Free Sewing Lesson 3 - Sleeves, and Easing

Published on 26 March 2024 at 10:04

It has been so much fun sewing with you these past few months!  I'm excited to be back with a third pattern and another promo code!  Daphne is a sweet dress that is the perfect next step in your sewing journey!  You can use the skills you learned in lesson 1 and lesson 2 and add the skill of sewing sleeves and easing fabric!  And you still don't have to worry about button holes or zippers!

Let's get sewing!!!

The first step to sewing Daphne is putting the bodice together.  The tutorial wants you to sew some gathering stitches to help ease the pieces together.  While you can absolutely do that, I think it is more valuable to learn how to ease without gathering stitches.  It will be a skill that you will use often in sewing.  Ease simply allows for movement.  Ease in the sleeve allows for movement through the arm.  Ease in the bodice allows for movement in the chest area.  In order to create ease, one piece has to be slightly longer than the piece to which it is sewn.  In order to make that work, the shorter piece needs to be stretched and the longer piece eased into it.  

To accomplish this, first pin/clip the ends the two pieces right sides together.  

Next, I like to place the edge across my knee.  Place the shorter piece on top as that is the piece that needs to be stretched.  It's easier to ease the long piece into the shorter piece on a curve like this.  

Now gently and evenly stretch the outer fabric until the edges match.  Pin/clip and sew together being careful to keep the fabric flat with no puckers.  Sew on the side with the longer piece, stretching the shorter piece gently as you sew.  You can even pull the front edge up to mimic the curve that you used when pinning/clipping.

 

Once you have your outer bodice sewn together, sew the outer to the lining.  Make sure to trim your seams and cut into your corners.  When you clip into the corners, cut straight into each corner getting as close as possible to the stitch line without cutting the stiches.  This will allow you to have nice defined corners when you turn the bodice right side out.

Next, head over to my sleeves post on the Sunflower Seams blog!  It is full of tips and tricks for sewing sleeves as well as some information about mixing and matching different sleeve options.  My Daphne actually has sleeves from Cornflower giving it a slightly more sophisticated look for an older girl.  I show you in my sleeves post, how to accomplish this!

 

And finally, all you need to do is hem, gather, and attach the skirt to the bodice.  Then you can add a few buttons and you have a lovely little spring dress!  

Now the part you've been waiting for!!!  I have a promo code for you!  You can get Daphne, Hydrangea, Cornflower, and Betony for 20% off during the month of April!!!  Simple use code SLEEVES20.

And if you sew up any of these patterns in April, post them with #learnwithtamarhope and #learnwithsunflowerseams in the Sunflower Seams Facebook group, The Sewing Hub group, the Learn to Sew with Tamar Hope group, and/or Instagram for a chance to win a random drawing for a free Sunflower Seams pattern of choice!!!

 

Keep Sewing Happy! - Tamar

 

 

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