Ice Cream Social - The Big Finish

The Big Finish!

Can you believe it's the last day?! I'm a little gutted about it. It's been so fun sewing along with everyone. And now it's time to finish off our dresses and tops. As you finish, be sure to post photos, leave hints and tips in the discussion group and add your garments into the pseudo-not-really-official-at-all sewalong tally.

And if you are a little behind, don't worry!! I'm headed off for vacation for one week. You can sneak the pictures into the flickr group while I'm not looking. I will announce the giveaway winners when I return around August 9th. Sorry about the delay. When the husband says, "I've booked us a hotel room in the town where we met and we're going snowboarding", you really can't refuse.

So on we go with our garments.

Panel Attachment and Hems
I don't have a lot of photos to show of these steps, I'm afraid.

I do want to remind you that that patterns are recipes. They give you general directions on how to construct a garment. Sometimes you might want a little more salt or a little more nutmeg. Sometimes you want to change them up a little. One of the changes that I made in later versions of the ice cream dress was to attach the panels before I sewed the side seams. Same result, but different construction order. You can read the pros and cons in the bodice construction thread.

Instead of photos, I'll note things that might catch you out:

• View A double hem: that the directions have you attach the inner hem panel first. Wrong side to right side on fabrics. This will go against your instincts. If you get it wrong, you can recover but it's a lot more fiddly
• View A double hem: when you attach the second hem piece, make sure you've got it oriented correctly. It's quite easy to get it turned around. You may want to label the top and bottom of each hem piece. Then make sure you sew the two bottom edges of the hem together.
• View A double hem: Understitching - make sure you sew your seam allowance to the inner hem band of your garment
• View A single hem: make sure you look at view B directions. you want to sew the hem to the bodice with right sides facing. do not look at photos for view A or you will have the hem band on backwards.
• View B: edgestitching the seam allowance towards the lower band for each band will give you a tidier result
• All views: I've heard that a walking foot will you a more even finish on your hems and help manage excess fabric problems. If you own one, it might be worth a try.
  

Edit: Courtney, photo_chick84 on flickr, has a WONDERFUL reference photo for view A's double hem. She's graciously let me share it with everyone. This photo is from the stage just before understitching and flipping up the front of the hem to edgestitch it in place.

Her entire ice cream social set is worth a look!

The Button
Every pretty dress deserves a pretty button. I choose a wooden hand stitched button from Japan. If anyone knows of an online source for these, please let me know. I'd desperately love some more.

My button placement isn't quite right. The loop sits a little bit loosely. I'm embracing this as an unplanned detail. It's much better to keep the button attached to the interfacing rather than slide it over and risk the fabric ripping through.


Again, I'm looking for a source for more of these buttons. I only had four and they are now gone. =(


And that's our garment!
We're done! We're done!! Do a little happy dance. Bounce around and then run out and treat yourself to a double dip of chocolate mint, a peanutbuster parfait or a classic bowl of plain vanilla. You've earned it.



Thank you all so much for joining in! When we began, I thought maybe 4 or 5 people would sew along with us. I never expected to see 280+ people in the flickr group. Remember it's never too late to join in! The posts and flickr group will be around so hop on board any time.