Purple Dancesport Gown: Making the Overdress Bodice

Because I am using a sequined fabric for the overdress, these directions include some steps, like binding seams, that may not be necessary when using a plain spandex fabric

1) Before beginning, be sure to check which way your fabric stretches. If it is a 2-way stretch like this sequined fabric is, then you need to be sure that the stretch will go side-to-side around the body instead of up-and-down, or you will really run into trouble!

2) Cut 2 rectangles of fabric that is a few inches wider than the widest part of your body, and about as long as from your shoulder to mid-thigh

3) With the right sides of the fabric together, baste the long sides straight up the edges, leaving enough room for arm holes at the top, and baste the shoulders leaving enough room to fit your head through in the center. Don't forget to slope the shoulders down slightly to follow your natural line.

4) [NOTE: Because my dress form isn't the right size for me (too small!), I do all of the following by trying on the garment, pinning, basting, and repeating.]  Try on the garment with it still inside-out, and pin the sides to get the correct fit.

5) Remove the dress, and lay it out flat. Use a ruler to adjust the pins so that they are positioned evenly on both sides, then baste along the pin line.

6) Try the dress on again, and repeat the pinning-basting process until you have the fit that you want.

7) If you think that you may get confused as to which baste line to follow when machine stitching, remove the outer baste lines. Stitch along the inner baste line with a very long straight machine stitch, pulling the fabric slightly as you go along

8) Trim the fabric about 1/4" from the stitch line.

9) Carefully pick out the basting. Use a zig-zag stitch to bind the seam edge

10) This dress will have a pointed hem where it meets the skirt. I have found that this works best if the tops of the points are slightly (an inch or so) above the crotch line to allow for ease of movement. Try on the dress (still inside-out) and put in several pins where you think the tops and bottoms of the points should be.

11) Remove the garment and lay it out flat. Place a piece of masking tape across the average top line and average bottom line. By average I mean that since you used several pins on each line, they may not all line up exactly

12) Measure the top tape. Mine was 18". Multiple by 2 to get the circumference of the dress at that point. 18 * 2 = 36. Since we want 6 points, divide this value by 6 to get the width of each point. 36/6 = 6. This means that each point will be 6" wide

13) Mark the center point on the upper tape (since mine is 18", the center will be at 9").  Then mark point-width inches on either side of the center mark (for me that is 6" on either side)

14) The bottom tape on mine is a little wider than the top, so I need to fudge the numbers a bit. Mark the center of the lower tape (since mine is 19", the center is at 9.5"). Mark the tape at 1/2 a point-width (3" for me) on either side of this center mark.

15) Use masking tape to connect the marks as shown in this picture. I also put arrows on my tape so I would remember which side of the tape I want to cut on.

16) Cut along the tape lines as shown above. Remove the excess tape, and because raw edges of sequined fabric look bad and fall apart, baste a very narrow hem along the edge of each point.

OK, now on to making the skirt!