Friday, July 23, 2010

Tie-Front Dress steps, with the help of Syndrome.



Here are the steps I went through to make my tie-front dress pattern, in case anyone is interested. It's pretty much the same as Anna Allen's instructions. There are heaps of technical difficulties to iron out. Does anyone have some ideas on how the tie could be attached better? I'm not totally happy with the finish on mine.

You'll need a basic bodice pattern to begin- I'm using an old See & Sew pattern here. I used my own bodice block before.

1. Trace around your basic bodice pattern - front & back.



2. Extend the shoulder lines on the bodice front to make a slight cap sleeve (is that what it's called?). I extended mine by 1.5cm to the left, and 4cm to the right.


3. Draw a diagonal line between the two circled asterisks. Cross out the front dart (its excess will be taken up by the tie).


4. My pattern sits at the natural waist, but I want it to sit just under the bust so I shortened it.


5. Match the bodice front and bodice back pieces at the shoulder seams. Extend the bodice back shoulder lines to match the front. My pattern has a scooped back, which I eliminated.


6. Necktie: Measure around the pattern's neckline. I added about 60cm extra for the tie, but this is totally up to you. My tie is 7" wide.

7. Skirt: My skirt is just two large rectangles, gathered and sewn to the finished bodice. In Anna's notes, she made the front skirt panel a bit higher at the center front, which I'll probably do next time round.

8. I sewed the shoulder seams then stitched the tie around the neckline, right sides together. Fold the tie in half, turning the seam allowance in and topstitch down.

Tie-Front Dress Experiment

After the most insanely busy semester of my life (I hate you, biochem), I have finally gotten some sewing done!


Like many other bloggers/BurdaStyle-ers I've been eyeing off the Mociun tie-front dress! I pieced together information from verypurpleperson, Anna Allen & FarahAJH to make my prototype.

I used my own bodice block - JJ's bodice sloper on BurdaStyle would be good if you haven't drafted your own. I worked off Anna's instructions to get these pattern pieces (v. messy!).

I left darts out from the front, but kept them at the back. The necktie is a long, 7" wide strip and the skirt is just two big, gathered rectangles. The bodice wasn't sitting snug, so I made a casing and threaded elastic though. I also gathered the front bodice side seams. This seemed to help a lot!

My reheated quiche is calling to me. Lunch time! More on this (and other projects) soon...