Saturday, August 20, 2011

Miz Mozelle Dress - the details

I found the post at Flossie Teacakes about her experiences making Miz Mozelle very useful. She pointed out that on her, the keyhole turned out too large so I made mine smaller right from the start.
For my fellow sewists, here are some details from my first version, in case anyone finds them useful in making their own.

1. If you have wide fabric, you can probably get away with considerably less than the pattern specifies. My fabric was 150cm wide and I easily cut the whole thing out of 2 metres, whereas I bought 2.7 metres (3 yards) as specified. Check out the pattern pieces before you buy your fabric. I could fit a skirt front or back, plus a bodice front or back, across one width of the fabric.

2. The bias tape requirements are quite small so it could be worth making your own if you fancy something pretty. I can imagine a plain navy dress with Liberty bias trim, for example. Mmmmm....
I find using a zipper foot helps me sew the bias tape on accurately
3. The pattern specifies single fold bias and double fold bias. Now - after a bit of Googling and confusion - I have discovered that double fold is really the same thing, just folded in half again. And all the pre-made bias I've ever seen is only single fold. So all you really need for this pattern is half inch single fold bias tape (or quarter inch double fold, essentially the same thing), and two metres or yards of it would be more than enough.

4. I found the attachment of the collar hard to visualise. The collar is sewn onto the right side of the bodice and then bias tape is used to cover the join and make the seam turn towards the inside. Here's a (dark) picture of how it ends up, which is rather clever and neat:

Using contrast-coloured bias tape led to difficulty with coordinating thread colours and I ended up with a bit of pink stitching going across the keyhole bias.
the button is a sweet pearlescent glass one I got in a bunch of old buttons from eBay
In this case it would have been preferable to stop just short of the keyhole bias and 'invisibly' hand-stitch the very ends of the collar bias down.

5. The pattern specifies 'cord' for the button loop but I made a narrow self-fabric tube, as you see above, which works quite well. It would probably look good made from the bias, too.

6. I cut a size 12 bodice and 14 skirt, according to my measurements. I think a straight 12 would have been fine.

7. The skirt is gathered slightly to join onto the bodice. The difference in size is so minimal however that I am thinking of cutting the top and bottom as one piece next time:
this is a 12 bodice and 14 skirt - the size difference would obviously be even less with 12/12
8. There is elastic at the waist, in a casing made with the seam allowance of the skirt/bodice join. I zigzagged the pieces together then overlocked/serged the s/a before sewing down, for a clean inside finish. 1/4 inch elastic was specified but I only had 1/2 inch, which was a squeeze, but it fit!
bodice/skirt seam at bottom, seam allowance serged, pressed upwards and sewed down to make casing for elastic
And for my next Miz Mozelle....
I think shirring at the waist would suit this pattern really well. If I cut the bodice and skirt pieces together there'd be no waist seam and I could shirr up and down as far as I wanted. That would probably work really well with a lawn or voile as well as jersey.

This pattern is so simple and sweet, and came together in one afternoon and evening - including the dreaded tracing off the pattern. The hardest part for me was finding a decent fabric!
this rather bright choice was 'the best I could find' at Spotlight and although nothing special, was still $15/m! 100% cotton, soft and a nice weight but the quality of the printing is horrible.
I still find shopping for knit fabrics quite confusing and frustrating. I prefer natural fibres (narrows the selection massively). I don't want 'baby' prints. Most of the plains I find look and feel, I don't know, cheap and nasty. Or too 'ordinary' plain for something like this dress. Maybe I just don't have the eye for them yet. Or perhaps I need to head back to the dyepot! Any tips on selection and sources?

- Jane x

12 comments:

  1. Sounds waaay to complicated for me to ever attempt something like that. I'll leave it to the experts. No fabric tips I'm afraid. The only good thing about Spotlight is that their selection changes regularly so if you don't find something on one visit, you might on another visit.

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  2. Cute pattern. As for knit fabric sources, maybe try online options. I found some great knit fabric at a charity run store.

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  3. Oh, I didn't even realize that the dress was made from a knit...now I'm even more impressed!

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  4. It is so cute, and looks great on you! I've had a hard time finding knits too, Spoonflower is a great but pricey option.

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  5. Oh yeah, Spoonflower, thanks for the reminder! I've never ordered from them but it could be worth lashing out for this. And they even have organic don't they. Haha - now I'll be stuck for too MUCH choice!

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  6. I just saw your dress in Melanie's post for Sew, Mama, Sew! It's gorgeous. Like you, I didn't need anything like as much fabric as the pattern suggested.

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  7. Gahh!! I'm desperately searching online now for help on this dress. No avail :( But, I can't figure out for the life of me how to sew the sleeves to the bodice. I am a complete beginner and my sewing teacher started this dress with me, but now has been too busy to meet with me again, and it's been over a month and I really want to get this dress finished. Anyway, I just don't get it, the pictures are going right over my head when it comes to how to attach the sleeves!

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  8. Hi Coley - your Blogger profile won't let me reply directly to your comment so I hope you're checking back here! I'm looking for my copy of the pattern, but I think you gather the sleeve tops a little, then pin and sew onto the bodice as flat pieces before sewing all the way up the side & sleeve seam. That may not be helpful. I'll find my pattern!

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  9. Okay... got it... yes that diagram is slightly odd-looking. It can seem strange pinning sleeves to armholes the first few times because the curves go the opposite ways. It won't lay flat but it's not meant to. Make sure you have the right side of the sleeve fabric facing the right side of the bodice fabric. Like it says, match the notches and pull on your gathering threads to make it all fit. Use plenty of pins. If you're not sure if it's right, just use a large basting stitch first so it's easy to pull out - then when you have it right, stitch over the top of that with smaller stitches. The sleeve won't end up finished until you stitch the side seams together and the bottom seams of the sleeve come together too. Is that any help?

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  10. Hi jane
    thanks for this! I am making my first MM dress - not in a str3tch fabric, in flowy silk - probably crepe de chine, not sure... and I have been bad - since I didn't have enough of the knit I bought, I made this and didn't go up one size like she says you should do if you use non-stretch. In fact, I am in between sizes and chose the one which is an inch larger than my bust, and it worked fine. So if you ever want to make this in non-stretch, there you go.

    Anyway - i found your blog as I was looking for enlightenment on the collar bias binding, and you gave it to me along with other tips - thanks! I thought it was going to look like the sleeves - exposed - but now I see it is a kind of facing.... much better.
    One thing - about cutting front and back in one piece - I think this might not work too well - first of all, you would lose that curve cut at the bottom of the front bodice which gives bust ease - it might end up slightly short along the front body under the bust. Secondly - I can tell you from past experience that it is not so easy to get casing in the right place:)
    Thansk again for a great post...

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  11. Hi jane
    thanks for this! I am making my first MM dress - not in a str3tch fabric, in flowy silk - probably crepe de chine, not sure... and I have been bad - since I didn't have enough of the knit I bought, I made this and didn't go up one size like she says you should do if you use non-stretch. In fact, I am in between sizes and chose the one which is an inch larger than my bust, and it worked fine. So if you ever want to make this in non-stretch, there you go.

    Anyway - i found your blog as I was looking for enlightenment on the collar bias binding, and you gave it to me along with other tips - thanks! I thought it was going to look like the sleeves - exposed - but now I see it is a kind of facing.... much better.
    One thing - about cutting front and back in one piece - I think this might not work too well - first of all, you would lose that curve cut at the bottom of the front bodice which gives bust ease - it might end up slightly short along the front body under the bust. Secondly - I can tell you from past experience that it is not so easy to get casing in the right place:)
    Thansk again for a great post...

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    Replies
    1. Hi Francesca, thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment :)
      That's really good to know about the sizing. I can see myself making another of these in a non-stretch fabric some time.
      I see what you mean about the curve of the bodice bottom providing ease for the bust. I love getting insight into the 'workings' of patterns like that, thanks! In the end the version where I cut as one piece I used shirring at the waist so kind of worked around that. Then for my third I cut as per the pattern again.
      I'm so glad my post was helpful to you :)

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