I love princess seams – out of all the ways you can make a flat piece of fabric mould to a womans curves, it’s my favourite. I feel like the fit of a princess seam is always cleaner, smoother and closer. I remember when i first sewed a pattern with princess seams I didn’t quite feel that way. I was 16, and I didn’t think i needed to follow all the preparation steps, so i jumped straight in trying to ease those seams in with nothing more than stretching and crying. Needless to say i ended up with a a very poorly fitting bodice, puckers, warped seams and centre bodice and side bodice that were different lengths at the waistline.
So don’t do that.
Princess seams don’t have to be painful if you follow my straightforward steps, and ensure that you do your prep work.
For this example i’m using the lining pattern pieces for my Karri dress sewing pattern. Due to the slight transparency of the lining i used, i think it shows the steps more clearly than an opaque fabric. Also I’ve started with the back of the bodice – the reason i’ve done this is simply because it shows the technique more clearly, but you will literally use the same method for the front bodice pieces too.
Shall we get started?