S.Betzina V 1101: Preparing Bodice for Chenille Effect

So sorry to have been away so long. With family (and two  sweet little girls ) staying for two weeks, I was feeling a little burned out but I`m back, so here goes.

The next thing to do on the dress tunic is to prep it for the rows of stitching that will produce the chenille effect.

*** The facings have been turned to the inside and now, you will carefully pin the dress and the facing together. Take a lot of care doing this and be sure the two layers lay smoothly together because they must be like one layer before you proceed to the next step.

***Now, starting with the center front line , hand baste  the two layers together including the darts, the neckline,  armholes,  sides and along the bottom of the facings.

*** Next from the facings side ,because that's where your markings are, stitch along each marked line. ( I used a 28 stitch length and regular polyester thread ). I started at the top and sewed toward center front  for each row of stitching.. I stopped there rather than turning and going from center toward  the other side  thus completing each V  shape because that was less shuffling of the fabric and seemed easier to me . However you may want to sew the V`s. Up to you.  ( Sorry, I forgot to take a oic of the finished stitching )

Note. You may want to make a sample of the chenille on scraps of your fabrics, just to get an idea of what you`ll end up with and to practice the cutting step.

***Now you are ready to cut between each row of stitching on the right side of the garment.
Warning !!!! be very careful . It is quite easy to cut right through the two layers. I did that while cutting my sample piece. These Fiskars  scissors (can't think what they're called ) are especially for cutting this type of project and they worked really well for me.

***So you've finished cutting between all your stitched lines and you think you're almost done don't you! Not so. Now comes the messy and quite time consuming part....the fraying of each row. So grab a beverage, sit in your favorite easy chair,. turn on Netflix, and start pulling. I wish I had taken a pic of my mess. It was quite something to see.

About the photo above. My fabric is a two tone linen with the warp thread blue and the waft thread white. That's why my chevron is in two colours. Cool isn't it!

So now you've finished all the creative and time consuming steps in the making of Sandra Betzina's V1101. Next time, I'll show how to finish the armholes and the rest of the garment.

Please let me know if any of this didn't make sense or wasn't clear.

Enjoy this part of the process.