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MN2006 Floreat / Sewalongs

Floreat Sewalong – Sleeveless version: How to sew the facing & seams

how to sew the sleeveless version of the Floreat dress and blouse by Megan Nielsen Patterns

Who out there is making a sleeveless Floreat dress or blouse? Have you been following along with this sewalong, only for me to keep telling you not to do any of the steps if you are making a sleeveless version? Well, guess what – today is your day! This post is going to be ALL about how to sew the facing & seams for the sleeveless version!

The reason I had you skip over the other posts, is because the facing for the sleeveless version needs to be done first before anything else. It’s an all-one facing that covers both the neckline and the armholes. And the centre back and side seams cannot be sewn until after it’s completed. So the order of steps is just a little different than the other sleeved versions.

So, at this point, you should have the ties or belt made (If you’re including any), and have the four pocket pieces attached (but the side seams are not sewn). That’s all so far. And now today, I’ll walk you through everything else – the facing & seams as well as the centre back. As well as all the minor differences you should know about and what makes those steps different from what was previously posted for the sleeved versions.

Phew. Ok. Let’s jump into it…

how to sew the sleeveless version of the Floreat dress and blouse by Megan Nielsen PatternsTo start, we are going to sew the shoulder seams only.

Place your front and back pieces together with right sides facing each other. Line up the shoulder seams, and sew 5/8″ from the raw edges. You don’t actually need to finish the raw edges because they will be covered by the facing. Press the seams open.

Note: the above photo shows that my centre back zipper is already sewn. This is incorrect. I got a little ahead of myself while creating multiple pieces for this sewalong. I removed the zipper and centre back stitching from here on out. You should not have your centre back seam sewn yet. The two back pieces should still be separate.

how to sew the sleeveless version of the Floreat dress and blouse by Megan Nielsen PatternsSet your garment body aside.

Apply lightweight fusible interfacing to the wrong side of the three facing pieces – the front, and two back pieces.

how to sew the sleeveless version of the Floreat dress and blouse by Megan Nielsen PatternsPlace the front-facing piece and two back-facing pieces right sides together. Line up the shoulder seams.

how to sew the sleeveless version of the Floreat dress and blouse by Megan Nielsen PatternsStitch the two shoulder seams 5/8″ from the raw edge. Press the seams open.

how to sew the sleeveless version of the Floreat dress and blouse by Megan Nielsen PatternsFinish the raw edges of the facing with your preferred method. You only need to finish along the front and back edges, not the neckline or armholes.

how to sew the sleeveless version of the Floreat dress and blouse by Megan Nielsen PatternsOpen up your garment body so that it is open and flat, with the right side of the fabric facing up at you. Place the facing down on top of it with right sides facing each other.

Align the neckline and armhole edges, making sure to line up the shoulder seams. Pin in place.

how to sew the sleeveless version of the Floreat dress and blouse by Megan Nielsen Patterns

IF YOU PLAN ON DOING A SLIT OPENING CENTER BACK

Attach the facing at the neckline by sewing 5/8″ up the centre back, pivoting, then sewing around the curve of the neckline 5/8″ from the edge, and then pivoting again and sewing down the other side of the centre back.

Also, sew 5/8″ from the raw edge around the armhole on both sides.

how to sew the sleeveless version of the Floreat dress and blouse by Megan Nielsen Patterns

IF YOU ARE DOING A CENTRE-BACK ZIPPER

For the neckline, sew 5/8″ along the curve of the neckline only. Do not sew down the centre back sides. This will make it easier to attach the zipper as you’ll see later on.

And as usual, also sew 5/8″ from the raw edge around the armhole on both sides.

how to sew the sleeveless version of the Floreat dress and blouse by Megan Nielsen PatternsClip into the seam allowance around the neckline and armholes about every 1″ or so. Make sure you clip up to but don’t cut through the stitches. Or…

how to sew the sleeveless version of the Floreat dress and blouse by Megan Nielsen PatternsOr you could use pinking shears to trim back the seam allowances. This both trims and clips at the same time!

how to sew the sleeveless version of the Floreat dress and blouse by Megan Nielsen Patterns

Pull each back piece through their respective shoulder (the opening at the facing front and back creates a tunnel of sorts through the shoulder) to turn right side around and enclose the raw edges.

This is why you can’t have the centre back seam sewn yet – you wouldn’t be able to turn the right way around properly.

how to sew the sleeveless version of the Floreat dress and blouse by Megan Nielsen PatternsNow the wrong sides of the garment and facing are facing each other, and the raw edges of the seams are enclosed. Press the edges of the neckline and armholes well so that the facing does not show on the right side of the garment.

how to sew the sleeveless version of the Floreat dress and blouse by Megan Nielsen PatternsNow it’s time for the side seams.

Flip the back pieces down on top of the front, so that right sides are together.

how to sew the sleeveless version of the Floreat dress and blouse by Megan Nielsen PatternsFlip up the facings. Matching up the seam and lining up the raw edge of both the facing and side seam. Pin in place.

how to sew the sleeveless version of the Floreat dress and blouse by Megan Nielsen PatternsSew 5/8″ from the raw edge along the facing side seam and garment side seam, all in one continuous stitch.

If you are making a blouse or pocketless dress, just sew straight down the side seam to the hem.

If you are making a dress with pockets…

how to sew the sleeveless version of the Floreat dress and blouse by Megan Nielsen Patterns

how to sew the sleeveless version of the Floreat dress and blouse by Megan Nielsen PatternsAs you are sewing down the side seam, stop when you reach the pocket. Pivot your needle, and continue to sew around the pocket 5/8″ from the edge. Pivot again to continue sewing down the side seam.

how to sew the sleeveless version of the Floreat dress and blouse by Megan Nielsen Patterns how to sew the sleeveless version of the Floreat dress and blouse by Megan Nielsen PatternsSew it will be one continuous stitch from the facing side seam, garment side seam, around the pocket, and down the rest of the side seam. All in one.

how to sew the sleeveless version of the Floreat dress and blouse by Megan Nielsen PatternsAnd now you can finally do your centre back! Head to this post to follow directions for either a slit opening or sewing an invisible zipper.

BUT… If you are doing a zipper application, follow these next steps to finish your facing once you have sewn in your zipper…

how to sew the sleeveless version of the Floreat dress and blouse by Megan Nielsen Patternshow to sew the sleeveless version of the Floreat dress and blouse by Megan Nielsen PatternsOnce your zipper is sewn in, temporarily flip your facing over so that the right sides of the facing and garment are together. Line up the centre back seam and pin.

how to sew the sleeveless version of the Floreat dress and blouse by Megan Nielsen PatternsUsing your zipper foot, sew right alongside the zipper teeth, which are sandwiched in between the two fabrics.

how to sew the sleeveless version of the Floreat dress and blouse by Megan Nielsen PatternsClip the corners, and then flip back the right way around. You’ve now finished encasing the raw edges and finished your centre back!

how to sew the sleeveless version of the Floreat dress and blouse by Megan Nielsen PatternsThe last step to finish up the sleeveless facing is to secure the facing to the garment so that it doesn’t flip out to the outside. You can do this by hand stitching it to the side seam allowance to tack it down.

how to sew the sleeveless version of the Floreat dress and blouse by Megan Nielsen PatternsWoo-hoo! Sleeveless Floreat is almost all done – just ready to hem!


LOOKING FOR MORE FLOREAT POSTS?

Here’s the full list of Floreat posts and tutorials:

We absolutely love seeing what you make, so don’t forget to tag your creations with #MNfloreat and @megannielsenpatterns when sharing on social media, and check out what everyone else is up to!

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About Author

Holly writes part time for the Megan Nielsen blog– sewing like crazy, creating tutorials and sewalongs. She has been sewing since she was a little girl, and has her degree in apparel design. Now she’s a stay at home mama, and spends all her free nap times at her sewing machine.

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Wendy Humboldt
Wendy Humboldt
2 years ago

Hi, I wonder if you could help with a query please. I would like to sew Floreat view D with french seams at the sides – I am ok to do the pockets with a french seam but not sure how to handle the sleeve facings. If I flip them away from the dress and sew it in one seam I will get a double french seam which will be bulky, but if I sew it with the facing flipped down I will get a french seam with 4 layers (also bulky). Any suggestions?