Princess Seams

I *heart* sewing class.
Last night Carla & I had sewing class. Last week was just cutting but this week we got to start sewing. Oh the heart swoons!

This is what I learned last night.
Ease plus stitch
work flat
pressing ham

EASE-PLUS
I used the ease plus stitch to work my princess seams in the front of the bodice.

Here is a description of the method.
For blouses my favorite method is the ease-plus method as I have described a few times: stitch ON the stitching line, holding your finger behind the presser foot to disallow fabric feeding. This will sufficiently ease in the cap in lightweight fabrics. If you need to work a little more in, you can pull the thread a little more - if you have too much, break the thread in a few places.

Check out my princess seams



Princess seams run down the length of the bodice and are used in place of darts to make the close fit. I pressed the princess seams using the pressing ham. (Not to be confused with this type of pressing ham) The pressing ham really helps to create the shape of the garment. Much easier than trying to press the seams open on the flat ironing board. Gotta get one of those.

WORK FLAT
Capril, the wonder sewing teacher, also taught us to work the garment flat and not necessarily in the order as the packaged directions. This means that we created the front and the back of our dresses.


In one night the dress is practically done. Look a front (L) and back (R).

Next week: zippers!!!!

The thought of waiting 6 more days until the next sewing class is killing me. Sewing is very exciting, especially as we are in the very capable hands of Capril. She is a calm and reassuring presence as well as being an extremely knowledgeable teacher. When she speaks, it is a complete foreign language to me. I see her mouth move, I hear the words (in English, mind you) but I don't often comprehend what she is saying. Then I follow her direction or she shows me what to do and it works and it starts to sink in a little bit. I know I will have to keep on sewing so the skills start to make sense. So that the words and the flat pieces of fabric before me gain focus and take shape. The process is really exciting. I know I started this post by stating that I *heart* sewing.

And I mean it.

I *heart* sewing.