Getting ready for Spring!

 

 

 

These dresses were created using the Garden Tea Dress pattern designed by 123 Mulberry Street patterns and listed for sale at www.libertyjanepatterns.com.    The downloadable PDF pattern cost only $3.99.   The instructions are clear,  easy to follow and there's lots of pictures making it a great visual tool as well.    Since I've made this dress multiple times I made some minor adjustments to the pattern and construction of the garment.   I made a slight adjustment in the size of the bodice.  Really a personal preference issue.   I increased the size of the front and back bodice pieces along the front center line and the back cut lines by 1/8 inch.  The top fit tighter than I wanted so the slight increase gave me a less snug fit.   As for construction....after making several dresses sewing the Velcro at the end after the dress was made I decided to attach the Velcro to the skirt sections BEFORE gathering it.  It allowed for better (straighter) and more exact  placement of the Velcro.  Gathering:   I marked the center of the skirt.   I machine basted to the center mark, decreased my stitch length to 0 and made 2-3 locking stitches....then increased my stitch length back to 6 and machine basted to the end of the piece.  When I gathered the skirt I pull one side at a time.   As I pulled on the string and adjusted the gathers it would stop at the center locking stitches.  Once I finished with one side I then pulled the other side which also stopped at my center mark.