A blog about my adventures in sewing & crafting

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Simplicity 7103 Princess Seam Dress

I have been on the hunt for a princess seam dress with the seams at the shoulders instead of the armholes.  It has taken me over 3 months to find one.  It's an older pattern but it looks like a good one!




Simplicity 7103 Princess Seam Dress

 I made a muslin as usual.  The fit was pretty good in the chest and shoulder area.  The hips fit but the bottom of the dress was too wide.  Making the fabric fold in at the seams.



Simplicity 7103 Muslin


Simplicity 7103 Muslin-Side View




Simplicity 7103 Muslin
 I removed 2" at each seam at the hem tapering to nothing at the hip.  This brought the circumference of the dress hem in.




Simplicity 7103 Muslin-Back
 I am using a Black stretch cotton eyelet fabric for the finished dress.  I wasn't sure if it needed to be lined but after taking a picture I KNOW it needs lined!



Simplicity 7103 Black Eyelet Stretch Cotton 
 I just happen to have 2 yards of a black lining fabric in my "stash".  Perfect!  Now I have to figure out how to add the lining.  YouTube here I come!


Lining fabric
After all my zipper organizing I did not have a 22" invisible zipper for the dress.  I had to get some ordered so this dress has been hung up until zippers arrive!


Simplicity 7103 Black Eyelet Princess Seam Dress 


Simplicity 7103 Selvage Hem Fringe

I used the selvage for the bottom hem of the dress.  The selvage had a beautiful 1/2" fringe.  Now I won't have to hem the dress!

I ended up using this video for the lining.  Since I had already inserted the zipper, I  hand stitched the lining to the zipper tape.  It took me about 30 minutes to hand sew it in, but it was so worth it!

After letting the dress hang a few days I have decided to topstitch the princess seams.  The seams want to stand up along the bust.

Simplicity 7103 Bust Princess Seam Topstitched


Simplicity 7103 Back View


Simplicity 7103 Dress


Sewn So Far:

  • Drape neck tank top in midnight blue ITY knit.
  • Regular tank with neck/arm band in midnight blue ITY knit
  • Drape neck tank top in white jersey knit
  • Drape neck tank top in blue aqua jersey knit
  • M6844 Cardigan Fuschia Abstract Wavy Stripe ITY Knit
  • M6844 Cardigan Pink Black Chains Pearls Animal ITY Knit 
  • M6844 Cardigan Blue Tropical ITY Knit
  • B5760 Green Floral Ponte Knit Cardigan
  • Drape neck dress in Raspberry matte ITY knit
  • Nightgown in blue rose bouquet cotton sheets
  • Silhouette Pattern #2913 Nick & Zoe’s Black Denim Skirt
  • Silhouette Pattern #2913 Nick & Zoe’s Blue Denim Skirt
  • Simplicity 1297 Lace Yoke Blouse
  • Simplicity 1279 Dog Blouse
  • Princess Seam Sheath Dress

 

Still Want to Sew:

  • Sweater Wrap Top
  • Sleeveless Button Down Top
  • Stripe Vest
  • 3/4 sleeve Maxi Dress-Solid Color
  • Something with fringe
  • Red dress with Animal Print Cardigan



Only 19 more days until our son's wedding!  I can't wait! 

I'm off to sew something wonderful!

Until next time...........................

Bonnie




8 comments:

  1. I can hardly wait to see this on you! Is it for one of the wedding events? Beautifully done and thank you for the hem tip. I have the same issue sometimes; depends on the fabric.

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  2. Thank you for stopping by, no this dress is not for the wedding. I just wanted a princess seam sheath style dress and I thought that a black one would be a wardrobe staple. I also have the same issue but this selvage was so pretty, I just left it on there. Thank you again for your kind comments.

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  3. I like it! The fit looks really good. Did you have go tweak the muslin very much? Why pick a shoulder princess seam over one that comes from the arm?

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  4. Thank you for your kind comments. I did have a lot of fitting for this dress. I had a lot of fabric above the bust, near the armpit and at the waist. I also had to do a sway back adjustment of 1/2" and I used my sleeveless template for the armholes. I am VERY curvy, round, fluffy so fitting a sheath style dress is a little bit more work. But it was worth it. I sewed the muslin with a 4.0 stitch and any time I needed to remove fabric, I just ripped the muslin at the seams, grated the amount to remove, re-sewed with a 4.0 stitch length and tried it on again. Sometimes more than once! Once the fit was good I took the muslin completely apart and set it on my paper pattern piece and redrew my pattern piece. I would have been so much easier if I had a sewing friend to help.
    I wanted a shoulder princess seam because I heard, I think from Peggy Sagers? that it was easier to fit for a larger bust. I'm not sure it was, because I have a princess seam dress pattern where the seam comes to the arm and I don't remember it being as hard to fit. But I wanted to challenge myself to see. The good this is now I have a pattern fit to me for either one I choose. It's taken me almost a month to finish it but I do really like it and I'm thinking I may make another since the pattern is already done for my size...!
    Thanks so much for stopping by!

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  5. Pretty dress and love watching Coleen's videos.

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  6. Good for you on challenging yourself, we are always learning something new with sewing, aren't we? And now you have a great fitting dress that will work with your pretty cardigans. Thank you for the link to the lining video, another new thing I have learned from your blog. If I lived closer I would help you with fitting . . . but Washington state is about as far from Florida as you can get and still stay in the continental United States. :) I hope to get some home dec sewing done this weekend and then work on some sewing for myself.

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    Replies
    1. Home dec sewing! Sounds fun, I'm working on a cardigan, repair a jumpsuit for hunting season, fixing bridesmaids dresses, a top for me to wear tomorrow & finishing up my wedding outfit. Work is never done in the sewing room!
      You are right, you couldn't be farther away than that! I think I might have to take an ad out for a sewing friend here in Florida! I've lived here all my life and I do not know of one other person that sews :( My online friends are all I have!
      Thanks for stopping by, I love chatting with you & can't wait to hear what you've sewn over the weekend!

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