kcw spring 2013 [day four]
April 25th, 2013
Hour #4
1. the zipper: The little strip of plastic we all dread. I knew it was coming up and the damn thing was making me nervous. I have done zippers successfully before, but this was an invisible zipper. An invisible zipper is like a regular zipper folded up weird. First you have to undo the weirdness with an iron, then you can put it in–this involves more muscle than you would expect. :)
I have to say the directions for sewing in the zipper were completely non-intuitive. But the thing that makes Olive + S directions so good is they know when you think it’s weird or you think are doing something wrong and they assure you all is well. The directions for the zipper say, “The zipper tape will seem to be twisted at the bottom if you have everything pinned and stitched properly.” You can see how reassuring words like that are when it’s late and you don’t know what you are doing and it looks like everything is going to hell.
And everything did not go there with this zipper. Seams match! It is [almost] invisible! Good things all around!
2. the collar: How could four polka dot smiles not make you happy?
The collar went surprisingly well. Again, it’s because the directions are crazy good. They suggests drawing your stitch lines on the collar, because curves can be hard to get just right. And my polka dot smiles are almost just right. They’re not frowning at least. I even got them on the dress correctly on my first try. I did unpick the basting and fiddle with them a bit to get them in the right spot, but still, I was expecting to sew and rip many times. Collars have not been my friend in the past.
I’m going to be totally mean and not show you the dress yet. We still have 3 hours to go! Hang in there.
Have you been keeping up with the kcw blog this week? and the flickr pool? All the clothes you are making are amazing!
That is mean! You are a tease. Can’t wait to see it, the polka dots are so dang cute. BTW, is KCW over tomorrow or Sunday? Please say Sunday…I have most of my list left!
Sunday!
WooHoo! Now can I make two pairs of pajamas, two t-shirts, two pairs of shorts and two pairs of paints…no problem.
Hey there, I’ve been gone from comments for over a year now but I wanted to tell you that I LOVE what you are doing with your posts for this week. I wish that I could be sewing along with you and your wonderful following of sewers this time but it looks like it will be summer at best. It’s nice to see the process and get some perspective.
I couldn’t agree more. I did this dress back in november and was feeling the same way with that zipper! You got lucky though, I had to rip mine out twice to get it to match up. There was alot of swearing going on. Can’t wait to see the finished product! love this step by step too!
Yep I’m dying to see this dress! Looks great so far!
o+s instructions are so great. I remember doing the sailboat pattern for the first time and being shocked that something that looked complicated ended up going so smoothly.
I put in an invisible zipper last night, so I know exactly what you’re talking about! Can’t wait to see your finished dress.