160 Darts

Hello!

I've been on a sewing marathon, finishing last week, just in time for the Easter weekend.

My daughter works in the financial markets in London and I visited her a few short weeks ago, taking a work shirt I had made for her from her favourite Vogue pattern (see my 'Pages' on the sidebar for information on that pattern!)  She happened to mention that she was also wearing dresses several times a week now, as she found the ones I make to be cool and comfortable for her long days at work.  After I'd returned home I texted her to ask if she would like another and she immediately replied she would!  I sent photos of fabric from Liberty and John Lewis, and she picked five out that she liked.  Not expecting me to make them all in one go, I thought I would surprise her and do just that.  It seemed like a great idea at the time! ;)

The dress pattern is her absolute favourite, Simplicity 1873, designed by Cynthia Rowley.  She asked for View A, which has a higher neckline, short capped sleeves and a full, pleated skirt.

Each dress has a lined and darted bodice, comprising of 12 darts in all.  The sleeves are somewhat unusual in that they are darted towards the hem, which gives a lovely rounded capped sleeve.  They too are lined, so that means 5 darts per sleeve, plus lining, equals 20 darts.  Each dress therefore has 32 darts, giving my grand total of 160 with five dresses!  That's a lot of darts...  

The skirts are heavily pleated, although I did gather one, just for some variety.  It doesn't bother my daughter to have dresses from the same pattern.  It's actually her preferred option, as she knows what she likes and they do look very different in different fabrics.

I like gathering, not sure why really, other than it makes such a pretty effect.  It works particularly well on fine fabric, like this Liberty Tana Lawn.

The way I do it is to run three rows of long machine stitches along the edge to be gathered.  Three rows, rather than the traditional two, makes it much easier to make tight, neat, even gathers.  I work one at 7/8" one at 1/2" and one at 1/4".  This ensures the gathering stitches are easy to remove once the pieces are joined, using a 5/8" of an inch seam allowance.  I also use bright colours, so they are even easier to remove. A good way to use up bits of thread languishing on bobbins!

On something as wide as this skirt I divide the work to be gathered, in this case in half.  This reduces the risk of the threads breaking.  To avoid an ungathered bit in the middle I overlap the rows by a couple of inches, just shy of each other.

Carefully grasp the three threads at one end and pull gently and evenly, moving the gathers along the threads as you go.  To stop the gathers 'falling off' the other end of the threads, you may wish to pull the other end up a couple of inches and knot the threads securely together.  I always do this on long lengths of gathering.  You can then go back to the other end to continue gathering.

Once the piece is the correct length start to pin it to the other piece of the garment, in this case the bodice, matching seams and notches as you go, as per the pattern instructions.  Do final tweaks to the gathers using a fingernail or pin, making sure the gathers run at 90 degrees to the edge. Place lots of pins at right angles to hold everything together.  I find it easier to sew with the gathers facing upwards, as you can keep an eye on them and make sure they don't become bunched up.  You do need to make sure that any open seams on the piece underneath stay open, so check as you come to each one.

I've just noticed there's a very wonky line of gathering stitching in the photo above!  At least it was destined to be removed ;)  There are also no pins visible in the above photo, as I had probably just removed one, but trust me when I say I did use lots!

Before you remove the gathering threads, carefully check from the right side that the gathers hang straight.  Check that open seams are still open, and you are happy with everything.  Once you are satisfied, whip out the gathering threads and carefully steam the seam up and away from the gathers, taking care not to accidentally flatten the gathers with your iron!  

As well as gathering, I also enjoy putting in concealed or invisible zips.  I find them much easier to do neatly than regular zips and they really do end up virtually invisible!

I'm going to see my daughter soon, and I am looking forward to taking them to her.  At least by using the same pattern we know they will fit!

It was such a lovely afternoon when the last stitch was in place, that I took Valerie (my dressmaker's mannequin) outside in the sunshine to get some Action Shots in the breeze.

Here they are, back indoors, all lined up in my sewing room, ready for their journey to London.

Donna x