Feliz sew-along: The Overdress

Various parts of this sew-along can be found here:

Feliz part 1: Yardage
Feliz part 2: Prep
Feliz part 3:Overdress
Feliz part 4: Underdress
Feliz part 5: Straps and final assembly

Here we go!
(Remember, you can click on any of these pictures to enlarge them if needed)

Today i'm going to tackle the overdress or apron part of the dress. My pieces are cut out and here is the overdress laid out in pieces

First step is to sew the ties for the back of the dress.

Fold them in half and iron them, that makes them nice and flat and easy to sew.
Then I sew them on one short end. I follow Nancy's tip and insert a piece of ribbon into that seam.

Then I turn and sew the tie on the long side with the ribbon sandwiched in between the two halves of the tie. Be careful not to catch the ribbon in the seam - keep it to the other side as you sew. Here are my ties. Now if you pull on the ribbon you can easily turn the tie right-side-out. You don't have to use the ribbon, you can use a loop turner or something else, but this method is quick and easy.Snip off the ribbon close to the seam, be careful not to cut your fabric!

Now take a turning tool and poke in one corner of the tie to the center. Press the tie.
Top stitch all the way around. Do this for both ties and set them aside for now.

NOTE: If you plan to add any embroidery, applique or other embellishments to the overdress, now is a good time to do that. It is much easier to embroider on an unfinished garment. I am not doing any embroidery on this dress, so i'm going to keep sewing.

Take the facing piece and finish the long straight edge. Note you don't have to use this facing piece, Nancy suggests this if you are going to insert buttons. If you aren't using buttons you can just finish the edge of the side pieces, but I like the look of a facing better so I'm going to use it anyway, even though I'm not going to add buttons to my dress. I serged my raw edge and turned it over and pressed. Next I will topstitch it.

Lay the facing piece, right sides together, to the side dress pieces and sew this seam.
When you are done, your pieces should look like this.

Press the seam open and fold over the facing piece to wrong side of the side dress pieces and press. Topsitch the outside edge

Now we are going to sew the side seams of the overdress. Take the ties that you made and insert them into the side seam before you sew this seam. Pin in place. It might be a good idea to pin the free end as well just so it doesn't catch into your seam by accident. The ties should be on the wrong side of the dress, facing towards the back of the dress (towards the facing). Sew the seam. Be careful not to sew over the pins (you can baste the ties in place instead of pinning if you prefer)

When you are done it should look like this from the wrong sideand like this from the front.

Now press the seam allowance towards the center of the dress and topstitch.
Instead of topstitching, you could add some ribbon embellishment instead. I'm just topstitching this dress for now.

We are almost done. Next I'm going to hem the bottom of the dress. I fold over the raw edge twice. Since I used a 1/2 seam allowance, I'm going to fold over once at 1/4", press, then fold again at 1/4" and press again. Then I will sew this hem in place.


That is it for the overdress. We are done for now. Next time, we'll tackle the underdress.

Feliz sew-along part deux: The prep

Various parts of this sew-along can be found here:

Feliz part 1: Yardage
Feliz part 2: Prep
Feliz part 3:Overdress
Feliz part 4: Underdress
Feliz part 5: Straps and final assembly

The pattern tracing. This is a european pattern, so you have to trace it out and you have to add seam allowance. I am making size 86/92 this time around. It seems to teeny to me, but then i'm not used to having a 2-yr old anymore.

Tracing tips - there are an endless number of ways to do this. I use a huge roll of butcher paper that I picked up at Costco many years ago. I have heard of everything from clear plastic, to tissue paper, pattern-ease, and soil separator being used. It doesn't really matter, use whatever works for you.

I trace the pieces, then add my seam allowance using a clear quilting ruler. This method words for me because I like to be able to see the lines through my ruler. I like to add 1/2" seam allowance to all my pieces. You can do 5/8", 1/4" or whatever you are used to, doesn't matter - what matters is that you sew your seams to whatever seam allowance you have added.

Some people prefer to use tracing pencils - you can pick them up at many stores that sell sewing notions. These can be purchased in 1/4" and 5/8" versions in the US.

Another option I can think of is a tracing guide for a rotary cutter. I haven't seen one of these d0ohickies in awhile, but it's a guide that attaches to a rotary cutter and used in quilting applications. The guide follows the edge of the pattern pieces, the blade meanwhile is set to cut 1/2" away (or whatever you set it to). You have to be pretty careful when you are cutting out using this method.

Finally (yes there is one more option), you can use a tracing wheel. In this case you are running the wheel over the pattern lines and poking little holes or perforations into your tracing which you can then trace over with a pencil later.

Now to the cutting. I'm going to report the pattern pieces here, in English just in case you don't read german. No? Ok ~ I think a repost is in order.

Here is the pattern piece list:

1 - Front Strap ~ cut 4
2 - Back Strap ~ cut 4
3 - Front Center Overdress ~ cut 1 on fold
3a - Front/Back center underdress ~ cut 2 on fold
4 - Side section overdress ~ cut 2 on fold
4a - Side section underdress ~ cut 2 on fold
5 - Back center facing underdress ~ cut 1 on fold
6 - Ties ~ cut 2 on fold
7 - Back side facing overdress ~ cut 2 (remember to cut one on right side and one on the wrong side of fabric, so you end up with one in each orientation)

That's the list. You may want to add ruffles to the back or bottom of the dress as shown on these flickr examples. I am adding 4" ruffles to the back and bottom of my dress. So I have cut out 4" wide strips x 45" length (basically across my yardage). I usually plan ruffles to be 2x the width I am covering so they are nice and full. But you can do more or less fullness, that's up to you. You will need at least a few 4" wide strips in this case.

Ok I'm off to cut out my pattern pieces. I should add that I always use a rotary cutter and pattern weights to hold down my pieces. I haven't cut out using pins and scissors in over a decade. I discovered rotary cutters on a strip quilting project ages ago and never looked back. You don't have to do this, but it sure makes the job alot easier and no pinning is involved. You do need a self sealing cutting mat though - be forewarned ~ lest you ruin your grandma's beloved antique dining table. Yikes.

Stay tuned for part three!

Feliz sew-along

Various parts of this sew-along can be found here:

Feliz part 1: Yardage
Feliz part 2: Prep
Feliz part 3:Overdress
Feliz part 4: Underdress
Feliz part 5: Straps and final assembly


Ok fabric fanatics, ready for some fun? Want to try the Feliz dress but have been intimated by the scuttle-butt? Don't be, this dress is really quite simple when you break it down into sections. I'm going to be making this lovely pattern again, twice actually as I'm getting ready to embark on this for Christmas gifts for my twin nieces. So grab your Feliz pattern, some fun fabrics and get ready for a sew-along.

What you need is the Studio Tantrum Feliz pattern, you can get this from many online vendors including Banberry place, BunteFabrics, Sewzannes , Fabritopia, and probably a few others I don't know about yet. There is already a PDF photo tutorial in English from Studio Tantrum, so if you can't join me in doing this now, you can always follow this in the future. There are also many design examples at Farbenmix, on the Farbenmix Flickr site, and at the Farbenwiki if you want some more inspiration and design ideas.

What I love about this design is the great twirl-ability of it ~ and it looks lovely on every model pic I've ever seen ~ two reasons to make it right there.


Ok now for the fun. After you have the pattern, you need some yardage. Think about how you will put this dress together. It has essentially an apron or overdress, and an underdress. Both of these dresses are composed of different pattern sections, so you can use 2 different fabrics for the apron portion if you like. Note that you don't see a lot of the underdress except during the twirl, so you might choose to make the majority of that one, all one fabric. You can mix up the fabrics a little here to play up the prints or use a solid front and a print under - completely up to you. Add some fun embroidery or applique on the front if you like, or use ribbon trims to embellish.
Here is my plain jane school dress Feliz - pretty simple fabric choices ~ A solid denim top and pretty much one fabric for the underdress. Not too exciting, but perfect for school.


Yardage - the pattern envelope calls for meters of fabric not yards. So you will have to do a little conversion since most fabrics in the US are either 45" or 58-60" wide. The Euro fabric called for in the pattern is 140cm wide or about 55". There is a handy conversion chart here. Plus you will need to convert the length from cm to yards. For example, the size 134/140 Feliz dress calls for 145cm of fabric for the overdress, or about 1.6 yds (let's say 1 5/8 yds). However, I need to use 45" wide fabric, not 55" wide fabric, so I consult the chart and it suggests 2 1/8 yds of 45" fabric, in place of 1 3/4 for 54" fabric (which is the closest estimation on the chart). When in doubt round up, you will probably have extra fabric left over and you could probably get away with less if you are careful cutting it out. Similarly, I need about 2 1/8 yds for the underdress in sz 134.

Ok gather up your supplies and we'll start in a few days, i'll give you time to get that pattern ordered if you need to. Meanwhile, I will start snapping photos.

Feliz part 2: Prep
Feliz part 3:Overdress
Feliz part 4: Underdress
Feliz part 5: Straps and final assembly