Sponsored Post- LLK Peasant-Style Sewalong- Day 2- Bodice

Welcome back, readers! This is day 2 of the LLK Peasant-Style Sewalong. Today, we will be focusing on sewing and completing the bodice for the Aria Tuxedo Ruffle Dress.

If you haven't started sewing, yet, it's not too late to join in!

Day 1- Getting Started

Alright, onto today's task- sewing the bodice!

Day 2- Bodice

Armholes:
Go ahead and grab your 2x bodice pieces and 2x sleeve pieces.

Take one bodice piece and lay it right side up, horizontally, like so:

Bodice Piece laid out.

Fold it over (left to right- fold should be on your left, when viewing the fabric).

Bodice Piece folded.

Place your armhole pattern piece in the upper right corner (see picture, below). Make sure that your top, straight edge is lined up with the top, straight edge of your bodice piece. Make sure that the side, straight edge is lined up with the UNFOLDED, straight edge of your bodice piece. Mark and cut out armhole. Repeat this step with the second bodice piece and the 2x sleeve pieces.

Pattern Piece Placement.

You should end up with something that looks like this:

Sleeve Piece and Cutaway Shown (Same applies to the bodice pieces).

Tuxedo Ruffle:
Now, take your tuxedo piece and sew through "Adding the Tuxedo Ruffle." This is where I'm going to jump in with a couple of my own notes. The tutorial says to start ruffling 1/2" down. Personally, I would have started down- approx. 1"- to prevent extra bulk when creating the neck casing. Ruffle and gather your tuxedo piece to be shorter than the height of your bodice piece. This is where I took my center waist sash, laid it on top of my bodice and estimated where my ruffle needed to stop so that it would not create extra bulk under the center waist sash (and yet still lay smoothly under the center waist sash). For size 5, my ruffle was approx. 5" long (not including the smooth, un-ruffled part that will eventually lay under the center waist sash). See picture:

Attached Tuxedo Ruffle.

After you have attached the tuxedo ruffle to the center of the front of the bodice, feel free to add trim/lace. I added a bit of ric-rac to hide the center of my ruffle.

Center Waist Sash:
Take your center waist sash piece and fold one long  edge under 1/4" to the wrong side of the fabric. Do this for one side, only! Line up the top edge (that you just folded under 1/4") of the center waist sash  and place it 5/8" under the bottom armhole opening.

Center Waist Sash Placement.

Make sure you are straight and even across the width of the bodice. Using a narrow seam allowance- I like to use the inside of my presser foot as a guide- attach the center waist sash to the front bodice. Trim any excess fabric (I did not personally have any extra fabric hanging off the edges). You should end up with something like this:

Attaching Sleeve to Bodice:
Using the pattern- front bodice, sleeve, back bodice, sleeve- sew along the armhole openings. Right sides should always face right sides. You should end up with something like this:

Bodice and Sleeves.

This would be a great time to finish your edges where the bodice meets the sleeve, etc. Serge or use a narrow zig-zag to finish and prevent fraying and unraveling. I do not own a serger. So, I just use a narrow overlock stitch to get the job done. :-) Easy peasy.

Side Waist Sashes:
Now it's time to sew the side waist sashes. Sew through "Preparing the Sides Waist Sashes."

Don't forget to topstich around three sides, leaving one short end open. Align the top edge of your now finished side sash with the top edge of the center waist sash. Pin in place.

Side Sash Placement- align sash tops.

Preparing the Bodice:
Sew through the step, "Preparing the Bodice." Just a friendly reminder to make sure that your side sashes don't get in the way of your side seams!

At this point, your bodice should look something like this:

Bodice without elastic neckline/sleeves.

Adding Elastic to the Neckline and Sleeves:
Sew through "Adding Elastic to the Neckline" and "Adding Elastic to the Sleeves." Use the measurements on slide 15 to mark/cut the elastic for both the sleeves and the neckline.

Secure your elastic! (Nobody said that it had to be pretty- just make sure it'll hold!)

A little tip- watch out for your tuxedo ruffles when you are creating the neckline casing..... ask me how I know.... ;-P

Now, you should have a finished bodice that looks a lot like this!

Finished Bodice! Yay!

Take a little break and give yourself a pat on the back- you've created the bodice to the Aria Tuxedo Ruffle Dress!!

Happy Sewing,

Heather

http://www.allthingskaty.blogspot.com/