Hello Hive
Happy New Monday to all of us. I hope that we are enjoying the new year so far. For me, I have been taking time to rest well, as there has not been much to do since the new year began. I have as much time to practice my sewing skills and even try out more designs that I find difficult to do before.
For today's project I made a pleated cowl neck dress. For a long time now I have wanted to learn the tricks behind sewing this design but have been scared of what the outcome might become.
Here is the simple cowl neck pattern I had earlier made
But after I made my first-ever simple cowl neck dress, it gave me an idea and confidence to continue with this.
I had some leftover fabric from the previous project and decided to use it.
I started by cutting the lower part of the dress, having kept that aside.
I wasn't sure if which direction to keep the fire pattern, it is either it starts from the waist ad faces down. I wasn't so so at first but was glad I chose this direction.
All of this matters while sewing as it affects the final appearance of our outfit.
I cut out back block of the upper bodice first.
Placed it on another fabric then added some extra allowances. I want to use it for pleating the front block.
Here is what the front block looked like Before started making the neck pleats.
While making the pleats, I didn't find it easy to do at all, as I spent time and kept on trying it over and over again. After pinning it down in many places, I now totally understood the stress pattern designers go through in order to get some designs right.
I finally got the results I wanted or something close to it 😂 as I was already tired and running out of patience.
I continued with stitching the other parts of the dress and managed to get cut out a sleeve from the fabric, which was now exhausted.
One thing that makes me so happy with sewing these days is the fact that I have now mastered how to use the electrical machine very well.
Using it before was usually like a war, as I had no control over the speed. It has been difficult for me to use the machine ever since I bought it. This is usually a challenge among many other designers trying to switch from using the normal machine to an electrical one.
The manual machine is always easy to control and paddle, but you get stressed out on time paddling for hours.
Been able to master the machine and even fix a zipper on it got me really excited and pleased.
You can see how I neatly fix zippers now compared to when I always complained in the past.
I don't get tired either sewing with the machine, and with it there is equally less room for wardrobe malfunctions when we wear clothes.
The stitches are neat and hold the garment enough for a long time.
My dress was ready, and for the very first time, I made a multiple pleat cowl neck dress. The outcome was so pretty that I am so glad I gave this a try.