Mainstreet Sew Along last day

Mainstreet Sew Along

Last Day!

It's the last day of the sew along! Are you excited to finally get your shirt or dress done? Ok, so last time I forgot about hemming the long sleeves. With such a small opening, its easier to hem before you stitch up the side. 

Then place the front and back bodice right sides together matching up at the armpit and stitch in place. 

If you're sewing the short sleeve version, make sure to have the seam allowance facing away from the shirt. 

Then fold the binding over the seam allowance, tucking it into the fold. I like to pin it in place and sew from the right side of the shirt. 

 For the long sleeves, fold the seam allowance to one side and from the right side of the fabric, stitch in place. This keeps the seam allowance from poking out and is a great way to hide the tail if you've used a serger to finish the seams. 

Now for the shirt option, fold the bottom of the shirt up and hem. And you're done! 

For the dress option, take those two ruffle pieces that you sewed and gathered on day two and place them on top of each other, right sides up. Then place them right sides together with the bottom of the dress. Stitch in place. 

Then iron the seam allowance to face the inside of the dress and top stitch in place. 

And you're done! Woo! Till next time :)

Mainstreet Sew Along day 4

Mainstreet Sew Along

Day 4

Day 4! We're getting there! Today we're going to sew the sleeves. So I'll start with the long sleeve option, and then finish with the short sleeve directions. So for the long sleeve, lay your sleeve piece flat and using the pattern piece, mark where the elastic starts and ends. 

Pin your elastic in place. I actually like to sew the ends in place before I zigzag over it. Then pull the elastic to match the length of the shirt and zigzag in place. 

If you want to add a cute little bow to the right side, now would be a good time to do that. I just tie the bow and then use a straight stitch in the center of it. 

Now using a long straight stitch, sew along the top of the sleeve, beginning and ending at the marks on the pattern. Gather the sleeve. 

Next, place the top of the sleeve right sides together with the shirt bodice. Gather the sleeve to fit. Make sure not to stretch the fabric. The sleeves have a front and back also, so don't forget to place them on the bodice correctly. Using a stretch stitch, sew the sleeve to the bodice. You can finish the edges, however it's not necessary.  And then repeat for the other side. 

Short sleeve: Gather the top and bottom of the sleeve following to marks of the pattern piece. 

Next, take one of your binding pieces and place it right sides together with the bottom of the sleeve. Gather the sleeve to fit, not stretching the binding. Make sure to be using the flat side of the binding, not the folded edge. Now stitch in place. 

Next, place the top of the sleeve right sides together with the shirt bodice. Gather the sleeve to fit. Make sure not to stretch the fabric. The sleeves have a front and back also, so don't forget to place them on the bodice correctly. Using a stretch stitch, sew the sleeve to the bodice. You can finish the edges, however it's not necessary.  And then repeat for the other side. 

And we're done for today! No I didn't forget about the unfinished binding on the sleeves ;) We'll finish tomorrow. Are you excited?!

Mainstreet Sew along day 3

Mainstreet Tee/Dress Sew Along

Day 3

So today we're sewing the neckline together. Start by taking your ruffles that you hemmed and gathered yesterday and place them on top of each other, right sides facing up. Fit the ruffles to the front neckline and baste in place. Try not to stretch out the neckline. 

Now take your smaller binding piece and place it with the right side facing the wrong side of the shirt, and stitch in place with a stretch stitch. You will be sewing the flat part of the binding, not the folded edge.

Then fold the binding over to the right side and tuck the seam allowance into the folded edge. Pin it in place covering any stitching. And then, using a stretch stitch, sew it in place. 

Now we'll be adding the binding to the back neckline. It's kind of a weird shaped piece, I find the easiest thing while sewing is to pin the binding in place first, and really stretch it when sewing around the sharp curve. It really helps it hug that curve when you fold it over. So, go ahead and stitch the larger binding piece to the back neckline, right side facing the wrong side of the bodice. 

Then fold the binding over to the right side and tuck the seam allowance into the folded edge. Pin the binding in place covering any stitching. And then sew in place. Any puckering can be fixed with a hot iron. 

Now here comes the tricky part. Place the front bodice wrong sides together at the shoulder seam with the back bodice. The front bodice piece should be 1/8" from the edge. Stitch in place. If you go really slow you should be able to stitch directly on top of your previous stitching. I did not... Lol. 

Lay the shirt open and the back binding should fold over onto the front bodice. Before I stitch it flat, I like to trim away any bulkiness there might be from the seam allowance. Sew it along the edge. Now repeat with the other side. 

And we're done for today! Tomorrow we'll tackle those sleeves!

Mainstreet Sew Along day 2

Mainstreet Tee/Dress Sew Along

Day 2

Today we're going to be prepping the ruffles and binding. So go ahead and turn on your iron and grab those binding strips. First you will fold the binding in half lengthwise and iron flat. Right sides out.

Then open the binding up and fold the lower portion up to meet the fold. I don't place it directly on top of the fold, I place it about 1/8" from the fold. And iron flat. Don't iron over the previous fold. 

So now you should have this. Go ahead and do that to all your binding strips. 

Next we're going to prepare our ruffles. This will be a little out of sequence with the pattern, but it will all work :). If you are making the dress version, take your bottom ruffle strips and sew the sides together. Finish the edges. 

Now hem all of your ruffle strips. This is for the shirt as well as the dress. I'm using ribbon, so I actually don't need to hem my ruffle strips. There is two hem options, choose which one works for you. 

Next we'll gather the ruffles. So set your machine to the longest stitch and sew a straight line along the top of the ruffle. Grab one thread and gather the pieces. There is no preset measurement that they need to be at, at this point. When you attach them you will gather to fit. This is just to get them ready, there will still be some adjusting later. 

For my second ruffle I added a piece of knit to it so that it will be longer than the top ruffle. I've probably added a little too much, but I'll figure that out later when I go to attach it. And that's it for today! Tomorrow we'll sew the neckline!

Mainstreet Sew Along day 1

Mainstreet Tee/Dress Sew Along

Day 1

If you haven't purchased the pattern yet, go ahead and get it here :) Also, make sure to join the group so you can ask questions or show off pictures.

So lets get started! Go ahead and print off the pattern pieces and tape them together. I'm sewing the shirt version with the long sleeves. 

Cut out your selected size and then lay your pieces out over your fabric and cut. Also cut your ruffle pieces according to the measurement chart. 

I'm using ribbon for my ruffles, so I've actually cut an extra piece to sew the lower ruffle to so that it'll longer than the top piece. I've also cut my binding pieces for the neck longer because the fabric I'm using doesn't have a great deal of stretch. And that's it! Tomorrow we'll prep our ruffle pieces and binding pieces.