Congrats on making it this far in the
Lodo dress sewalong because we are almost done. Today is our last day or sewing and tomorrow we just show off our finished dresses. Let's get started!
Step 11 - Fold the outside (short) edges of each woven armhole facing in by 1/4" (wrong sides touching) and press.
Fold the unnotched long edge of the armhole facing up by 1/4" (wrong sides touching) and press.
If you are finishing your seam allowances of the side seams you need to do this at this time. It's not necessary since knits do not fray, but to show you I serged the entire side seams (from one hem, up over the shoulder, to the other hem) on my maroon version.
Step 12 - With right sides touching and matching notches, pin the woven armhole facing to the edge of each side of the dress along the armhole. The fact that the facing is cut on the bias will allow it to curve along the edge of the dress.
Step 13 - Starting at one folded end of the facing, stitch (using a regular nonstretch stitch) along the raw edges until you reach the other folded end. Repeat for other armhole.
Trim the seam allowance of the woven facing to about 1/4" to reduce bulk.
Step 14 - Press the armhole facing away from the dress and on top of the seam allowances.
Step 15 - With right sides touching, pin the front and aback together along the side seams from the hem to the underarm notch.
Step 16 - With the armhole facing still pressed outwards, use a stretch stitch to sew from the underarm notch to the hem, backstitching at both ends. Note that you will be stitching directly on top of previous stitching for about 3/4" just below the underarm notch.
Step 17 - Press seam allowances open below the armhole notch. Continue to press the armhole facing towards the inside of the dress above the armhole notches so that wrong sides are touching. (Just like on the neckline.) Pin and press so that the armhole seam is rolled slightly towards the inside of the dress to make it less visible on the right side of the garment.
Step 18 - Using a nonstretch straight stitch, edgestitch around all sides of the armhole facing, pivoting at corners and stitching over the sideseam at the bottom of the armhole to connect. Backstitch to secure. Press.
If you want to finish the seam allowance of the bottom of your dress before hemming, you should do that now. I serged the bottom of my maroon version here.
Step 19 - Turn the bottom of the dress up by 1 inch. Pin and press.
Using a stretch stitch, topstitch at 7/8" from the folded hem to secure.
Give your whole dress a nice press and wear it proudly! Tomorrow I will show you my dresses being worn.
