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Cotton + Steel lightweight cotton lawn in fish print for the main pieces. Solid Cotton + Steel lawn for flat piping. I actually bought these fabrics for masks, but changed my mind.
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The sleeves are sewn in flat, but are short like cap sleeves which I'm not fond of. I lengthened by one inch at the center, leaving the underarm the same length.
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My muslin is made from rayon challis in my stash. It looked like a pretty olive online but in reality is Army Drab. Lol. I experimented with using the coverstitch upside down on the seams and hems for a decorative look.
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Close-up of right side of garment with wrong side of coverstitch showing. I messed with the color on my PC. This is the color I WISH it was!
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Here I'm at the point of sewing on the facing. I always mark the center and seam allowances near the point and sew that first. Clip, turn right side out, and if it looks good I continue to sew the rest of the facing.
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The seam allowance is only 3/8" on this pattern. If they had been wider I would have serged the seam edges before pressing flat. It's raveling. One thing you don't want to do is try to coverstitch over serging except to cross over seams.
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My muslin turned out short in front, even though there is plenty of bust room for me. I clipped up the back, tried it on, and decided to remove 1 1/4" from the back to even out the hem.
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Since the top was already assembled I pinned the side seams together and cut off 1 1/4" at center back tapering to zero at the side seams. Looks funny on the hanger but it's even when I'm wearing it.
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Muslin is done and totally wearable! I like the drape of the rayon challis for this pattern. It's one of the recommended fabrics for it.
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The back hangs nicely, no back wrinkles and the sleeves don't stick out. It's a loose comfy fit but not too loose.
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For the fish print cotton lawn version I lengthened the front 1 1/2" so I wouldn't have to cut off the back like on the muslin. Started at center front tapering to zero at the side seam.
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Since the cotton lawn is thicker than the rayon challis and lacks the same drape I decided to do a pivot and slide 3/4" FBA. That's 3/8" on one side. This gives more bust room but does not widen the hem. I have narrow hips and don't need a wider hip.
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Note that the FBA is done only on the upper front piece. If you want to add more volume to your FBA you would need to pin the upper and lower together and do a slash and spread FBA instead.
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Matching the little fishies! I am making mine asymmetrical and want the side without the piping to look right. Started by marking and pinning under the seam allowance of the lower front..
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Next I matched up the fish, pinned in place, and folded the seam allowance on the pattern piece that will be joined on that line.
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I matched up the paper pattern piece at the seam line at the fold, then used pattern weights to hold it in place. (Or you can pin.)
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Removed the fabric piece I used to line up the fish and folded down the pattern piece. Cut the fabric at the edge of the paper, not the fold. The seam allowances have been accounted for and the print should match when the seam is sewn. (It did!)
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A 24" clear ruler is perfect for cutting bias strips with a rotary cutter. No marking! My strips are 1 1/4" then folded in half. 3/8" SA + 1/4" that will show X 2. Now all raw edges will match up making it easy to sew.
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I sewed my strips together and pressed it in half lengthwise. I'll be using it as one long piece and sew it on as I go. I'm not using cording, just flat piping. I figured cording would be way too bulky at the V of the neck.
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After I interfaced the facing pieces I went ahead and sewed them together, serged the perimeter, and added my SewLibra label. It looks upside down but when done it will be right side up.
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I started by sewing the piping on the right lower front diagonal edge, 1/8" from the edge. I wanted my piping to cross from right shoulder to left waist. I didn't do both sides because I didn't want a big X on my front. Ha!
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Next I pinned the upper front to the lower front making sure I was matching the fish print underneath. That's why there are so many pins, but I pulled out the vertical pins before sewing.
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Here I am sewing the seam with the piping sandwiched between the upper front and lower front. Make sure the rest of the piping is coming out from the top as you'll need that to go around the neck.
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It's sewn, but oops! I should have left the 3/8" seam allowance open at the neck edge because the other upper front has to be sewn to the V of the neck.
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I marked the seam allowance and unpicked it, then backstitched where my stitching ended so it wouldn't come loose when working on the V neck.
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This was it so far. Right about then I had to stop and think for awhile. I knew going into this I would figure it out as I went along with the piping and facing. I wanted the facing because it makes a clean edge, no gaping, and this is not thick fabric
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Before going further I used Wonder Clips on the side seams to see how the FBA worked. It was good! I'm glad I added the 3/4" for this version.
