The disappearing silk zipper
28 April 2009, 12:26The Colette Patterns “Eclair” dress is not a quick, one-weekend project, but it’s well worth taking my time over and going through all the careful steps in the instructions to get a nice finish. I inserted the side, invisible zipper last night (more on that in a second), so now I only have to attach the lining to the zipper tape, stitch in the ditch along the waistband to join the shell and lining, and hem the two skirts! I’m doing well on time, too, since the wedding’s not until May 9th and I’ve got a bank holiday between now and then, too.
So here’s the invisible zipper on the side seam (yes, I am rather proud of matching the waist seam there!):
You can’t tell on the tech drawing, but this dress has inseam pockets, too, and the instructions have a very clever way of dealing with the pocket, side seam, and invisible zipper area that makes it all nice and neat!
And as I said, I inserted the zipper last night, but since it was the moorings’ monthly craft night, I thought I’d try something different (and frankly, ludicrous) and insert the zipper by hand. So I basted one side of the zipper on, then hand stitched the zipper on, pulling back the teeth and using tiny stitches. Then (with the zipper still closed), I basted an inch or so around that waist seam to ensure they lined up, then opened the zipper, basted the other side, and stitched that on as before. I thought for sure I’d end up with arthritis from holding the teeth back so much (even after a good press), but it was a good social activity and it got good results.
Not that I’m keen to do it that way again any time soon, mind. But you may be able to make out the tiny stitches under my thumb here:
Speaking of invisible zippers, Julia posted this great invisible zipper tutorial earlier this week, which is how I inserted them for a long time before I discovered a technique in an old issue of Threads, tossed my invisible zipper foot into a drawer and never looked back. But if you haven’t got that random issue (the article’s not online, and I’d rather not incur the wrath of Taunton by posting my scans!), you could do worse than to follow her lead!
Freebie designer pattern news
So that Temperly pattern of the “mini Dana” dress from the Spring 09 collection, free from Observer Women magazine (offer now closed) finally arrived, albeit much later than expected…
I’ll save a full review until I can actually piece together the pattern sheets and figure out wtf is going on with them, but briefly… This pattern is wack. One size, no measurements, no pattern piece overview, no tech drawing, no diagrams, no fabric requirement, no grainlines, no guidance on how many to cut of each piece… This is like Patrones or Marfy to the power of 10! But yet whoever wrote up the scant directions thought it necessary to waste precious space on the one photocopied sheet of A4 to describe exactly how to do a French seam and to make a hem!??!! My jaw dropped open when I read that. I mean, seriously, do they think anyone short of a couture master or advanced sewer with a death wish would even attempt this? Free is good and all, but a few bare necessities would’ve been nice.
Gifted fabric!
Oh, and on Sunday night I also received a bunch of new fabric from my neighbour Helen, which you can see at the bottom of the photo gallery here, including a gorgeous bias-printed blue tartan georgette, some 1m samples of what she believes is kevlar(!!), a fabulous tweed that’s dying to be a skirt in Fall, and some royal blue thick wool felt that really wants to be a vintage-style hat. So hurrah for neighbours who’ve been through fashion school, amassed a stash, and lived to tell the tale! She’s also my go-to for pattern manipulation and drafting questions, which is awfully nice to have around. I keep telling her we should totally start a line together, with her drafting and illustration, and my fabric and construction, but I think it’d all just end in a ton of empty wine bottles and chocolate truffle boxes and not very many garments!
Tags: colette-patterns, dress, knockoff, silk
The ‘eclair’ dress looking good – cant wait to see the finished article.
Good luck with the free pattern. I guess it falls into the same category as there being no such thing as a free lunch! I cant imagine why they thought the scant instruction offered was necessary.
New fabric from whatever source is always exciting. My old tutor is now a very good friend and also sells fabric online (check out ‘the material lady’ and tell her Kim sent you!) so I often benefit from her remnants and knowledge. Good to have fiends like that! Do let us know what you decide to make with the kevlar.
Best wishes
Kim
— Kim Hood Apr 28, 02:27 PM #
Ooooh, I hope you do get a chance to make up that Temperley. I am dying for a one shoulder dress but haven’t found any patterns I like.
— The Slapdash Sewist Apr 28, 02:41 PM #
How did you get hold of the pattern? They don’t seem to be on sale yet,
Many thanks (PS my daughter is desperate for one of the dresses)
— SueM Apr 28, 06:11 PM #
Where did you find the pattern?
(I can’t get this comment to appear here)
— SueM Apr 28, 06:46 PM #
Now you got me yearning for that Threads tutorial, I never got a hang of the invisible presser foot either and my new machine doesn’t come with one. I also use a regular zipper foot instead, but am not 100% pleased with the result. Maybe I just need to practice more :)
— Johanna Lu Apr 28, 08:48 PM #
Looking forward to seeing your gorgeous dress!
— gwen Apr 28, 10:03 PM #
Fantastic dress Melissa! I can’t wait for your description of the “mini Dana”, good luck with that.
Please enlighten me about your aversion to the invisible zipper foot: I have an important dress sewing project coming up and just bought a new zipper foot (I used to just use my normal foot, and it worked fine, just thought for this project I would take it to a “higher level”)…
— Houkje Apr 29, 12:42 PM #
The dress is looking great. I also really like the floral dress from last post.
Have you seen Sewing Diva Els tutorial for inserting an invisible zip. I’ll go find the link for you and come back with it. No special feet, sew up seam first, and works like a charm.
Link:
http://thesewingdivas.wordpress.com/2006/11/08/sewing-invisible-zipper/
— marji Apr 29, 03:32 PM #
Nice work on that zipper! I think you now qualify as a couture seamstress for sure.
— Grace Apr 30, 03:25 PM #
SueM,
Sarai, of Colette sent out a request on her blog last year for people to try out her new patterns, I guess Melissa was one of the ones to respond.
— lsaspacey May 1, 06:25 AM #
RE The Mini Dana Dress pattern!
You arent on your own here, i excitedly waited for the pattern and when it eventually turned up i was mortified!
Me and my friend are absolutely baffled trying to make it and despite working out how those four sheets fit together for the pattern pieces and having downloaded the recently added PDF on the observer website that shows the pieces laid out (still no use whatsoever) we are still struggling to work out how the pieces even fit together!!!! Have you managed to get any further???
— Annie Jul 8, 12:00 PM #