****** if you don't have a serger and want to finish your skirt seams you have two choices, one will need to be done before you sew your skirt pieces together. Please scroll to the bottom for instructions.
First we'll start with the pockets. My last few dresses I've forgotten the pockets until I had already sewed up my side seams and of course I'm much too lazy to rip a seam and resew it. Actually, in the last two I was too tired and in a major time crunch. My Dr Seuess dress was the night before we were leaving for Florida at 1AM and I still had to sew a skirt for Em. I remembered in time to put in one pocket! My thanksgiving dress was a similar, night before, making the girls dresses too. No pockets made it into that dress.
So I've never put pockets into a dress where I had a lined skirt. I've only ever done a lined skirt once - the first time I made this pattern. Dresses with pockets weren't really on my radar yet. So I was thinking that I needed to have them go through the lining fabric. How was I going to do that and have nice finished edges and have the lining facing the right way.
I spent far too long trying to figure it out. Then I had the brilliant idea to look at one of my Emily & Fin dresses. They're the only dresses I have that are completely lined. How is it that other brands charge so much for an unlined cotton dress? Anyway. Their pockets go between the lining and dress fabric. I've never had an issue when wearing one of their dresses so they're my model.
Lay your front skirt piece on the floor and lay a pocket piece on top, where you'd like it. I just kinda winged it, held the skirt up and put my hand where I'd like to have a pocket - no special, magical measurement there.
Right sides together! Line up the straight edge. Pin.
Now put another pocket on the other side. You can measure or you can follow my "measuring tape is all the way up on my sewing table and I'm sitting on the floor" technique. I placed the corresponding pocket on top of the first pocket. Then I flipped the left side of the skirt on top of the right (where I already had the pinned pocket), right sides together, like a sandwich. Then I snuck a finger between the two pocket layers and pinched the top, unpinned pocket and added a pin at the top. Then I unfolded the skirt and pinned the rest of the pocket.
Now lay the matching skirt back sections next to the corresponding skirt front pieces.
Add your matching pocket section on the skirt back piece, again, right sides together. Pin.
You can totally measure, or you can just visually line everything up if you're lazy like me.
Also, don't be jealous of my pink carpet.
Do the same for the other side.
Now let's sew. Start at the top of the pocket. I generally don't do it right at the 5/8" seam allowance, I make mine a little smaller. Also, my stitch settings are wrong in this photo. I'm normally set at 2.5 and 2 but my machine automatically puts them at 3.5 and 2.2. I have to adjust every time I turn on my machine. I forgot this time and had go back and stitch it again.
Stitch all 4 pocket edges.
Now we're going to sew the skirt pieces together. Before we do this. Just double check that you haven't sewn a pocket to the triple triangle side. Just humor me and check. It's quicker to pull out a few stitches on a pocket than the whole skirt side. Good? Ok.
Pin the skirt front to the matching skirt back section, pockets out. Like this.
Did you adjust any waist measurements? I did and almost forgot! Because this isn't a gathered or pleated skirt, you can't really just make small adjustments. So you need to sew with the same seam allowance at the top of the skirt as you did at the waist of the bodice. I was at 3/8". I started there and then moved out to 5/8". When you get 1/2" below the top of the pocket, stop, backstitch a few times then rotate to sew around the pocket. When you get back to the skirt, backstitch a few times again, rotate and continue sewing down the side seam. Finish like usual. Do this on the other side.
The pocket is on the top of this photo, you can kinda see the corners where I did the backstitching.
So let's talk about finishing seams.
Do you have a serger? I didn't until my amazingly awesome Aunt Gail gave me hers that she bought when her Joanns went out of business but never used.
For awhile I did nothing to finish seams. Then I zig zagged the edges. It takes forever but works. I've also done small hems on the skirt sides first. That's much quicker.
I would recommend doing something because your fabric will start fraying after a few washings.
HEMMED
After you sew on the pockets, sew a very very small hem. I'm talking the smallest hem you can. Measure how big it is though and make note. Now do it again. You should hem each edge twice. Taking note of the amount of fabric you've hemmed. You can't be lazy here. You have to measure. You're rolling onto the unfinished side. Do it on all four edges.
Then when you sew the skirt sides together, subtract the hemmed amount from the seam allowance.
ZIGZAG
On scrap fabric, try out a few zig zags. Make sure you try them on the edge. Then pull at the fabric a little to see how much it frays. I generally like a stitch that has the zig zag but also a straight edge that locks the fabric in a bit better.
With the zig zag, you can do it after you've sewed the skirt front and back sections together. Rotate and continue at the pockets.
SERGER
If you have a serger, serge the edges, including the pockets. Leave the end threads long, pull one thread from the bunch and tie it off by hand. Trim thread.
CENTER BACK SEAM
Finish each of these in your desired manner. You want to do this before you sew these edges together and add the zipper. It's impossible to finish it once the zipper is added.
Now do the same for the lining (except the pockets of course. Just sew the skirt pieces together and finish the edges.
That's it for today!
No comments:
Post a Comment