Canada Day Dress, 2013 :)

 "All the nations You have made will come and worship before You, Lord; they will bring glory to Your    Name."

      Psalm 86:9
 

    For we Canadians, our country's "Birthday" falls on July 1st. The very lovely & talented Erin, of "I heart fabric", inspired me to make a special dress for Canada Day. Erin is from Australia, and believe me, she looked *far* more patriotic than I in her "Aussie Day" getup earlier this year. Check out the link to see her costume, very cool! I got quite a kick out her crimped hair (being a child of the 80's after all ;)

   I honestly didn't have any crazy plans for Canada Day, but I wanted to sew up something for the occasion (any occasion is good enough reason for me to make a new dress ;). I thought it would be nice to make something I could wear throughout the summer as well :) My review on P.R. here

Our Canadian flag :)

I think it would've been nice to incorporate the red maple leaf somehow. I may print one of those "iron-on transfers". I was cutting it close to July 1st as it was however, so I chose a simple red & white theme in a pattern I've already used, McCall's 6243.

McCall's 6243 :)

 


I made this denim-look, knit fabric, version earlier this year and I liked the pattern a lot. I love the angled seams, and thought it would be a great pattern to use for the red white version I had in mind. My review on PR here.

Chewfoot on my pattern :)

The white cotton/lycra fabric I used seemed a little too transparent, so I interlined the white sections with the same fabric. Too keep the layers from shifting, I gave it a little spray between the layers and then pressed the area lightly (keeping the hairspray can away from the iron, watching out for those explosion warnings! :)

No sooner did I prep my white fabric, did Boris make himself comfortable on the red stuff :) I almost felt guilty shooing him off.









  This McCall's pattern is rated "Easy", and I think that's a fair rating. *However*, if you're using cotton/lycra, it can be testy. The last dress I made with cotton/lycra, behaved very well. I don't know if its because of this fabric's weight (its much lighter weight than the last material I used) but it was a little more challenging to work with. I had to unpick a few (long) seams and resew. I was very determined to finish this project (telling friends and co-workers about your intended project makes me that much more motivated to complete it!).

   One thing I didn't like about this pattern though, is how they instruct you to finish the neckline and armholes. Just a narrow hem. Seems lazy to me :/ I think I'll try a facing next time (and I'm pretty sure there will be a *next* time). This is one of those patterns that, for me at least, is too good just to use once...or twice ;) I used "steam a seam lite 2" on the neckline and armholes and then topstitched with a double needle.

Double needle topstitching :) I was going to use all red, but opted to use white on white, and red on red. After I "steam a seam"ed the armhole and neckline (to hold it in place and give it stability to prevent unsightly "tunnelling"), I topstitched the white areas and then changed the thread to red and topstitched those areas.


*Note* the pattern instructs a 5/8" narrow hem
 (pressing under 5/8" and then turning the raw edge
under to meet the crease, then topstitching. I just

turned the fabric under 5/8", and trimmed the inner layer of white, used "steam a seam"( SAS), then topstitched. By this time it was nearing 2 AM July1st, so I just wanted to be done!



I like the look of this better than contrasting thread, since at the front seam sections I topstitched in red, but the line is just barely noticeable.

Pressed seams before topstitching...

Closeup *after* topstitching. :) It's subtle, but I think it adds a nice touch :)

**I must add: Since I interlined the white areas, to reduce bulk, I pinked the inside layer of white fabric and pressed the outer red and white seam sections open and again, used SAS. I tried topstitching without and I got some puckering (not flattering :/). SAS really made a bit difference!

Here, I show the inside of the dress, white seam allowances pinked and seam pressed open. Then SAS'd it :)

Dress hem with the help of SAS and a double needle :)

I went over to Aunt Isabelle's Canada Day and she was a big fan of my latest creaton ;) She took a few photos to share on FB :)

  Dan took the outdoor shots. I'm pretty happy with how this dress turned out. I can say with confidence that I'll be wanting to use this pattern again...and again ;)

Thanks for reading! :)