guessing from the print from the 60's, any way they were in good nick apart a couple of small areas that had some sort of paint substance on them, but other than they were going to be sewn into something perfect, i just didn't know what yet. They are a lovely soft cotton, y'know when your sheets get nice and soft after awhile, that's what they had become, mind you they weren't worn through or anything, still enough life left in them but SUPER SOFT! And from the looks of things they were some high quality bed sheets, so win!

After a few good washes they were good to go....They did smell slightly musty and i mean they are bed sheets and i am  little bit of a germaphobe.. so the few good washes did good to appease my phobia and made them smell pretty ;)

Coolest print bed sheet print EVER!

Both of the sheets looked to be single bed sheets  i wanted to sew a dress out of them,  so i had to find a dress design that fit into the fabric length. I wanted something simple as well  because the print on the fabric is quite bold and i wanted it to be the feature, not too much busy-ness!

Lovely brown and green sheets



In the goodies pile, i got tins and tins of lots of random cool stuff, vintage buttons, belt buckles, pins... I'm telling ya this was a serious seamstresses whole lifetime collection. I wont show you the lot, just the bestest bits cause there is heaps!

Love this tin, has held the 2 best things in the world - Lollies & sewing notions!

Back to the vintage bed sheets, after having the sheets draped on my dress model for a number weeks, trying to decide what would be the perfect dress design to sew up, and procrastinating about actually starting to sew with the sheets, because  i knew that once i cut into the sheets then that was it! This fabric was a goner, so i didn't want to f*** it up  and sew something that i would never wear, EVER again, y'know those projects where it is well intended all the way till its all finished and then you wonder why the hell you even bothered to continue to finish sewing it! Then the penny drops that you have ruined the perfect fabric you have EVER seen, sad face.
So what does a girl do with that drama hanging over her head? I continued to procrastinate a little more.. till the day i  decided on a simple shift dress would be perfect and comfy to boot!

I used the below McCalls pattern, which  i had in my stash. I know how easy would it be to draft up.. but i just couldn't be arsed! I wanted a new dress ASAP!! I had procrastinated ENOUGH ;)
I picked it up on Etsy awhile ago, not sure of which shop now.
The pattern is  simple A-line sleeveless shift dress design, easiest most comfy dress to sew.

I went View C

Soz for the creases, i wore it to work
and had been sitting on my butt all day

I picked the brown sheet to sew into a shift dress, i just cant bring myself to use the green one yet.. its my fav!

The neckline and armhole are just simply faced, lapped zipper at the back - Easy peasy! And  I loved the loose fitting of the dress design, comfort factor 1 billion plus! Also hides post giant bowl of pasta belly, another win!

I have already worn this dress heaps  its just so versatile,  the perfect dress to layer with tights and cute cardigan, which is what i have been doing considering its still winter in ole' Melbourne town and its totally freezing,  but i cant wait to get this dress out in the warmer months, this cotton is  just  so light  weight and comfy, i think it will be nice and cool on those summer days.

Photo bomb!

I recommend everyone sew up a shift dress, they are the most versatile dresses EVER! And so easy to sew up, perfect for a beginner ;)

The  simple design  of the dress allows the fabric print too shine!

I think i possibly stood in dog s*** here

Yep i stood in dog s***

Now i just have to find THE perfect project for the green sheets...I'm thinking another shift dress!
I'm glad i gave these sheets a new lease of life, but i still cant help but think how cool they would be to have to use them as  actual bed sheets.. Groovy! ;)

What about you, have you ever up-cycled  any vintage bed sheets?

Abby
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