Friday, November 14, 2008

Pleating on the Copper Dress

Reading the instructions that BWOF provides can be a real adjustment for any "visual" person, like myself. It takes me a few read-throughs, then a few more with fabric in hand before I'm ready to stitch, so I thought this visual pleating procedure might be helpful for anyone trying this pattern. Keep in mind that I didn't use a woven like the pattern recommended, so I used fusible interfacing to "lock" the knit in place, then I proceeded with the pleating instructions.

The Burda instructions read:
"...mark 7 lengthwise pleat folds on wrong side of fabric pieces for waist sections. Space first (top) fold 4cm from upper lengthwise edge of fabric piece, then mark 6 more folds, spaced 3 cm apart. There should be 5 cm left at bottom edge of fabric." I have extra space at the bottom because I wanted to work with a larger piece, and trim it down after all the pleating was finished.











"Use a fine needle and fine sewing thread to transfer fold lines to the right fabric side with basting stitches."











"Press all folds (on right side of fabric), except for the top fold, and baste exactly 1 cm from each fold edge with small hand stitches. Press folds down." Here's where I strayed... I can't stand handstitching, so I used my machine. Most of the stitching is hidden, but if I had to do over again, I would've sucked it up, and done the hand-stitching to really make the work invisible. I pressed them all, including the top one.












"Press top fold and lay downward over basting of second fold." I stitched on the wrong side to make this pleat lay flat. Pressing, pressing, and more pressing (especially because this is an interfaced knit) is how I ended up with such a nice, flat result. And, you have to do all these steps twice... once for the front panel and again for the back.






I've gotten some wonderful feedback on this dress, and I don't want anyone to get the wrong impression. I really do like it, and think I need to impose a 24 hour waiting period on posting after completing a garment! It's like when you try a new recipe, and do all the preparation and cooking, that by the time your ready to eat, you're tired of looking at it and smelling it, and you're mind plays a little trick on you. "Is it good, or do I just think it's good because I went to all that work making it?" Maybe not... maybe I just hate to cook!

1 comment:

Bunny said...

Great tute on the pleated band. You did a great job.