SPLIT BACK TINY POCKET TANK : THE TUTORIAL

 Anyone remember the Split Back Tiny Pocket Tank that I wrote about way back in July? I had at least one comment requesting a tutorial, so here we go!

The first thing that you will need is Grainline's Tiny Pocket Tank pattern, which is available for purchase online in a print at home format. This is seriously one of my all time favorite patterns. I have used it and altered it more times than I can count and I've never been disappointed with the results. 

STEP ONE : ALTER THE PATTERN

The best part of this tank variation is that you really only need to alter one pattern piece: the back. Begin by tracing the tank back face up on pattern paper. Next, flip the tank back face down and line up the center back of the pattern piece with the center back that you just traced. With the tank back face down, trace again along the neckline and up across the shoulder seam.

Using your straightedge, draw a line 3 inches away from the center back, shown above in red.

Using your straightedge, draw a line that is perpendicular to the red line and goes through the part of the pattern where the armhole and side seam meet. This line is shown above in gray. Note where the red line and gray line meet. This point of intersection will be used as a starting point for a curve.

Draw a curve from the intersection point mentioned above, to the bottom of the side seam. 

STEP TWO : CUT YOUR FABRIC

 Cut 1x center front on fold

Cut 2x altered back pattern piece. Place the original center back on the straight grain of the fabric. Also, make a mark along the neckline of each back piece to represent the placement of the original center back line. These marks will be lined up when we overlap the split back pieces.

Cut 1x neckline binding on bias grain.

Cut 2x armhole binding on bias grain.

 STEP THREE : SEW

For most of the sewing, you can follow the sewing tutorial from Grainline, but I will summarize my steps below.

Sew front darts and press. 

Use French seams to sew the sides and shoulders. 

Follow Grainline's tutorial to insert armhole bias binding on both sides.

At this point you will finish the hem of the tank. Don't forget that the "hem" of this variation runs all the way up along the curve that we made in the altered back pattern piece. I finished this hem using bias binding and Grainline's tutorial, but you can use your preferred hemming technique.

At this point all the edges will be finished, except the neckline, and the back will be open. Locate the marks that you made while cutting the back pattern pieces. Line up the marks and baste along the neckline where the two back pattern pieces overlap.

Finally, follow Grainline's tutorial to insert the neckline bias binding.

At this point you may also sew along the "hem" where the two back pattern pieces overlap. This will keep the split back from flying open.

STEP FOUR : ADMIRE YOUR WORK

Let me know if you end up making your own split back tiny pocket tank!

Happy sewing!

NattyJane's Dress Variation, Part 4: The Skirt and Finishing the Dress!

With the bodice complete, it's time to assemble the skirt and then sew it all together and add the finishing touches.
Since I'm using a somewhat thick cotton for this green dress, I'm not going to line the skirt in this tutorial.

The skirt:

1) Baste pleats, press toward center, and stitch 1/4 inch down from the top of the skirt.
2) With right sides together, sew the front skirt panel to the back skirt panel along the left side seam. Trim seam allowance and press open. (For this side seam I used a french seam for neatness).
The right side seam will be unfinished at this time so that the side zipper can be put in.

Attaching the skirt to the bodice:

Start by pinning the bodice closed down the front button placket. Along the bottom edge, there should be a one inch overlap of the two sides.

To make the inside of the dress nice and neat, the skirt will be sewn to the shell bodice first and then the lining bodice will be hand sewn to cover the waist seam allowance. This is a bit tricky because of the button placket at the front of the bodice, but I'll do my best to explain the way I made it work.

The above photo is the inside view of the bodice button placket. To sew the skirt to only the shell bodice, do the following:

To pin up the left side of the lining bodice, a few stitches are taken out. To pin up the right side of the lining bodice, a small slit is cut upward.

Once the bodice lining is pinned out of the way of the bodice shell and button placket, sew a few stitches across the bottom of the placket.
Now you can add the skirt.

With right sides together, pin and then sew the skirt to the bodice shell. Make sure to line up the side seams.
The seam will be pressed up toward the bodice, but to do this you must first do the following:

Cut a slit in the seam just to the right of the button placket (just like was done to the bodice lining a few steps ago).

The seam can now be pressed up toward the bodice.
Next, insert the invisible side zip to the bodice shell and skirt, and finish the side seam.

With the zipper in place, tuck in the edges of your lining along the skirt seam (like the above photo) and hand sew.
Remove basting from skirt pleats and sew skirt hem to desired length.
Last, but not least, sew your buttons and buttonholes down the front button placket.

Truth be told, I haven't gone through the last few steps of this tutorial on my own dress, so it isn't quite finished. But once it is, I'll be sure to share some photos of the finished project!
I hope this tutorial was easy enough to follow, but if you have any confusion, feel free to contact me!
Also, I would absolutely love to see any dresses that are made following this tutorial! So please let me know if you put one together!
Happy sewing!

NattyJane's Dress Variation, Part 3: The Bodice

Now it is time to start sewing, or in other words, it is time for the fun to begin!
For this tutorial I wanted to use fabric from my stash, but didn't have enough of the green, hence my second color blocked dress in the last few weeks. Anyway, on to the sewing instructions for the bodice.

Bodice shell and bodice lining:

For added stability, apply strips of interfacing to each side of the center front lining where the button placket will be.
The following steps are used to assemble both the bodice shell and the bodice lining:
1) Sew center front pieces to side front pieces. Trim seam allowance and clip curves. Press toward center front.
2) Sew darts in back pattern piece, Press toward center back.
3) Sew back yoke to back. Trim seam allowance and press toward the yoke.
4) Sew front and back pieces together at shoulder seams. Trim seam allowance and press open.

The collar and sewing the bodice shell to the bodice lining:

1) Apply interfacing to wrong side of one collar piece.
2) Sew collar, right sides together, along outer edge.

3) Trim seam allowance and clip curves.
4) Turn collar right side out and press flat.

5) Pin collar to shell bodice, starting at center back.
6) Baste collar to neckline.

7) Pin and sew shell bodice and bodice lining, right sides together, along neckline and down the center front. The collar is sandwiched between the shell bodice and bodice lining in this step.
8) Trim seam allowance and clip curves.

9) Press seam toward lining and understitch seam onto bodice lining. In the above photo, the white fabric on the left is the lining which you are sewing the neckline seam to.

10) With wrong sides together, press flat. Step (9) will make this easy and will leave you with a nice and neat neckline. The first photo shows the lining and the second photo shows the bodice shell.

The armholes:

1) Turn bodice inside out, with right sides of bodice shell and bodice lining facing.
2) Starting at shoulder seams, pin and sew the armhole of the bodice shell to the armhole of the bodice lining.
3) Trim seam allowance and clip curves.

4) Turn to right sides out by pulling the front bodice pieces through the shoulder straps you have just created.
5) Press armholes flat.

The side seams:

This dress has a side zipper closure, so only one side seam will be sewn completely at this time.

For the side seam that will be complete:
1) With right sides together, pin side seam of lining back to lining front and continue through pinning the side seam of shell front to shell back. Sew.
2) Trim seam allowance and press open.
3) Turn right side out and press side seam.

For the other side where the zipper will be sewn in later:
1) With right sides together, pin front to back at armhole seam.
2) Sew only 2 inches out in each direction from the armhole seam.
3) Press seam open.
4) Turn right side out and press side seam.
This side seam should look like the one in the photo above.

And that's it for the bodice! Next time we will work on the skirt!

NattyJane's Dress Variation, Part 2: Cutting

Fabric and Notions:

1 1/3 yards main fabric
1 1/4 yards lining fabric
(These amounts are the same as are listed for the original dress pattern because most of our pattern pieces are about the same size. Although, you may want to lay out your pattern pieces and measure to make sure before you buy your fabric).
20" invisible zipper
Lightweight fusible interfacing
Buttons (Remember, the button placket we added when altering the pattern is an inch wide, so choose buttons that are less than an inch in diameter).

Pattern Pieces:
1 Center Front, 2x main, 2x lining, (I also cut 2 two inch strips of interfacing to apply to the button placket area for added stability).
2 Side Front, 2x main, 2x lining
3 Back Yoke, 1x main on fold, 1x lining on fold
4 Back, 1x main on fold, 1x lining on fold
6 Front Skirt Panel, 1x main on fold, 1x lining on fold
7 Back Skirt Panel, 1x main on fold, 1x lining on fold
10 Collar, 2x main on fold, 1x interfacing

When cutting pattern pieces, make sure to mark all darts and pleats on your fabric.

NattyJane's Dress Variation, Part 1: Altering the Pattern

Here we go! Part 1 of my tutorial for the dress variation that I created for The BurdaStyle Sewing Handbook! So let's dive right in and work on altering the pattern.

To follow this tutorial you will need the dress pattern from the book, some pattern paper, a pencil or pen, tape, and a straight edge.

Trace pattern pieces 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 7 in your size onto pattern paper (or cut out a printed version of the dress pattern as I have done). Once that's done, we will make the alterations, plus create a new pattern piece 10 for the collar.

Center Front (pattern piece 1):

1) Trace pattern piece 1 onto pattern paper.

2) Draw a new center front line that is parallel to and 1 inch away from the original center front fold line. This dress variation buttons in the front, so this step creates the button placket.

3) Draw points A and B as shown in the photo.

4) Draw a line that goes through point A and that is 1 inch away from point B.

5) Soften the top of the line drawn in step 4, and soften the curve where the two new lines meet.

6) Add seam allowance on all edges and cut out your new pattern piece.

Side Front (pattern piece 2):

Pattern piece 2 has no alterations. Add seam allowance to all edges and cut out pattern piece.

Back Yoke (pattern piece 3):

Add seam allowance to edges, except on center back zipper line. The back zipper is omitted in this variation, so the back yoke pattern piece will be cut on the fold. Cut out new pattern piece.

Back (pattern piece 4):

Add seam allowance to edges, except on center back zipper line. The back zipper is omitted in this variation, so the back pattern piece will be cut on the fold. Cut out new pattern piece.

Front Skirt Panel (pattern piece 6):

1) Cut pattern piece 6 into thirds vertically from the waist to the hem.

2) Tape the three pieces onto pattern paper, but space them 2 inches apart from each other. This adds in the fabric needed for the pleats in this dress variation.

3) Add seam allowance to side and top, and add desired seam allowance to the hemline. Cut out new pattern piece.

Back Skirt Panel (pattern piece 7):

Follow the same steps that were used to alter the front skirt panel.

Since the back center zipper is omitted in this variation, pattern piece 7 will be cut on the fold. Leave off seam allowance along the center back seam. Add seam allowance to side and top, and add desired seam allowance to the hemline. Cut out new pattern piece.

Collar (new pattern piece 10):

1) To make the collar pattern piece, you will need the back yoke pattern piece 3 and the center front pattern piece 1. Fold the seam allowance along the shoulder of both pieces.

2) Temporarily tape pattern pieces 1 and 3 together at the shoulder as shown.

3) Trace the neckline created by these two pieces onto pattern paper.

4) When tracing the neckline, make sure to mark the center back, the shoulder seam, and the area on pattern piece 1 where it starts to curve downward.

5) Draw seam allowance in from the neckline you have just traced since seam allowance is already included on pattern pieces 1 and 3.
Along the center back, draw a mark 1 inch in.
Along the shoulder seam line, draw a mark 2 inches in.
About halfway between the shoulder seam and where the curve starts, draw a mark 2 inches in.

6) Draw in the curve of your collar, starting at your mark on the center back, going through the other marks you made in step 5, and ending where you marked the start of the curve.

7) Add seam allowance to the outer curve and cut out the new collar pattern piece.

And there you have it!
Please let me know if you have any questions about the steps taken to alter the pattern pieces.
The next parts of this tutorial will be all about cutting and sewing.