SUZY the dress - Sewalong

A bold dress inspired by the 80’s featuring short batwing sleeves, a high neck, pockets and a concealed zipper in the back. The princess seams add some shaping for a more fitted silhouette.

Get your copy, measurements and required material for this project here!

Terminology
For a definition of the words ending with an asterisk (*), refer to the "terminology" section of the document "Instructions-A4-Letter.pdf".


Sewalong

Unless stated otherwise, sew at 1 cm (⅜") from the edge. To edge-finish with a SEWING MACHINE, sew with a zigzag stitch over the edge of the fabric to prevent fraying. To edge-finish with a 3-THREADS OVERLOCKER (SERGER), sew by placing the edge of the fabric close to the knife.

Preparations:
1-Fuse* the pocket band (A), the sleeve facings (I) and the collar pieces (J).Then, fuse the stay-tapes on the center back seam allowances* of the center back pieces (G). Place the tapes between the neckline and the marking, at 0.3cm (⅛”) of the fabric edges.

Front pockets:
2-Fold one long edge on each pocket band (A) at 1 cm (⅜”) to the wrong side. Press the fold. Then, fold the bands lengthwise, with WRONG SIDES TOGETHER, leaving a gap of 1 cm (⅜”) between the long edges. Press the fold.



3-With WRONG SIDES TOGETHER, baste* the lower front sides (B) to the pocket linings (C), at the pocket opening edges.



4-Sew a pocket band (A) to each lower front sides (B), catching also the pocket lining (C). Sew the right side of the band against the right side of the lining. Then, press the seam allowances* up.



5-On the right side of the garment, pin the bottom edge of the pocket band (A) over the seam line to conceal the stitches. Then, sew the band in place by edge-stitching* the bottom.



6-With RIGHT SIDES TOGETHER*, sew the pocket lining (C) to the upper front side (D), at the bottom edges. Edge-finish the seam allowances*.



7-Baste* the upper and lower side front pieces in place at the side and princess. Be sure to match up the hip notches.



Gathering & attaching the sleeves:
8-Pick one sleeve (E) and baste* the sleeve head. Sew first at 0.6 cm (¼”) from the fabric edge, then at 1.2 cm (½”). Be sure to leave long thread trails at the end of the seams. Then, pull gently the thread trails to create gathers. Repeat this step with the second sleeve.



9-With RIGHT SIDES TOGETHER*, sew the sleeves (E) to the upper front side pieces (D) and the side back pieces (F). Then, edge-finish the seam allowances* and press up. Topstitch* the seams.



Invisible zipper:
10-Edge-finish the center back seam allowances* on the back pieces (G). Then, open the invisible zipper and, with its face against the right side of the fabric, pin one side of the zipper to the corresponding center back seam allowance. Place the top stopper at 1.2 cm (⅜”) below the neckline edge and the teeth on the seam line (1 cm - ⅜”).



11-Install the invisible zipper foot and sew close to the zipper teeth by inserting them inside the grove of the zipper foot. Sew between the neckline edge and the marking.



12-Sew the other side of the zipper to the remaining center back (G) using the same method. Close the zipper.



13-Install the zipper foot. With RIGHT SIDES TOGETHER*, sew the center back pieces (G) at the center seam, from the marking to the bottom edges. Press the seams open.



Shoulders, princess seams & side seams:
14-With RIGHT SIDES TOGETHER*, sew the center back pieces (G) to the front (H), at the shoulders. Edge-finish the seam allowances and press to the back.



15-With RIGHT SIDES TOGETHER*, sew the side pieces and the sleeves to the center pieces. Be sure to match up the corresponding notches and if the sleeves don’t fit yet into the armholes, pull the thread trails to gather even more. Then, edge-finish the seam allowances* and press to the center. Topstitch* the seams.



16-With RIGHT SIDES TOGETHER*, sew the front and back of the garment together at the side and underarm seams. Then, edge-finish the allowances* and press to the back.



Sleeve facing:
17-With RIGHT SIDES TOGETHER, sew the short sides of each sleeve facing (I). Press the seams open. Then, fold the inner edges at 1 cm (⅜”) to the wrong side. Press the fold.



18-With RIGHT SIDES TOGETHER*, sew one sleeve facing (I) to the bottom of the corresponding sleeve (E). Be sure to match up the seam on the facing with the underarm seam of the sleeve. Then, trim the seam allowances* to half and repeat to the other side with the remaining sleeve facing.



19-Under-stitch* the sleeve facings (I) and turn to the wrong side of the garment. Press the seamed edge. Then, pin along the facings and sew in place by edge-stitching* the inner edges. Press.



Collar:
20-With RIGHT SIDES TOGETHER*, sew the collar pieces (J) together all around the edges, leaving an opening in the bottom, between the center back notches. Trim the seam allowances* to half and trim the corners to an angle.



21-Clip the center back notches just to the sewing line. Be careful to not cut through the stitches. Then, fold one bottom edge of the collar at 1 cm (⅜”) to the wrong side.



22-Turn the collar right side out and bring out the corners. Press the seamed edges. Then, sew the collar to the neckline edges, matching up the corresponding notches. Sew with the right side of the collar against the wrong side of the garment.



23-On the right side of the garment, pin the bottom edge of the collar over the seam line to conceal the stitches. Then, sew the collar in place by edge-stitching* the bottom. Press.



Hem:
24-Fold the bottom edge of the garment at 1 cm (⅜”), then at 2 cm (¾”) to the wrong side. Sew the folded edges and press.



Button & buttonhole:
25-Sew one button on one side of the collar, according to the pattern symbol. Then, following your preferred method, make one horizontal buttonhole on the other side of the collar, according to the pattern symbol. Open the buttonhole with a seam ripper or a buttonhole cutter.

WELL DONE! You have completed Suzy! Show us your take on this project using the hashtag #calicotsuzy. If you have any comments or questions, let us know by writing us an email at info@studiocalicot.com.

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