Playdress (or nightgown)

I’ve been pretty addicted to trying out different sewing projects and here’s another one. I found this cute cotton knit fabric at Joann’s and thought I’d give knits a try. Well… they sure are a handful to work w/… probably more so since I’m a beginner sewer or seamstress… whatever they call it

I used the same pattern I made for the other two projects (the scallop shirt and the pleated shirt) and finally got up the nerve to make myself sleeves for the dress. So i cut out a front and back for the dress (I made it much longer to make it a dress, though my pattern is for a shirt). Then I cut out two sleeves and had to think about it when I cut so that the cats won’t be upside down when I put them onto the dress.

I sewed the shoulders together for the front and back dress pieces then gathered the sleeves

Next, I pinned the sleeves onto the armhole of the dress

looks funny… but that’s what I did

Then I contemplated putting a green strip of fabric in the middle, but decided against it and just drew some lines almost right under the arms and sewed it w/ elastic thread (the elastic thread only goes in the bottom bobbin)

See how it’s starting to gather so it’ll make a waist for the dress (I read somewhere to iron the elastic part afterwards to make it gather more) so I did that and I think it worked.

Then I sewed the sides and the underside of the sleeves (obviously not the part where you arms go through)

This is the neckband w/ the bias… that was the hardest part. I found a really good video where the lady explains how to do it without stretching it out and making it look wobbly/wrinkled. Basically, you pin around and pull the neckband and stretch it out around the curves so that the knit fabric doesn’t stretch. I tried to find the video again so I could post the link… but I can’t find it! I’m sure if you search online you’ll get some other good videos or tutorials for it. Sorry