Sahara Sew Along Days 5 and 6

Hi again! New day, new steps to do! If you’re just joining us, make sure you check out Sahara sew along days one, two, and three/four to get started! Today, we finish our bodice. Ready? Let’s get started!

Today which begins with pressing the neckline from the lest steps we completed. I did mine when I finished my neckline, and you may have too. If you did, that’s great! If not, do it now and we’ll get to the sleeves.

Finishing the Neckline and Adding Sleeves

Burrito Method: If you’re opting for a sleeveless dress, Melissa has written an AMAZING tutorial for you all that includes an animated gif showing you how to execute this wonderful method of finishing a lined sleeveless garment! Check it out here.

Sleeves: If you’re adding sleeves of any length the first step is to pin. For girls, I start at the center and work my way out to each end. For women, you need to match the single and double notches on the sleeve to the ones on the armscye and start pinning from there, otherwise, you might end up with a wonky sleeve, and we don’t want that! Remember that you’re pinning through ALL of the layers at this point. The shoulder and side seams will be visible from the inside of the garment. Once you have everything all lined up and pinned, sew through the layers and then finish your edges with either an overlock or zigzag stitch for a more professional finish (if you’re using a sewing machine like I do).

Side Seams

Line up and pin the armpit seams (seams toward the neckline at the top and toward the waist at the bottom) and work your way out from there. Once pinned, you should have something that looks like this:

Sew and finish the side seams in the same manner as the sleeves were done. Easy peasy. Flip it all right side out and press the sleeve seams toward the bodice.

Hem Sleeves

The last step for today is to hem the sleeves. There are many different stitches you can use to accomplish this. A straight stitch is most common in ready to wear clothing but doesn’t take stretch well. If stretched too much, the stitches will pop. A stretch stitch is a good option, as it will stretch with the sleeve. My preference, however, is what I call a “baseball stitch”. This is what it looks like on my machine.

It has a great stretch factor and crosses over both sides of the hem so that there is no fabric loose on the inside of the garment, it is all contained. I’ve been using this stitch to hem for a while now and I adore it.

Once you’ve got your sleeves hemmed, you’re done for today! Great job! You should have a full bodice now! Here’s my completed bodice front:

and back:

It’s really starting to come together! Next session we’ll be wrapping it up! Don’t forget to join our Facebook group to share your progress in the sew along album and come back here on Monday (June 5) for the next sew along installment! Don’t forget the ladies and girls Sahara patterns are still on sale for the duration of the sew along and it’s never too late to join! And here’s the schedule again so you can catch up if you’d like!

Free Patterns You Will Actually Use

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Sahara Sew Along Days 5 and 6