Feliz part 1: Yardage
Feliz part 2: Prep
Feliz part 3:Overdress
Feliz part 4: Underdress
Feliz part 5: Straps and final assembly
Okay, today we will sew together the straps and finish off the dress. To start, i'll align one front strap and one back strap together as shown here. Sew the center seam.
Then I'll sew the side seams (the long edges) of the strap, with right sides facing. Then turn the straps right side out and press.
Next, topstitch the straps on the long-edges. Set the straps aside for a moment.
Now we're going to put the over and underdress sections together. To do this, align the top edges of the overdress and underdress sections with the right side of the overdress facing the wrong side of the underdress.
Now we are going to insert the straps in between these two dress layers, so that the straps are sandwiched in between. The strap will attach at the marking from the pattern piece. Sandwich the strap so that the straight edge of the strap facing towards the center of the front panels of the dress and the curved edge faces out towards the sides of the dress.
Pin or baste the strap in place. Now you will need to curve that strap towards the back of the dress and pin in place as well. Be sure you aren't twisting the strap, you want it to lie flat once you are done. This diagram will hopefully explain the strap positioning between the dress layers. The strap is the shaded outline.
Pin the rest of the top edges of the two dresses together and then sew.
Be careful not to catch the ties in your seam.
Remember that 1/2" overhang you left when you assembled the underdress? Well now you are going to trim that off. I usually trim the corner here so that it doesn't show once the dress is right-side out. I just nip off the corner at a diagonal as shown by the scissor point.
Now turn the dress right side out. It should look like this.
Press the top edge with your iron and topstitch.
Now we're ready to make the casings for the ties. I align my dress so that it lies flat, positioning the strap where it should line between the two dress layers. I mark the sewing line using my ruler. Make sure the casing is wide enough for the strap to fit and not catch in the seam. On mine, I mark the lines about 1/4" from the edge of the strap. Pin the strap in place so it doesn't move while you are sewing.
It should look like this when you are done.
We're almost done with this dress. I'm going to attach the ruffle to the bottom edge of the underdress, fold the seam allowance up and topstitch in place.
That's it!! The Feliz is ready to go! Press and enjoy :)
26 comments:
You have done a wonderful job on this sewalong! How do you get your topstitching so perfect? Especially along the ruffle... when I have something bumpy it makes it hard to get it straight!
Wow, you've made this look so easy! Thank you so much for this sew-along, this is one of those patterns that I absolutely love but am (or now I should say "was") terrified of trying! Thank you!!!!
Natalie ~ I have a handy foot for my machine that is actually a blindstitch foot. I has a guide that i can run along the edge of the fabric and my machine allows me to adjust the needle position over 1/8" - perfect topstitching every time.
Oh I think I have that foot and that's a good trick. Thanks!! Does it go ok over bumpy things?
Yes the blindstitch foot will go over the ruffles - you might have to lift your presser foot up at very bumpy places such as the seam allowance, but it works very well. Leave you needle down in the fabric so it doesn't shift when you lift the presser foot.
I'm behind and just starting my Feliz... will you PLEASE leave this sew along up for a little while... please please pretty please. :)
Thanks for all your help!!! :D
This sew-along will always be up in the Freebies section in the sidebar. At least as long as blogger deems it so :)
Thank you for the great tutorial included the pictures of the ruffles!
Nice greetings from Germany
Sabine
Thankyou so much for this- I finished two last night and had to keep running from the machine to the computer!!!! The instructions were good and really added to the official ones. Have you done a link to this from the farbenwiki????
-Junamara
Thank you for a fantastic sew-along! I just completed my first Feliz and found your pictures very helpful.
This sew along is GREAT! you did a great job with getting all the details.
Thanks! I've made three dresses following your sew along.
Carol
Thank you so much for the fabulous sew-a-long! I was in a big hurry to make this dress for Christmas and I dont think I would have been able to finish it in time if it wasnt for your fantastic instructions and pictures.
Thankyou so much for your wonderful sew-a-long! I just made a Feliz for my DD, and really enjoyed sewing it. I never did read the instructions that came with the pattern :)
Cheers, Liz
I opened the pattern and was a little confused. I learned allot from your sew along.
Thanks so much. This was great.
I just wanted you to know that I finished my second Feliz dress, and the second one that I made with your help actually looks like the one on the pattern!
I don't know if my pattern was a fluke, but there were no markings for placement of straps, sash, or much of anything...
Good thing I've been sewing for a while or I'd have gone and read the instructions and really been confused!
Thanks so much for your wonderful sew along, the DGD is very impressed with her twirly dresses!
Thank you so much for this Tutorial! I finished my daughter's Easter Dress today and it's beautiful! Next tackle - the Vida. Do you happen to have a tut for that one?
I don't have a VIDA tute - but you can check the farbenwiki - there are many great links there. The link is up at the top of the page in the sidebar.
Thank you so so much for outting this together. I started my dress about 9pm last night, took a few breaks inbetween, and went to bed at 1am. I started again at 10:30 am Finsihed at 11:47. You made it so easy! I did my overdress out of eylet and The bottom out of pink and whote damask with silver gitter. this will be my DD's birthday/easter dress.
oh and P.S I love love SMJ ;)
We finally have pictures of the Feliz I made for my daughter and I'd love to share it with you. I posted them to my blog if you'd like to view them. :)
Ann
This has been awesome! I really appreciate it! I never even looked at the directions it came with- I got scared off by all the reviews. I made this dress for my 2 year old to wear to my sister's wedding rehearsal in late August. I'm sure it will be a hit! I also bought more fabric at the store this afternoon to make a Christmas dress. I don't think you need as much fabric as they recommend, however. I have a huge amount of overdress fabric left. Used maybe 1/2 yd total. No ruffles out of that fabric, though.
This was sooooo helpful:) Thank you! I'll post to flickr once I get a chance to take some photos!
I just want to say thank you for such a detailed tutorial. It was the tipping point for me. I'm now committed to making three Feliz flower girl dresses for my sister-in-law's wedding. I'm not sure I would have chosen this pattern if it weren't for your tutorial, but I think the dresses will be amazing.
Your awesome Feliz tutorial is still in use! I'll be using it this week to make my daughters' matching Easter dresses. Thank you so much for doing this! I purchased the newly published book containing this pattern, but it didn't include instructions for ruffles, and had only 2 pictures! So glad I have you to turn to!
I just finished making this dress for a friends daughter and I have to say I AM IN LOVE!!!! It came out great and I think she's going to love it!!!! Only took 2 days -- one to cut and one to sew! I was expecting it to take so much longer! You're directions were so easy to follow and made it much easier to get this done! Thanks so much!!
Thank you so much!
What ever would I have done without you??
I managed to make a dress for my little girl's special day all thanks to you.
I'll post a picture up soon on sewingmamas.com.
I actually made the dress entirely out of pretty sheets and it worked brilliantly!
thank you again for your time and generosity.
Thank You so much for having this tutorial still up. I would be completely lost without it!!
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