SILLY REGRETS AND SEWING ON THE BIAS
by Daughter Fish
“You can do anything you can get away with, but no one has ever gotten away with much.” - Flannery O’Connor, Mystery and Manners: Occasional Prose
Since my wedding in the fall of 2009, I’ve regretted not making my wedding dress. Originally I planned to. I had pictures of bias-cut “inspiration” dresses from the 1930’s hoarded on my desktop at work, and I incessantly sketched the dream dress on napkins and the backsides of bills. In the end, though, I just didn’t think I had the time or skill to sew such a garment.
Instead, I bought a beautiful Claire Pettibone lace-and-silk-charmeuse gown at a sample sale, and paid (what I thought at the time) an exorbitant amount to have it altered. Even though it was lovely, I’ve since harbored this animosity toward the dress. I didn’t make it. I should have made it! And I spent too much on it.
Photo courtesy of Annie Easter (thanks Annie, you rock!)
But sewing this bias-cut dress over the weekend has made me utterly happy for every cent I paid for my wedding dress and to the lovely seamstress who did the alterations. Sewing delicate fabrics on the bias is HARD. The seam ripper and I got pretty tight on this project.
I made the dress from a soft rayon challis. It has a wonderful drape and I love the color, but when I started making it from this (beyond funky) 1980 Simplicity pattern, I didn’t realize the skirt was cut on the bias.
In addition to the two darts around the collar that the pattern called for, I removed the lapped front and added three darts along the shoulders for more soft folds, which I love.
Generally, I think my version is a lot more feminine and wearable than the funky/clunky version pictured on the cover of the pattern.
It’s the skirt I have a problem with. The zipper in the back puckers and one of the pockets doesn’t lay flat. And this is all because of the slippery nature of the bias cut. I’ve since ripped out the zipper (about six times) and am going to reinforce it with fusible web to see if I can fix the ripple problem. I’m also going to tackle that errant pocket (yet again!) before I wear this baby out.
The Flannery O’Connor quote above refers specifically to writing fiction. But I think it can easily be applied to sewing delicate fabrics cut on the bias. You really can’t get away with much.
Yes delicate fabric cut on the bias is tricky. I love the changes you made in the pattern to the top of the dress. Neck line and shoulder are lovely.
Thanks! Yeah, I need more practice with the delicate fabrics! I think I’ll try incorporating the bodice into another dress, and putting even more darts in it!
Very pretty dress Chris. I haven’t even attempted to sew delicate fabrics. You are very brave and patient. I’m sure you and the seam ripper are much closer acquainted. I would like to sew a skirt on the bias someday. When I have the time. Ha! As if that will ever happen. Maybe you’ll have to make me one.
Post-pregnancy of course!!
I’d be happy to make you one! We’ll figure out something stunning and you’ll be the hottest mama around! Yeah, this dress has been a challenge, but I also really like parts of it. So that’s encouraging!:)
I’m kind of in love with the simplicity of this dress. I like the belt. The color on you, sort of a cornflower, is gorgeous!
Cornflower! That’s perfect! Yeah, I like how simple it is too. Not too many distracting lines!
very cool Christine.
Thanks, Jill!
I had the rippling-zipper-on-a-bias-cut-skirt problem. It turned out that it was because I had not cut the biases in opposition to each other. You need to cut one piece, then flip it over and then cut the other so that the grain of one side of the skirt lies at 90 to the grain of the other along the seamline where they join. Have I explained that well? Mine were parallel, hence not supporting each other/bracing each other, hence ripples at the zip. Irreparable (no amount of interfacing helped) but once I realized why, I could return to my love of the bias cut skirt (oddly prior to that skirt, I seemed to have got it right by accident).
That’s really interesting. I’ll have to keep this in mind with my next bias-cut garment. I’ve decided not to insert a zipper. From everything I’ve read, I just don’t think it will work and not ripple. So I’m taking the suggestion of another reader and putting an old-fashioned placket with snaps. We’ll see how that works! I’m going to post it either today or later this week. Thanks for stopping by and I’m very thankful for the bias suggestion! Any of those are welcome!:)
[...] for some respectable tops that do represent my style. I decided to experiment with the bodice of one of my favorite dresses, which I made last [...]
Thank you for posting your latent appreciation for the seamstress. Most people do not realize that this is a fairly low paying job and imagine our efforts to be over priced. It isn’t until they can see what we go through or experience i personally that they can fully appreciate it. The kindest thing you could do is publicly post your appreciation to that seamstress.
i really like the shoulders of this dress. thanks for the posting the drawing of what you did to alter the pattern.
some tips on sewing bias:
1. let pieces hang on a dress form (as if they are sewn) before and after stitching for a day or two. especially if you have a true bias cut.
2. on skirts with a straight to bias seam (gored or pieced circle) or differing bias, pin the top of your seam at the waist and hold it so that the seam can hang out. if the pieces have different bias one will hang longer than the other. allow it to run off the bottom (removed when a hem is set). if you try to force it to fit, it will cause the seam to curve.
3. zippers can be pinned in place on the form after the garment has hung out. so that it lives more naturally with the fabric’s bias.
4. hand baste to help control difficult fabric. if a seam is being difficult or you know it is gonna be nasty (like an armscye) baste it so it comes out perfect the first time.
hope these help. bias cut garments are so great, but are certainly a pain to stitch.
Thanks for these tips! I’ve taken a bit of a break from sewing on the bias, but just was gifted a beautiful Madeleine Vionnet book, so my creative energies are heading back in that way, I think:)