Midsummer Sewing

It being July 27, I think it is officially midsummer not according to daylight but due to the calendar. The community plot garden continues to struggle. It actually looked its best a week ago when we had the warmest temperatures of the summer, but then it went backwards after a monsoon-like rain a few hours after I had left that very day. Even the plants that are known to be easy to grow are struggling, now mainly due to poor drainage. Being the optimistic Planet Nice, there are already some ideas to improve the situation for 2020 including numerous trenches and sculpting of mini-swales. But enough of the garden plot’s woes, there was a bit of sewing happening last week. I purchased this summer dress a year ago as I liked the fabric and colors:

It is a size small and I thought too it may be interesting to upcycle it to make something potentially more interesting like a trendy jumpsuit. After a recent re-examination, I made the decision that it would get the most use as a dress (plus I wanted something new to wear urgently), but because it was small, it was a bit tricky to put it on over my head. So, I decided to insert a zipper in the side seam despite the fact that I am not too keen on zippers. First, there was an analysis of the existing side seam:

The removal of this typical industrial seam seemed plausible and it was successful. The fabric is a polyester and is an enthusiastic fraying fabric. The next step was to finish the fabric edges right away with a small zigzag stitch.

A 9” invisible zipper was purchased and was pinned in the newly created opening.

Why this clothing hack wasn’t stressful is that I had decided to install the zipper using hand stitches. According to the zipper packaging, a special sewing machine attachment is needed for invisible zippers. Sewing by hand avoids this complication. Here is the inside of the newly installed zipper by hand:

And here is the outside, OK, so it is not invisible, but you can barely detect it especially with the installation of a hook and eye to finish off the edge and it being under the armhole. I think it worked out alright as to make it invisible probably would have required more fabric than the 3/8” seam allowance of the original seam and I didn’t want to over-tinker the garment.

Despite the invisible being visible, it is a success as the dress is easier to put on and the zipper is installed sturdily enough to have survived two machine washings intact – these traits are more important 😉.

Now, what is next. It has been decided to pursue a polo shirt. It will be a challenge as I am using a Vogue pattern with an “average” rating (which actually means “hard” as all Vogue patterns are not for the faint of heart), 15 pattern pieces, and 49 steps. Basically, the opposite of the Burda bean bag chair. I haven’t started it but hope so next week. The first step will be to trace all 15 pattern pieces on tissue paper so the original tissue paper can remain intact. Once everything is traced, the pieces will be cut out of cotton muslin despite the fact that the pattern calls for a knit. Going through the steps of this challenging pattern on practice fabric will be well worth it. I did research just copying an off the rack polo shirt. Copying garments is a popular topic with the craft platforms such as creativebug, but I don’t think these video classes are prepared for a collared garment with a placket like a polo. At the moment, I am thinking of sticking to the Vogue pattern. Stay tuned!