Monday, August 9, 2010

The Yellow Dress Part #1: Underlining

The yellow dress I'm making (see the muslin here) is now nicknamed the "No Shortcuts Dress." Every time I think something like, "Hey, wouldn't it be easier to just baste that by machine?" I tell myself, "No shortcuts!" And that's that. (Sometimes if I speak very sternly to myself, I actually listen.)

The construction on this dress is pretty involved, so I'm just taking it step by step, and I thought I would document each step here, since you lovely readers seem to be interested in this kind of thing, right? (My primary reference book on this project is Bridal Couture by Susan Khalje, by the way.) Step one? Cut out out the underlining and the fashion fabric, and baste the two together.

For those not familiar, underlining is a second layer of fabric that supports the fashion fabric, gives it body, and gives you something to hand-stitch interior elements (like a hidden hem) to. I'm using silk organza underlining for this project, which is one of the most common underlinings for dresses. You can also use muslin, batiste, flannel, or any number of fabrics, depending on what your desired outcome is.

Color is an interesting consideration for underlining. For lighter colored fashion fabric, your underlining can actually influence its hue. A bright white underlining will make your fashion fabric brighter, while an intensely colored underlining will make your fashion fabric brighter. Because the yellow of my faille is very soft, I chose a bright yellow underlining to give it an extra pop.

I cut my silk organza underlining first, and then marked it with tracing paper. (Note: I'm using my muslin as the pattern, with a single-layer layout for the most accuracy.) (Update: you can't see the grainline in these pics, but don't worry - it's there!)

Next, I cut the fashion fabric out (the yellow faille). Some sources will tell you to use your underlining pieces as the pattern pieces to cut out your fashion fabric. I'm going with Khalje's instructions to use your muslin as the pattern once again. Silk organza is so shifty that I don't really trust it to work as a pattern.

There's no need to mark the fashion fabric at all. Here are the two pieces, side by side.


The organza gets layered on the wrong side of the faille. Now both pieces are marked! (See the light blue dart outline?)


Next, pin and then hand baste both pieces together. There will be that little voice in your head saying, "Hey, wouldn't it be easier to just baste that by machine?" And to that you must say, "No shortcuts!" Machine basting makes the layers shift and pucker. I used a white cotton thread for basting, I stitched just inside the 1" seam allowance.

Now the two layers can be treated as one. Here's the machine-stitched dart:

Next up, part #2: stitching the bodice, applying the twill tape to the top edge, and inserting the bra cups!

25 comments:

  1. Oh, this looks like serious sewing!

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  2. Thank you for writing about the details of the contruction. It's for this kind of posts that I started to read your blog, even if I also like the other kind of posts.
    Good luck and don't forget not to take shortcuts ;)

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  3. Thanks so much for sharing the step-by-step construction of this--it's going to be fascinating to watch the dress come together! I love underlining and hand basting things, although I rarely do it. It may take a bit longer, but it's definitely worth the final outcome and few extra minutes of time. ;)

    Once again... I'm in love with that yellow!!!

    ♥ Casey
    blog | elegantmusings.com

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  4. Hi! just wanted to let you know, in the costuming world (where we use a TON of underlining and couture techniques) most use the underlining piece as the pattern and it gets basted on before the fashion fabric gets cut (that process is called flat lining) so that the underlining doesn't shift around. So, that's one way of doing it too. Thanks for sharing your process! I love your garments!

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  5. This is a great post, Gertie. Thanks. Emily L. - thanks for your tip. I just learned a bunch of sewing tips and it's only 8:03 A.M!

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  6. hiya! just found your blog a few days ago and i'm loving it!!!! i've made a few costume pieces before but nothing like what you're doing, and am really enjoying learning from your posts. thanks! :D

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  7. Looking good!

    I do it as Emily describes too, it's faster and seems to keep everything in its place.

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  8. Wow. This is a great post. thanks, this will be really helpful.

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  9. Hi Gertie! I am the exact opposite! I tell myself everytime during the sewing process: No basting... it should work only with pins and I can use the machine. I learned sewing when I was young, 30 years ago. My teacher was an old seamstress who practiced all these vintage-sewing technics... and everthing took soooo long. My greatest wish is to unlearn this snail's pace when I am sewing. ;)
    However - thank you so much for your step by step instructions, they are very interesting. :-)

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  10. Hi gertie!!
    Thank you so much for sharing this step by step it's so nice!!!

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  11. Do you use basting thread when you baste? If not I really recommend it. The real geniality of basting thread is that when you need to remove the basting thread later on (after perhaps already having sewn over it) the thread breaks easily, making it an easy job removing the basting thread.

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  12. Wow, usually I allow myself the shortcuts. It kind of makes me feel like a slacker to read all this. However, there's one thing I noticed about the pictures of your fabric to be cut. As a patternmaker, I have learned only too well the importance of the grainline. It struck me that there's no grainline marked in your muslin pattern pieces, and no reference made to this in your text. Surely you didn't ignore the straight grain during all this involved construction work?

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  13. Great tip, Emily. Thanks!

    Lauriana, there is indeed a grainline. It's marked in a lighter color on the muslin, so it's not showing up in the pictures.

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  14. Excellent! I have some seersucker that I want to underline because of its sheerness and I've been having fits over how to do it. Did you baste along the dart legs as well?

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  15. If you're going to the trouble to hand baste, wouldn't it make sense to baste up the dart lines as well? It seems to me that the fabric could still shift when sewing the dart.

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  16. Goodness, I sure do have a lot of people checking my work! I'll baste the darts next time too, I promise. Though they didn't feel shifty when I pinned them.

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  17. And of course I appreciate you checking my work! :)

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  18. Oh yeah, that silk organza is a shifty little guy. I underlined the midriff sections for a silk dress I made earlier this year and I was surprised at how much I didn't mind the hand sewing. Granted, it was a really small section, but still.

    Can't wait to see the evolution and eventual birth of this dress. :)

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  19. I've never heard of underlining. I'm still pretty new to this whole thing, so I feel like I'm learning 10 new things every day! I'll be keeping an eye on this project to see what else I can learn from you!

    Great blog, by the way! I've really enjoyed reading your posts the last few weeks. :)

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  20. I have been curious about underlining, so this post was great. Thanks for posting about this subject.

    (BTW - those bigger hand-stitches really hold the underlining to the fashion fabric?!)

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  21. I cannot express how much help this project of yours is going to give me! I don't have my Bridal C' book yet by SK, but I will soon. I will be making a daughter's wedding gown and detachable train (think "Sabrina") plus a bolero. Summerset (@Pins and Needles) advised me to get the SK book and also regarding underlining and lining. Thank you, thank you for all this assistance. You help make my sewing BETTER! I appreciate all the pix and tips. Great advice!

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  22. Good for you to do this by hand! I underlined -- once. It was poly chiffon and poly chiffon (one more transparent, one more opaque) and even with pins there was a good deal of shifting with the machine. It's looking good so far.

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  23. Such a great post...I can't wait to see the finished product!
    I too have wanted to hand sew more details in my garments, and might try to in my next project: a pleated high waisted skirt...
    I really want to line my skirt to give it more durability, so I was wondering if you knew a good book about sewing linings?
    Any help would be great!

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  24. Thanks so much for showing us the steps in making your dress! Sewing is one of those things where it really helps to see something done, and I am going to have to underline a dress I'll be making soon, so I really look forward to reading your posts.

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  25. This is great - I'm so behind on blog-reading that I get to read all of the yellow dress posts, one after another!
    I just read Couture Sewing Techniques and there's so much hand-sewing, but it does seem to make a difference in the quality! Lovely job so far. Now, to the next Yellow Dress post!

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Thanks for your comments; I read each and every one! xo Gertie

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