How to Sew a Party Wear Gown

Hey  friends how are you. I am back here after a long time.In this post I want to share how I stitched this simple and  elegant party wear gown. I designed and sewed this gown for my daughter to wear to a party. She liked it very much. Even her friends admired it a lot. I hope you would like it and also try to sew it.

I prepared the pattern according to the body measurements I required. For the neckline, I wanted to have a mandarin collar with small curve as a continuation. 

The neckline width is kept 2.5" and depth of the neckline for collar  is 4". The depth of the hole (or the curve I mentioned before) is 3". Back neckline depth is 0.5". Flare of the dress at bottom measures 16". I cut the pattern on double folded paper.

Pattern

 Next, I opened up the pattern and placed it on the fabric a little diagonally as in the figure below. I then cut the bodice parts separately. (Sorry, I forgot to click a photo for this step so i drew one instead so that you can get a clearer idea. :) )  I also cut the lining cloth similarly. I used Chiffon fabric for the dress and Satin fabric for the lining. These fabrics that I have used were so slippery , I had a hard time with them. So I cut the fabrics with the help of my daughter!

Firstly, I attached the front part with the lining and joined the back parts also similarly. Next I sewed the curve part below the neckline by attaching facing and then attached the shoulders. Then I stitched the collar with satin cloth and attached to the neckline.

After that I attached the sleeves and joined the bodice parts along the length of the fabric. I thought of adding a velvet ribbon at the bottom and it came out of pretty well!!. On one side,  I embellished with a flower (the big pink rose i bought from a local shop here) and on the other side I embroidered bullion roses with chain stitch stems and leaves. Bullion roses n the bullion knot stitch have been my daughter's favorites since she was a kid... so she insisted that I made these on her dress. :)  Lastly I closed the collar with a nice button, But I took these photo before stitching the button so I cant show you!

   It was a great task completing this dress within a day! It was a sudden plan and my daughter wanted it for a party the next day..

Detailed Tutorial - Palazzo Pants

Palazzo pants are trendy now-a-days. They can be worn with a long kurti or even a short top or a t-shirt. So lets learn how to make one.

DRAFTING and CUTTING

Front pieces

A-B    =     D-E     =     width of bottom of the pant + 2"

Width of the bottom can be kept as much as desired. you can keeep it more if you want it loose. Usually the bottoms of palazzo pants are quite wide but i preferred medium width. So, I've taken 12" +  2" (seam allowances)

AD    =      BE      =      length of your pant (please note: do not add 1" for seam allowance here as we will atttach a separate waist belt)

BC    =       Crotch length obtained by Total length (AD=BE)/4 

Draw a line MC parallel to AB

O is the mid-point of AB.

P is the mid-point of DE. Join OP. This line crosses the above line at R.

G to 2   =    0.5"

take your hip measurement. Divide it by 4. Add 2". this is the MC length. Let this be 'm'. now mark 'm/2' from R both sides and mark "M and "C".that,is, R is the mid-point of MC.

For example if your hip measurement is 40, then 40/4 = 10 + 2" = 12".then 12/2 = 6" = MR = RC.

AF     =   TM + 1" Join MF with a curve.

FG     =    (Your waist measurement + 2)/ 4

Draw a straight line from G to H.

Draw a curve from G to C as in this fig.

Measure 14" (your knee length)from E and mark N. 

Knee width, LK = MC-1" such that S is the mid-point of LK. ( in the example above, LS=SK = 5.5")

Again take the points z and z' just like L and K above but ZP = PZ' = MR = RC (i.e. 6" in the above example). 

Now cut along FM , MT and TD. Also cut along GC' and C'E. The front pieces are now ready.

Back pieces

Place the cut front piece over folded fabric for cutting back pieces. The red lines indicate the front piece and the blue lines indicate the back pieces in the given fig. Mark S such that GS = 1" and T such that CT = 2". Mark S' such that E'S' = 1.5" now join T and S' as shown. Mark A' and D' cut along the line. Also cut along STS'. Now, you obtain two back pieces.

Fig. Cutting the pieces

STITCHING:

Join the crotch areas of the two front pieces. Also do the same with the back two pieces. 

Now, join the outer side edges of the left front and back leg pieces together and stitch along the length. Do the same way to the right-sided pieces also Next, take a strip of cloth of width = twice the desired width plus 1". length would be that of your waist measurement + 1". This is your waist belt.
Attach the belt to the waist and insert the elastic.  Now stitch the bottom edges in double fold. Lastly close all the open edges of  the leg pieces (obviously except for the bottom opening!!)

* For more information on how to attach the waist belt, you can refer to my earlier post legging stitching method

And.. your palazzo pant is ready!!

How to Cut & Stitch a Princess-Cut Kurti

Hello everyone.. Time for another tutorial. This post would tell you how to make a princess cut kurti. This kurti is very similar to the straight-cut kameez/kurti only difference being in its shape. It has a little A-Line kurti-like shape. For drafting please check out the straight cut kameez tutorial sewing post.

Princess-cut kurti

1. You have to note few alterations.

    0-8     =    half shoulder

    0-7     =    3.5" (or about 3 to 4)

    8-A    =    shoulder slope

    1        =    midpoint of AB

    7-2     =    11" (or 10.5")

    3        =     as far from the mid-line as is 7 (0-7) (3.5")

    5-6     =     hip + 3" (Hip measurement is as said in the above (straight-cut kameez) tutorial (RS))

    4        =     midpoint of 5-6

    6-7     =     seam allowances 1.5"

    

Fig.1

CUTTING

Draw the draft on the fabric and cut along the yellow dotted lines in fig. 1.

Fig. 2

Fig. 3 - After cutting

After cutting, you would have two centre pieces and four side pieces (both front & back).
STITCHING

Keep both the cut pieces A&B together correspondingly. Next, place the piece B over A in such a way that their right sides face each other and the points E and E+ coincide. Check out fig. 4 and 5.

Fig. 4

Fig. 5

Secure with pins and sew along the entire length. Repeat the same with the other side and back side pieces too.

Fig. 6 Pinning

Fig. 7 After joining the two side pieces to the center piece

For the remaining steps, please refer the straight-cut kameez sewing tutorial. The side seams and slit opening are optional. You can instead choose to sew the side edges together.

Hope this helps...!!

How to Stitch an 'A'-line Kurti

This tuorial is on making an "A"-Line Kurti. It is very easy and the draft pattern is quite similar to that of a straight-cut kameez/kurti except for that it widens as we move down and has a flare.  

You can find the drafting in this tutorial. You should note that here, the width AB is (hip + 3"). Hip measurement would be as mentioned in the above tutorial (RS). Take extra 1" along the whole length as seam allowance.

If you would like to give the bottom a curve shape as I've done, then you should mark C as  the midpoint of AB and also BD = 3". Join the points making a curve. YOu can therwise simply go with the straight pattern as it is also equally popular.

The edges of the sides can either be closed or left often as a slit. Further steps are similar to the one in the kameez sewing tutorial. 

Happy sewing!!

How to sew kali Salwar / Panel Salwar

Hey Sewaddicts!! Time to learn something new! So, in this tutorial we're gonna learn how to make a panel pyjama/ kali salwar. Okay! easy.. Don't worry.. its really simple. You will find the drafting method for a kali salwar in my earlier post. So, in this tutorial we will see the cutting & sewing parts.

CUTTING:

  

After cutting the waist piece you have to cut the center piece. 

Open the full width of the fabric. 

First, fold the fabric into half its width (that is AB is 2 layers). 

Again fold the fabric half width-wise that is fold A over B or such that C mid point of the AB. 

Now you have got 4 layers of the fabric. 

On this folded fabric, Mark the required length of the salwar part (here, this required length is = salwar full length minus waist piece length) +1" (Figure Salwar center piece Cutting 1) 

Salwar center piece Cutting 1

Cut the center piece according to the length Fig .2.

Fig 2

Open the second fold that is "C".  You have got 2 center pieces (2 layers) that is AB.

Cut along the fold that is A A (fig.1). Separate the 2 cut layers. The fig 3 shows the two centre pieces.

Fig 3 Center pieces

Now, for the side pieces the length would be same as that you took for the center piece and width would be half the width of the fabric. Draw a line across the corners as Fig 4 and cut it along the line. Fig 5.

Side pices/kali

Fig 4

Fig 5

 you have got 4 kalis  Place the kalis one over the other. Fig 6.

Fig 6

 Mark the crotch length and draw curves for the crotch and the inner side of the kali as shown in the fig. 7 and cut along these curves. (Figure 8)

Fig7

fig 8. kali

 Fig 9 shows the waist pieces, ankle fabric and facings.

Fig 9

  Fig.10 shows all the kali salwar pieces after cutting. Now that we are done with the cutting part, let's move on to the stitching part.

 fig 10 kali salwar  pieces

STITCHING

Facing - bottom opening (The ankle part)  

Take a strip of fabric with width as (double the width of the interface you are going to attach  +1") and its length would be (1/2 of ankle circumference) or  (the width of center piece in Fig 1)

Fig 1

Take the interface (with width as 1/2 width of facing(as in the step above) and length being the same as the facing). As in fig 2, place the interface on the wrong side of the facing and cover it.

                                                 

Fig 2

Attach the interface to the right side of the center piece at the bottom (that is where your ankle part would be) and stitch the two together. The pins in fig.3 indicate the seam line.

                                                                              

Fig 3 attaching interfacing

 After attaching and stitching, turn the interfacing towards the wrong side of the center piece. Next, top stitch on the right side (fig 4).                                           

Fig 4

Stitch the other edge of the facing (which is towards the wrong side) again onto the wrong side as in Fig 5. Now you have 2 parallel seam lines - one each over each edge of the facing.

                                           Fig 5

                                       

Create rows of top stitching with either a straight stitch (as i have done in this picture below) or any other decorative stitch of your choice.

Fig 6

Now lets move onto the main salwar part. Keep the side pieces/the kalis on each side of the centre piece respectively lengthwise and sew. Do the same for the other side too. 

Fig 7 joining the center and side pieces 

 After having finished joining of the pieces together, it should look as in the figs 8,9.

Fig 8 finished joining the kali

Fig 9

After that, sew the crotch part, attach the waist piece to the leg/salwar pieces all the way creating frills. For rest of the finishing process, you will find the instructions here in this tutorial.

So, there you are... done with kali salwar/ panel pyjama. It is a very trendy dress. It is very popular in 

India as a casual wear. You can pair it up with a short/long kurti or even a t-shirt. (It looks cool with a t-shirt.!!) I hope this tutorial would be of great help to you. For any queries and doubts or requests, please comment below.. and keep waiting for other interesting easy-to-learn tutorials..

How to stitch a Flat-Felled seams

Everybody!! I'm here with yet another tutorial. So this post is  about Flat-Felled Seams.

Flat-Felled Seam keeps the raw edges hidden and allows them to lie flat along the seam allowances. Also, the seam will have a neat finish and the dress looks good on both sides (inside and out). Flat-felled seam includes a pair of stitch lines one of which is seen on one side and the other seam line on the other. So, it can be sewn inside or outside.

If you want to show the flat- fell seam on the wrong side of the dress, sew the right sides together.

                                     

                            

 After sewing, press the seam open on both sides .

On one of the sides of the seam allowances, mark a line 1/2" half of the seam allowances (the dotted lines in the image below).

                             

Trim only one side of the seam allowance where dotted . 

 Press the  untrimmed seam allowance over the trimmed allowance. Fold the pressed seam allowance under the raw edge of the trimmed seam allowance.

.

Then edge stitch close along the fold, such that  all the raw edges are inside. (as in above fig flat-felled seam  shows on the wrong side of the dress.)

The image above shows the right side of the dress.

If you want to show the flat-felled seam on the right side of the dress, then keep the wrong sides together and sew it. and follow the same method  as above said.

In  the above fig the flat-felled seam is shown on the right side of the dress.