Scalloped Corduroy Dress is Finished!

But first, I promised to show you how to construct a piped collar using Gail Doane's technique.  First, trace the pattern onto the fabric, in this case, navy blue corduroy. The important thing is to keep the fabric in a block. It's much easier to handle and won't stretch.

Pin the piping in place. Since the seam line of the piping is exactly 3/8 inch (10 mm), line the outer edge of the piping with the cutting line of the collar, and the seam line of the piping will fall right on the seam line of the collar. Sew the piping in place, very slowly, using the needle down feature on your machine if you have it to help with stitching around the curves.

Back view of the interfaced collar. At this point, add the lining (the blue micro check just barely visible on the lower left hand corner). Sew over the stitching line from when the piping was sewn on, then sew again 1/16 inch (1.5 mm) into the seam allowance.

Trim very close to the second stitching. Look, no clipping the seam allowance required!

Turn right side out, press well, and rough cut the neck opening. I stitched just inside the cutting line for stability. At this point the collar can be attached to the neckline of the jacket and will fit perfectly.

This shows the piping added to the back yoke overlay; lots of clipping and pinning to get the piping to fit around the curve. The clipped seam allowances will all be cut off, just as with the collar.

The finished coat, with micro check cotton lining and contrast cuffs.

The back has a yoke overlay.

The overlay has the micro check lining, and three covered buttons.

The finished dress. I like that it is a bit tailored, the only the sleeves are gathered, and those very slightly. The skirt and the ruffle on the front are pleated, as I mentioned in the previous post on this dress. 

Close up of the buttons. The coat and dress had a total of 10 covered buttons. Gail's instructions are to embroider cast on flowers on the fabric before making the buttons, and included in the kit was the floss for this. However, I find cast on flowers very frustrating, as they are made with three strands of floss which I find don't slide well on the needle. Gail's of course, are beautiful, mine, not so much.  So I ordered a variegated pink/white size 40 tatting thread along with some green, then tatted the flowers before sewing onto the button fabric. The ladies in the tatting group loved them.  I hope to get a photo of my granddaughter wearing the dress soon. I am amazed that these photos came out as well as they did, as it is grey and snowing outside. 

If you get a chance to take a class from Gail or make a kit, I encourage you to do so! They are not for beginners, so you do need to know a bit about heirloom sewing before you tackle a project like this. You also need to have patience and to willingness to take things very slowly, especially with piping. However, her instructions are extremely detailed with lots of photos showing what each step should look like. The kits are pricy, this was $125, I think, but the materials are very high quality and everything matches beautifully. There is also plenty of fabric to make the largest size without having to skimp and rearrange the pieces so they fit. Maybe after the New Year I'll try another! 

I hope all of you have a very Merry Christmas with your loved ones! I'm very busy with preparations and will post sometime next week, but may not have much to show for it.