A Feliz, and lesson learnt!

This the second dress I made for my goddaughter for her birthday this year. The first was the purple Lisette dress. She has just turned 8 and still loves dresses, but I thought it might be the last year that I could get away with making her a very ruffled dress.

The main fabric is a Hilco cotton, the red ruffle fabrics are scraps I had left, and the lining is a very lightweight cotton.

(inside front view)

All the side panel seams are flat-felled and the hems have Farbenmix ribbon sewn over them to give some weight to the dress as it is so twirly.

(inside back view)

The seam allowance of the 4 ruffles on the back are also covered in ribbon, and I gathered these using the technique I mentioned at the end of the last post. As I still dislike gathering, this meant a little less 'pain' and a lot less thread!

I thought I was quite the expert in making up this Farbenmix pattern. After making a few other versions, (can't believe it's nearly 2 years since I sewed a Feliz!) I noticed that the straps tended to slip off the shoulder at times. As it had happened with more than one dress, I went back to look at the Feliz Sewing Guide on the Farbenmix site. Some of these are in German, but the pictures are excellent.

When the pattern pieces for the straps are sewn together, there is a larger curve on one side. Intuitively, I presumed this should be closest to the neck. Lesson learnt!!! (less intuition, more following pattern instructions!). The larger curved side of the strap goes on the shoulder side, and the straps stay on the shoulders perfectly......

...even through lots of twirling. My daughter tried this on for me on a cold afternoon - hence the boots and long-sleeved top.

At the moment I'm working on this knot dress pattern for a 'Sewing on a Budget' Blogger Challenge from Abakhan Fabrics. I'm hoping the colours will work together!

 

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