Seaside Sailor Sew-a-long Day 1: Preparing the Pattern

TDD Seaside Sailor Sew-a-long links:

Introduction

Day 1: Preparing the Pattern (that's today)

Who's ready to sew a Seaside Sailor Dress?!?  Today is day one of our sew-a-long and I am so excited to get started.  If you haven't picked  up a pattern yet there is still time!  Head over to Tie Dye Diva on Craftsy and find the pattern on sale.  Don't worry if you're just now getting your pattern.  We don't actually start sewing until tomorrow!

Today's assignment will be mostly easy unless you are indecisive about fabric!

1. Read through your pattern
• Make a note of any areas that are new concepts or need clarification
2. Select the size you will be making
• Refer to the Tie Dye Diva Size Chart when selecting the size of your dress.  Choose your size based on the wearers chest measurement.  I'll walk you through adjusting length (and show you a fun new detail!) tomorrow when we cut out the pattern.

1. Print and prepare your pattern according to the pattern instructions on page 2.
• Verify that the 1" box measures correctly.
• If you have purchased your pattern this week you will find that the pattern pieces have been updated with overlapping pages making printing more user friendly for A4 users.
• For those of you who already owned the pattern, your pages butt together and do not overlap.  Measure the distance between the centers of the asterisks to ensure you pattern piece is correctly assembled.  You may need to overlap or separate your pages, (particularly on A4 paper) to achieve the correct measurement.

1. The last part of the assignment for today is choosing fabric!  
• Refer to the Introduction post from Saturday for several lovely examples.
• Also, head over to the Tie Dye Diva Sewing Patterns Facebook Group and look through the Seaside Sailor photo album.
• Finally, I have also created a Pinterest board with several lovely examples (and links to each day's blog post)!
• Remember, this dress is perfectly suited to nautical prints, but is gorgeous in any fabric.  Please be adventurous with your fabric choices!
• Consider your fabric placement. Some options include:
• Skirt and bodice in one fabric, collar in a second fabric, and ties or bow (depending on size) in a third fabric 

• Consider lining the collar in a cute contrasting fabric.  This might be the same fabric as the ties or bow, or it could be a different fabric all together.

• A third option is to use different fabrics for the bodice and skirt.  In this arrangement the collar might be the same as the skirt and a third fabric would be used for the ties. 

Photo Courtesy of That's So Addy

• On last more option to consider (which we will discuss more tomorrow!) is using lace for the ties instead of fabric.  This is an excellent way to really fancy up this dress!

1. Finally, please refrain from cutting until tomorrow!  I know it is difficult to wait, but I promise it will be worth it.  Tomorrow I will show you some more fun modifications to the pattern just for Sew-a-long participants that will effect your cutting!

If you are not already a member of the Tie Dye Diva Sewing Patterns Facebook Group head over and request to join.  An administrator will approve your request right away!  I have posted a daily thread on the group wall for Sew-a-long discussion.  Please ask your questions there so we are sure to see them and be able to respond as quickly as possible!

Make sure your scissors are sharp and pins are standing by, tomorrow we will cut out the dress and begin working on the collar!