Scuba Do?

Vogue 1348 Dress

Tom and Linda Platt 

I have heard so much about scuba fabric and have seen so many garments made from it on Project Runway, that I wanted to learn more about it. So I purchased this fabric from Mood:

 The fact that some of my professional responsibilities were in the area of Radiology and that white orchids are my favorite flower, I was a goner for this x-ray floral motif fabric.

I chose a Tom and Linda Platt design (Vogue 1348) which I had been dying to make:

I'm familiar with scuba wetsuits and assumed the fabric would resemble that, with enough body to make the skirt stand away from the body as in the line drawing.

Well, my first wakeup call was that there is no neoprene in this "neoprene scuba fabric". It's a poly spandex fabric, with not an ounce of real neoprene in it. Here's what neoprene is (from Wikipedia).

Here is an article that describes scuba knit vs. neoprene:

Is It Scuba Knit or Neoprene?


Anyway, once I was disabused of the neoprene scuba fabric notion, I took a look at the fabric and draped it over my dressform. I saw that it was pretty drapey with a thick hand. It looked and felt much like a double layer of swimsuit fabric. It draped a lot like slinky fabric.

Well, since I had already purchased the fabric, I decided to proceed, writing down my findings about sewing with scuba "neoprene" fabric:

Sewing Scuba Knit:

1. In general, it sews like swimsuit knit. That is, skipped stitches can be a problem.
2. It is heat-sensitive. I used an organza presscloth and had no problems.
3. Straight stitch: Ball point needle, size 70. To avoid skipped stitches, slow the machine stitch speed down. (A Mictotex 70 needle skipped stitches 20% of the time and a Universal 70 needle skipped stitches 50% of the time.)
4. If skipped stitches continue to be a problem with the Ball Point Needle, choose a presser foot that is as narrow as possible. For example, I switched from a 9mm edgestitch foot to a 7 mm edgestitch foot when topstitching next to the piping and the skipped stitch problem went away. Similarly, a single hole plate could help--anything that stabilizes the fabric as the stitch is being made seems to help.
5. If possible, turn and topstitch neckline and armhole edges. This gives the smoothest finish without ridges that can show from facings. The edges can be stabilized with Steam-a-Seam 2 Lite to prevent stretching out of shape.
6. Use a 2 inch wide strip of a cool-fuse interfacing like Texture Weft when inserting the hem. Fuse the interfacing (with organza presscloth) at the hem area with about 1/2 inch peeking above the hem edge. Hand stitch the hem into place. With this lofty type of fusible interfacing, the stitches won't show, and neither will "stitch dimples".
7. Stabilize the shoulder seams with clear elastic.
8. Make samples!!!

 I chose the wrong pattern for this fabric. I did not realize that, since the princess seams only ran from shoulder to high hip, the single-piece front would result in the  print's motifs at the side front not ending up where I wanted them.

I'm always very careful to place a print across the bodice first, making sure there are no targets on any body parts that I don't want targeted. Due to the unusual shape of the pattern pieces in this design, placing the print motifs attractively across the bodice locked in the print design everywhere else. Had I had the option of a separate side front piece, this would not  have been the case.

Here is the front pattern piece. I should have seen from the beginning that because of its design, once the bodice print motif layout is set, every other motif is automatically locked into place. The other motifs would end up echoing as the seams and pleats were formed. I didn't realize this. Sigh.

So, in my dress, the print echoes in a manner that I don't find visually pleasing along the princess seams and the inverted pleat edges. I was disappointed in that finding. When I went to www.patternreview.com and saw other Vogue 1348 dresses, those made from motif prints had the exact same problem that mine has.

I tried to mitigate this effect by adding black piping to the princess seams.

In addition, because the pattern pieces for the dress are so large, I could not pattern match at the center back like I usually do. I simply didn't have enough fabric for that luxury. So I inserted an exposed zipper to break up that seamline join. I actually like the effect of the "Full Monty Exposed" zipper.

In inserting that completely exposed zipper with a nicely enclosed inside edge, I followed the excellent instructions on this Craftsy blog tutorial:

The Full Monty: Sewing Exposed Zippers

 I love the fit and flare of the dress and it's actually more comfortable than I thought it would be to wear. I don't get hot in it, at least not yet. But then I'm a huge fan of slinky fabrics too. Poly spandex or acetate fabrics don't make me uncomfortable, especially if they're sleeveless and have some swish to the skirt.

As a final note, this is a much simpler version of the dress than that called for in the pattern design. I did not add facings, lining, pockets, or the net petticoat, nor did I underline the fabric. 

ETA: Carolyn asked if I plan on sewing more scuba knit garments. I do indeed. My DD asked for a skirt from this same fabric, so I hurried to place the order for more fabric. I also have a skirt for myself planned in another of these xray scuba prints from Mood.