White Linen Dress - sewing fast!!!

I am very eager to make this dress. I adore the fabric, a soft washed linen. And I know I will love to wear such a drapey comfortable dress.

​The pattern is simple and I really don't need to do any fitting. So, I am going to show you how to organize your sewing to be fast and efficient.

And what you see in the photo above, is all the instructions StyleArc gives. Basically a clear assembly diagram, which I love. And some written instructions for sewing order, but not the kind of instructions you would get from Simplicity. 

Link to StyleArc Sydney Dress

To sew quickly, I prepare and stitch as many parts as I can at one sitting reading down the instructions looking for what bits can be sewn first. And then I take everything I've sewn to my ironing board for pressing. 
I repeat this and as I work the garment comes together in big chucks.

Because there aren't as many notches in a StyleArc pattern, I keep the pattern pieces near by to be sure I am fitting things together correctly.

I tried several different kinds of interfacing on some scrap fabric and decided a lightweight interfacing on both the facing AND on the main fabric works best.

I will list how I organized my sewing in groups.

Sewing phase #1
Pockets onto front and side front skirt pieces
Sew back skirt to side back skirts
Shoulder seams of bodice front and back
Join front and back neck facing

​Finish seams - press

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This fabric wiggles all over the place and I needed to use LOTS of pins to control things while sewing. I could have sewn faster with less wiggly fabric.

Sewing phase #2
Sew facing to neck
​Sew front skirt to side front skirt (including pockets)
Sew front and back hem band together
Finish sleeve bottom to prepare for hemming

Finish seams - press

I decided to finish all the seams, facing edge and hem edges with just a simple zigzag. Since you can slightly see through this white fabric, a zigzag finish is less likely to show through to the outside.

Sewing Phase #3
Sew front and back skirt together
Clip neck hole seam and then understitch facing seam to help the facing roll to the inside of the neckline better. (left hand photo)

​​Finish seams - press - also press facing to inside of neck

AND while the sleeve is still open press the hem of the sleeve up for sewing later ... So much easier to do now.

Sewing Phase #4

​Pin down facing and topstitch it to bodice. This is a decorative topstitch.
Attach bottom band

​Finish seams - press

Final finishing up

Sewing underarm seam
Finish underarm seam
Clip underarm seam
then Hand Whip where the seam was clipped, because clipping creates ew raw edges and this fabric is very loosely woven.

Last thing ... sew skirt to bodice ... DONE
​BUT, I'm not so sure about the length of the sleeves. Need to try it on!

YUP! I like it rolled up shorter. So, I have to re-hem the sleeves. So first take out the hem stitching.

That means I have to press out the original creases, too.

A solution of half water and half white vinegar relaxes the fibers and helps get rid of that crease!

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Pressing out crease.

Rolling it up 1 1/2"

Sewing a 3" hem now.

And finally tack the sleeve roll at the top just under the fold.

Finished dress on first picture. I will share a photo when I actually wear it ... when it warms up.

I'm going to have several great new garments now having created these blog deadlines for myself!!!