Welcome back to day 2 of the
Lodo Dress Sewalong. I am excited to get sewing. Today we are going to be tackling the back seam, back slit for View A and sewing up the shoulder seams. Super easy. Let's get started.
Step 1 - (This Step is for View A Only. View B starts at Step 3 so go ahead and skip on down to Step 3 if you are sewing the shorter version without a back slit.)
Remember that all seam allowances are 3/8" unless otherwise stated in the instructions.
If you want to finish the seams with a serger you will want to do that now. You can serge each back seam independently before sewing them together. Since knits do not fray this is not necessary. I am going to opt out on serging View A (but will serge View B so that you can see both). You will be sewing this step using a stretch stitch. If your machine has a stretch stitch it will look something like a lightning bolt. If you don't have one of those stitches on your machine you can also use a zigzag stitch and just adjust the settings. You can play around with the settings and see what works best on your fabric.
With right sides touching and matching the triple notches on center back, sew up the back seam using a stretch stitch. Sew the dress from the neckline down to the large dot. This will be the top of your slit so backstitch it to secure the endpoint.
Step 2 - Press the seam allowances above the large dot open. Press the area below the large dot open 1.5" on both sides. Pin it in place.
Edgestitch around the 3 sides of the slit at about 1/8" from the raw edge (crossing over the center back seam at the top). Continue using a stretch stitch to do this.
Step 3 - (This Step is for View B Only. If you are sewing up the mid calf version, View A, then skip ahead to step 4.)
With right sides touching and matching the triple notches at center back, pin and stitch the center back seam together from top to bottom using a stretch stitch (for more info on the stretch stitch check out step 1).
If you are using a serger to finish the seam allowances you can serge the seam allowances together now and press to one side. If you are not finishing the seam allowances then press the seam allowances open.
Step 4 - (All Views use this step.)
In preparation for tomorrows post, we are going to attach the front and back at the shoulder seam. With right sides touching, pin and sew the coordinating shoulder seams of the front dress to the back dress. Use a stretch stitch as in previous steps.
If you are finishing the seam allowances with a serger you can do this now and press them towards the back of the dress.
If you are not finishing the seam allowances press the seams open.
Turn your dress right side out and it should look something like this.
OK, that's it for today. I hope that was easy and clear. If you have any questions comment, or send me a message. Remember to tag your dress and progress photos on social media with #lododress and @truebias so that I see them. You can purchase the Lodo Dress sewing pattern in my shop
here.
