Orange Chrysanthemum Maxidress

I blame my having this fabric on Carolyn. I have been on a fabric diet ever since we moved all of my stash into our new home and I realized how overwhelmed with fabric I am. But when Carolyn made this beautiful jacket with such a stunning fabric, I closed the eye closest to the stash shelves and ordered some for myself.

Because of the very large print (each chrysanthemum is 24 inches in diameter) I had to find a pattern that would allow showcasing the large print without overwhelming the wearer, as in "look at that fabric, wearing that woman".

The June 2010 Burdastyle magazine came to the rescue. The pleated maxidress was perfect, I thought, for the thin silk fabric.

Dress Photos:

The front view shows how one large chrysanthemum was pleated at the bodice while the other large floral motifs were allowed to be shown in the fullest parts of the skirt. A shorter dress would not allow this display.

A closeup of the pleats at the bodice. I chose to center a chrysanthemum there.

In the back, I purposely did not center any chrysanthemums, trying to avoid a large motif at the shoulders, mid back, or hips. This was counterintuitive to my sewing tendencies, as I usually try to perfectly match prints at seams. I like the way it turned out, though.

Pattern Used:

BurdaStyle magazine (formerly Burda World of Fashion magazine)
June 2010, #101 Petite/Half Size pattern

Pattern photo:

Line Drawing:
Materials:

Fabrics:

Cream and orange silk twill from www.fabricmartfabrics.com
Fusible tricot interfacing from stash
Invisible zipper, 22 inches

Thread:

TIRES 100% silk thread (monofilament) in sewing machine

MaxiLock 100% polyester thread in serger

Machine Needles:

Size 65 Universal

Machines:

Janome 6600 computerized sewing machine

Elna Pro 905 DCX computerized serger

Things I did with this project (that weren't in the pattern instructions):

I am not usually a fan of BurdaStyle directions, finding them sometimes cryptic and confusing. However, the instructions for this dress were excellent.

I particularly liked the fact that they provided a template for the pleated bodice area. This allowed the upper edge of the bodice to be trimmed before sewing to the yoke, because in the process of making 19 narrow pleats the top edge became slightly distorted. The template allowed the upper edge and the pleats to be squared up again. Kudos to the Burda staff for recognizing this potential pitfall.

1. Added back neckline facing and did not embellish the front yoke.

The pattern was designed to have the back neckline bias bound in self fabric. I added a facing instead. The front neckline was to embellished with two rows of "plastic flitter" and then self faced. I omitted the flitter, whatever that is.

2. Inserted the invisible zipper at the center back instead of the side seam.
I really don't like side seam zippers, especially in very lightweight fabrics. In this dress, it would have made one side seam more heavy-looking than the other, I imagined. I inserted a center back zipper instead.

3. Used a new narrow bias binding method for armholes
In Issue 145 of Threads magazine (November 2009), Susan Crane wrote an article about using a very narrow bias binding method on armholes for fine fabrics such as chiffon, silk, and lightweight cotton. The purpose is to provide a neat edge without the bulk-adding facings and also without the seam-weakening clips into the seam allowance. I was intrigued by it and decided to try it with this dress.

Essentially, the method has you cut a 2 inch wide strip of bias and press a curve into it. Then you sew it to the armhole. You trim the seam allowance to 1/8 inch (!) and wrap the bias strip around that seam allowance and stitch close to the seamline, thereby stitching the tiny seam allowance to the bias wrap. Next you trim the excess bias strip away, turn the tiny enclosed seam allowance, and topstitch from the right side of the armhole.

Here's how it turned out on my dress. I really liked the technique.

Things I learned, or was reminded of in this project:

I had never made tiny tucks or pleats on my new Janome 6600. It is touted as an "industrial" type of home machine and I wondered how it would do on such a fine silk. I used the Accu-Feed feature which is a built in walking foot feature along with the quilter's 1/4 inch foot and single hole needle plate. The process worked beautifully.

Step 1. Transferring the position of the pleat heads from the pattern to the fabric

I thread traced the lines. The pleats are stitched 1/4 inch from the pleat head line.

Step 2. Pinning the pleats

The narrow pleats pinned best when I used that sewing notion called a "sewing bird" or a "third hand" to hold one end of the pleat in place while I pinned from the other. This method kept the slippery fabric in line.

Note: I did not pull the fabric quite as much as shown in this photo.. I just held the fabric slightly taut. Taking this picture with one hand holding fabric was sort of like rubbing my stomach and patting my head at the same time. (smile)

Step 3. Sewing the pleats

The pleats were sewn using a 1/4 inch presser foot, a single hole needle plate and the Accu-feed feature in place. The pins were removed as the fabric approached the presser foot.

Step 4. Melding the stitches

I pressed the stitching line (called melding the stitches) after each pleat was stitched. This helps to keep the fabric straight and to make the next pleat even. Waiting until all the pleats are stitched and then pressing at one time would be, for me at least, a recipe for disaster.

I used a silk organza presscloth, as shown in the photo, while pressing the silk.

Things I would do differently, were I to make this dress again:
I really liked how the dress turned out. The silk twill is very thin yet still opaque, which is a good thing.

I can't tell from trying it on how static-y it will be to wear for several hours. Usually static is not a problem in the humid South in the summertime. But sometimes thin silks defy humidity and tend to cling. I can always use Static Guard, but I am considering making a long cream-colored bias slip out of Ambiance (rayon lining) to wear under it. I would like the slip to hug my body closely, hence the bias, so as not to add volume to the dress.