The Bebe Dress Sew-a-long Part.1

  I love Sew Serendipity! I have both of her books and I love them.  She has hinted that there is a third coming out and I  can't wait. She hasn't said what it is about yet and that is just mean & evil. Why tease people? :)   Come on, I'm gonna buy  it- just tell me what is in it!

        I love  her patterns for many reasons but mostly because they make sense. They are clearly written and  well drafted. The designs are all  wearable. I have made a couple of skirts from the first book  and I wear them constantly.  I also love that she mostly uses quilting cottons.

Recently she released a couple of dress patterns and I went nuts over the Bebe dress. Hello! Isn't this the cutest thing ever?   Comfy and flattering and looks darn easy. Sign me up!

I ordered two copies . One for me and a copy for Kristi. Kirsti is my student who moved away. I really miss her. We listened to Lily Allen and talked about Battlestar Galactica  in lesson and had a splendid time. Then she up and moved and left me on Wednesday mornings to sew on my own.  ( EH!!! STOP MOVING PEOPLE! ) . She loves the inverted pleat version. Which is totally cute!   Oh and she ordered the boots in the above photo to go with  her dress when she finishes it! Awesome!

Kristi and I cooked up a plan (without alcohol even- she was a morning lesson girl) to sew it together- her in Washington and me here in Virginia and blog about it.  I can do a post and she can follow along and post as well.  Kristi is still new to the sewing thang and  so this will be her first project completely on her own. Completely on her own with me on  call by phone, email, Skype and text! Yea baby!
At the end  of this adventure you can see both of our dresses! Fun? We think so!!  You can sew a long with us or just read and learn. I hope to put lots of tips that I have learned in my 20+ years of stitching. And learn from Kristi too!

My plan is this- to weekly  take photos of the muslin process, the fabric choosing process, the sewing process and the wearing it out in public process!

Are you ready! Let's sew!




First step:
 Open the pattern! 

This pattern comes with the pattern tissue, an instruction sheet and a full color glossy  cover with lots of pictures.

Read the pattern!!!


       Read through it. Seriously  folks. Read the dang blasted pattern.  More than once. See what you are getting into.  Determine which version you are going to make.  This dress has a lot of variations  and has the possibility of getting a bit confusing  as to which directions to follow. So read it, become one with the pattern.  Lightly circle  in pencil the parts  that pertain to you and the dress you want to make. This really helps to eliminate the instructions that you don't need for your dress.
       Draw  the dress out like you want it.  It does not have to look like a John Singer Sargeant drawing - it can look like a toddler drew it- it's fine! Don't worry if you can't draw for diddly. Neither can I. In fact, to prove it- here is my initial drawing for this dress:

Determine which pattern pieces you will need.  Short or longer sleeves or no sleeves, which length,  which hem , etc. Cut out the pattern pieces that you will need. Cut out on the largest size. That way we can use the pattern later or change sizes later or use two sizes. 

For this pattern I am making the short  gathered skirt  with the short sleeves. 

( I am typing with a band- aid on  my right pointer finger which is my main typing finger and it is driving me crazy! I ripped  a pin through the skin yesterday - on the job injury. It really stings!  Can I file workman's comp on myself....? )  

I cut out the pattern with my rotary cutter and mat. Using the rotary cutter makes it super fast!!

 Once you have them all cut out,  fold them up nicely with the  PATTERN PIECE INFO FACING OUT.  So you can see it quickly. This makes life sooooo much easier! If you get in this habit now,  it will make going back into pattern envelopes  to find one specific piece easy peasy . Otherwise when you need to get a  piece  of the pattern out because oh, let's say you forgot to mark the notches, you don't have to open every single pattern piece to find it.

After I have cut everything out, I fold them with the info facing out  and then I put them into a large ziplock bag.  

Second step:

Photocopy the small pieces. 

I like to photocopy the small pieces like  facings,  collars, sleeves in baby items, pockets,etc. Anything small.  This makes them : 1. easier to deal with and   2.  harder to lose

I photocopied the facings on this pattern. 

That's all for today :) 

Next post: choosing your size!