please help - making a dress

[kate?]

This doesnt have much to do with this but i want to make an ice skating ress for scool bu im not qquite sure what they are like so if anyone could giv me some comments or tips i wuld really appreciate it.:bow:

Thanks email me.

[flippet]

I thought you might get more replies if this was a separate thread. :)

~flippet

[FallDownGoBoom]

Do you have any sewing experience?

[tidesong]

Simple instructions but there might be more depending on how much experience you have with sewing:
Get 4-way stretch material for the bodice, pick any material for the skirt but best to have something relatively light. The easiest way is to get a leotard, or borrow one that is your size, then trace it out with some leeway and use that to make your own leotard. Then for skirt, theres a few patterns, box skirt, or circle skirt and more. Again its best if you can copy some other skirt that you or someone else already has. After that just sew the two together.

So generally a skating dress is essentially a leotard + a skirt.

Of course it also depends how much experience you have. My very first costume I made was quite bad and my mom redid it for me. But I learnt from those mistakes and moved onwards since then.

[Moto Guzzi]

Jalie Patterns carries a variety of skating dress patterns, and each pattern includes multiple sizes. Go to http://www.jalie.com/catalog/sports/figureskating.html. Kwik Sew 3051 (http://sewing.patternreview.com/cgi-bin/readreview.pl?reviewnum=16225) has both a dress and a skirt pattern. If you have a skating dress that fits you well, compare its measurements to those on the pattern and make any adjustments you need. I have a long waist and short legs so I make the bodice a little longer but not too long. I like to attach the skirt about an inch below my natural waistline to help hide stomach bulge. I lengthen the skirt in back to cover my butt and make it shorter on the sides than in the front because it looks better on me that way.

I've made lots of skating dresses using a 1974 Kenmore sewing machine. I set the stitch on a narrow zigzag and stretch the fabric slightly as I sew. I double stitch each seam for added strength. Use a ball-point needle so the thread doesn't skip.