Alice Sew Along- Day 5

Today's agenda for Alice includes attaching the skirt to the bodice and installing your invisible zipper. There are quite a few tricky steps involved here, so I will offer you some tips to hopefully ease your way. If you're joining us for the first time, you can find days One, Two, Three, and Four at these locations. You can also grab the Alice here for only $6 by using coupon code AliceSAL at checkout through 2/6. Feel free to join in and catch up!

Alice Sew Along Day 5

Attaching the Skirt

So now we get into it. You want to pin your skirt to bodice right sides together, making sure you're keeping all lining pieces out of it. If you have successfully completed your box pleats, it should all match up perfectly (center front to center front and side seams to side seams). Once pinned, sew it together. Then, and this is of utmost importance, trim your seams down by half! This step is absolutely crucial for successfully installing your invisible zipper, so please to not forget it! Once completed, you will duplicate these steps with the lining pieces, this time keeping the main pieces out of it. Once done, your creation will look more like a dress.

Installing an Invisible Zipper

The hard part comes next. The zipper. Now, I'm going to admit that before this point, I had never before done an invisible zipper. And I was terrified. Legitimately terrified. I did not have an invisible zipper foot, either. I've been told (by our fearless designer, Melissa) that an invisible zipper foot makes installation considerably easier. I will say, though, to ease your mind, that I was successful with a regular zipper foot and patience, no seam ripping required on my part.

One of the most valuable tips I can give here is to follow the directions implicitly. Especially the ironing of the zipper. Take your time, make sure it's really flat. It WILL help, I promise. Again, I found the illustrations in the pattern invaluable to the zipper installation as far as making sure I was lining everything up correctly. And in the end, I had a beautifully sewn invisible zipper for the first time. I was SO proud! And I'm proud of all of you for installing yours too!



This was a rough day, I'll admit. But it was also one of the most rewarding as far as I'm concerned. We're coming along quite nicely! Please make sure to join the Bella Sunshine Designs Facebook group and share your progress in out sew along album! I want to see all the beautifully sewn zippers!

All we have left now is the hem, and we'll cover that tomorrow! If you're curious about the schedule, you can find it directly below. I hope you'll join me again tomorrow!