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Step 1:<\/p>
If you have a pattern, great! If not, like me,find a dress that still fits that has a bodice and skirt style and trace around it onto tissue paper or newspaper. Fold the tissue paper or newspaper in half and place the bodice you’re tracing as close to the middle as you can (I usually go by where the tag is). Leave yourself at least a half-inch or more for seam allowance. My daughter wanted the waist closer to her hips so I made my bodice longer, so make adjustments depending on your preference. Do the same thing for the back bodice. Be careful while tracing over the neckline, the front will be lower in the front than in the back. I actually made a mistake at first and the neckline was sagging because I made the slope of the neck too big at the front neckline. Don’t make my same mistake! It is a pain rip out the stitches and fix. Especially after you already sewed the whole bodice piece before trying it on your daughter, like me…<\/p>
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Step 2:<\/p>
Pin your pattern onto your lining fabric by folding your lining fabric in half and putting your pattern on the fold. If you have a cutting mat and rotary cutter, cut your fabric pieces out. If using scissors, cut with fabric as flat as possible on the floor. It is especially important to not stretch the fabric while cutting if using stretchy fabric like mine. Do the same with the back bodice pattern.<\/p>
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Step 3:<\/p>
Repeat step 2 with your outer fabric, for me that is my sequin fabric.<\/p>
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Step 4:<\/p>
Now you should have 2 lining bodice pieces and 2 outer bodice pieces. Line the lining pieces at the shoulders, right sides together, and sew the front shoulders to the back shoulders. Do the same with the outer shell (sequin fabric) pieces. Iron at the shoulder seams so they lay flat.<\/p>
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*Note- If you are using a stretchy fabric like me (knit) use a narrow zigzag stitch so the fabric doesn’t curl at the edges. I used setting number 3 on my machine which looks like this.<\/p>
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Step 5:<\/p>
Lay out your lining bodice piece and outer shell bodice piece flat and line them up together, right sides facing. You are going to sew around the neck curves. Clip and\/or make Vs in the seam of the neckline then serge (or finish the seam with a zigzag stitch) the neck curve before moving on to the next step so you can top stitch. Do not sew the arm curves yet.<\/p>
*Note: Make sure your neck lays flat! Remember in step 1 how I said the neck was sagging once I sewed the whole bodice and tried it on my daughter? Well, I wish I knew before that if the neck does not lay flat when it is laid down that it would sag. Fix the slope of your neckline at this point so you don’t have to take out stitches later if it isn’t laying flat. To do that I had to lay the dress I originally traced by it and follow that slope better.<\/p>
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Step 6:<\/p>
Now you are going to top stitch the seams down so they lay flat. Turn the bodice right side out, lay the lining and outer shell (the sequin fabric) at the neck curve flat, and top stitch over the seam around the neck curve on the lining side of the garment so no one can see the stitches. Stitch close to the seam without stitching on the front bodice fabric. Then press to flatten the seam.<\/p>
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Step 7:<\/p>
Since I used stretchy sequin fabric and therefore stretchy lining fabric, I did not need an enclosure. So for this step I used the “burrito method”. I tried to take as good of pictures as I could for this step, but if there is still any confusion, just search the “burrito method” on Youtube, Google, Pinterest etc… To start, lay your bodice out flat right side up.<\/p>
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Your are pretty much going to sandwich the left side of the bodice in between the right side. Take the arm curve on the right side of the outer shell (sequin fabric) and bring it over the left side of the bodice at the left arm curve. You may have to roll the left side to fit it inside the right side.
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Now with the right side lining at the arm curve, bring it under the bodice to the left side arm curve so the right side lining is meeting the right side outer shell with all of the left side arm curve wrapped inside, like a burrito! Make sure there is no part of the left side arm curve in the seam of the right side arm curve outer shell and lining and make sure they are matched up with right sides together. Pin the arm curve up, again being careful that no fabric of the left side gets sewed with it! You are going to sew the arm curve where the black lines are.<\/p>
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Step 7:<\/p>
Sew, make clips in the seam allowance since it is another curved area, press, and top stitch the seam on the lining side like you did with the neck curve,. It is a little hard to top stitch the arm curves but do as much as you can.<\/p>
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Step 8:<\/p>
Repeat the”burrito method”\u00a0 on the left side. Roll up the right (now finished) side inside the left side arm curves right sides together. Pin, sew, clip seam, serge (or zigzag), top stitch, and press.<\/span><\/p>Step 9:<\/span><\/p>\u00a0Now that both straps are finished, it is time to sew up the sides of your bodice. Lay the bodice down flat and grab the outer shell (the sequin fabric) of the front of the bodices’ side seam to match it to the side seam of the outer shell fabric from the back side of the bodice, right sides together as shown.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>On that same side (I am doing the right side) match up the front bodice side seam lining to the back bodice side seam lining to each other. You will be sewing one long line down the side seams, front sequin fabric to back sequin fabric and front lining fabric to back lining fabric<\/span><\/p>It should look like this, on one long line. Pin and sew down the black lines. Do the same with the left side seams. Serge or zigzag the seams and press.<\/span><\/p><\/p>
Turn the bodice right side out and you have a finished bodice! Try it on your daughter, or whoever you are making it at this point. Mine was a little to big for my daughter because of the stretch so at this point it was easy to just take in both the side seams about an inch each and it fit much better. Now your ready to make the skirt part of your dress.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t