Attaching the Skirt & Bodice

So how are you all going with your sewing? Well, I hope? Today we’re going to tackle attaching the skirt & bodice of View A! The nice thing about the Darling Ranges is that the skirt is gathered, so it’s a super easy step!

Sew a line of basting stitches along the top of the skirt just under 5/8″ (1.5cm) from the raw edge. Use the longest stitch on your sewing machine and do not backstitch – make sure that you leave nice long threads dangling. Start and stop your basting stitches 3″ (7.5cm) from the edge (dots indicated on the pattern piece).

You may want to consider sewing an extra line of basting stitches about 3/8″ (1cm) from the raw edge. The 2 rows will give you more control over your gathers.

Also please note that if your fabric is thicker you may need to sew your basting stitches in sections – ie a row of basting across the left front, across the back and across the right front – that way you can gather up each section of the skirt separately.

To gather the fabric simply hold the fabric still in one hand and pull one of the loose threads with the other. Do this on both sides until your skirt is the same width as the bodice waist.

Lay the bodice open with the right side facing upwards. Lay the skirt on top with right sides facing downwards and match up the waistline making sure that the placket edges and side seams of the skirt match up with the placket edges and side seams of the bodice. Pin at those points, and then even out the gathers of your skirt.

If you are following the pattern as is, then you will notice that there will be fewer gathers in the back of the dress  – this is intended. If you chose to add darts to the back bodice piece (as I showed in last week’s tutorial) then you will simply need to gather the skirt more in the back than you normally would. The back of the skirt is designed to have fewer gathers than the front of the skirt (due to the ties), so adding more gathers in the back will not harm the dress visual – in fact, you should result in a similar ratio of gathers in the front as the back.

Sew the skirt to the bodice. I like to sew with the gathers facing upwards so that I can keep an eye on them and make sure they get sewn neatly.

Neaten the raw edge of the waistline. I used a serger. Then press the seam upwards.

This last step is optional – but I really like to do it – topstitch the seam flat and you’re done.