So I've finished the main work on the skating dress that I've been working on for a while (thanks to those of you who PM'd me with sewing advice!!). I used Kwik Sew the bodice from 2796 and the skirt portion from 3502 (I didn't like the 2796 empire skirt).

I sewed it on a regular sewing machine (took forever to get the settings right to where I wasn't skipping stitches and the zigzag had enough give in it for stitches to not pop). I used an even feed "walking foot" so that the top and bottom layers would feed through at the same speed. I lined the entire thing in swimsuit lining because the fabric I used is VERY stretchy.

I haven't finished the skirt hem yet. I'm debating between the pattern directions (topstitch with zigzag) and doing a hand-rolled hem. Any suggestions?

I posted a picture at my flickr page.

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That is looking so good! You've done a fantastic job!

For the hem on a standard sewing machine, I personally would go with a zig-zag withthe stitching going just slightly off the edge of the fabric to get the bound look that an overlocker (serger) would get doing a rolled hem. Stitch width probably about 3/16th" looks about right to me. Stitch length, you'd have to experiment.

In my opinion, unless you are a very expert sewer, I wouldn't attempt a hand-rolled hem on stretchy fabric.

If the fabric is really stretchy, be careful not to pull the fabric at the front or back as you sew it, otherwise you might get the lettuce-edge, frilled effect (unless you want that). And perhaps even use a lighter pressure foot setting so the fabric doesn't get pulled as you sew.

Good luck with it !!!

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Karen

I skate - therefore I am

Dress looks great. Good idea to line the bodice. That slinky stretch fabric is very stretchy. I have worked w it too.

About the hemming. This goes against my grain (pun intended), but if you look at a lot of commercial clothing that is made of stretch fabric and even some sewing patterns intended for stretch fabric, they have a raw hem. You will need to cut very neatly for the raw edge to look nice. But a raw edge will hang very smoothly and will not been seen b/c a skating dress is basically a stage costume and is not intended to be viewed up close.

Your other option would be to turn once, zig zag and trim excess. I would stick w the walking foot b/c the glitter may get stuck in the presser foot and cause the stitches to bunch up making lumps in your hem.

You are inspiring me to get my sewing machine out.

Kay

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I agree with kayskate...you can leave it unhemmed, as knit fabrics do not fray. But, to me that looks unfinished, and even though I have done it a few times, I don't like the look generally.

In the skirt hem, since there is really no reason to preserve the stretch of the fabric, you can use a straight stitch if you want. The few times I have done a hem on a conventional machine, I just folded the hem under about 1/4" and straight stitched it. I have never hand rolled a hem, nor do I ever intend to! The best thing I ever did regarding my love affair with Lycra was get a serger!

This may sound like a silly question, but you have tried this on, right? I use Kwik Sew patterns all the time in my business, and sometimes am surprised at how low cut the necklines are. If I made them just like the pattern, it would make the skaters uncomfortable. I bet Kirsten Maartinson (pattern designer) never skated!

It looks nice! Keep sewing!!

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BuggieMom
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Bravo! Much better than my first attempt...

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Fantastic Job! I love the fabric.

I have a quik sew pattern ready to go this weekend, and some $1 per yard fabric to make a mock up, before I order nice fabric. Seeing yours makes me ready to get going!

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Dress looks great!

I only ever did one dress for my daughter out of slinky, because I found it very difficult to work with. I did a hand-rolled hem on it, because I'm better at that than I was trying to feed the slinky through the machine evenly. Good idea to line it. Slinky has a tendency to "grow", so don't be surprised if you end up having to re-hem it at some point. Hers held its length at the side seams, but front and back the skirt eventually looked saggy and I had to trim and re-hem. That having been done, it still looks good even about 8 years later - we sold it at a used skatewear sale, and I still see it on a little girl at the rink.

What helps me is to always stretch the fabric out just a little bit sewing it, that way it doesn't skip stitches, and doesn't get "curly" life if you stretch it out a lot.

Looks good!


... still have to get my sewing machine fixed.

Wow! Looks great!

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Beautiful dress, beautifully done!

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I like it. It looks simple and classy. Good job!

Wow! It looks great! I also love the fabric.

I have a serger so this is a bit of a cop out, but I just serge the raw edge of slinky with a wide non-rolled hem, I don't turn it under at all because it gets bulky. I think you could get a similar effect if you did a zig zag on your regular machine. I also like the suggestion of turn under once, zig zag and trim the excess. I do that a lot on thin lycras. Try a sample and see how you like it.

Now go make another!

Very nice dress so far, I like to do my skirt hems with a rolled hem by hand because it uses up my time in the bus/train.

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On skating dresses I've made I've just followed the pattern instructions and zig-zag stitched over the raw edge of the skirt and then turned it up a cm or so and straight stitched parellel to edge to hold it in place. It doesn't need to stretch on the hem so a plain straight stitch seems to work just fine. As someone else mentioned - these dresses are not designed to be seen close up and from a distance you can't see the stitching anyway.

I don't have a serger/overlocker but my machine does have a good stretch stitch for seams.

We should have a gallery of all the dresses people have made!

You could serge the edge, then turn it and topstitch. That is what I do when I'm too lazy to change all my settings to coverstitch (it's a pain to do that). But, since it's slinky you could leave it raw...no one but you would know!

FANTASTIC JOB!!!!! It is beautiful!!!!

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Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!

At our rink, many don't even do anything with the edges of the fabric such as at the bottom of the skirt other than cutting it neatly, because lycra doesnt usually raffle out (well, two-way might, four-way doesn't usually), although the seams are usually serged indeed. Zig zag on a regular machine might be a problem if the machine skips stitches and/or draws the fabric inside, so try on a snippet first.

Oh yea muskoka! Did you use a special needle for stretch fabric?! I just realised that might be part of the problem of skipping stitches!

Thanks, everyone, and thanks for the ideas on the hem! I was surprised I didn't have to alter the length in the bottom or the torso on this one, because according to the pattern, the back waist length was about 3/4" too long for me. If the dress ever "grows" there are two horizontal bodice seams that I could take in a little. Once the dress is completely finished, I'm thinking of hanging it by the bottom instead of the shoulder straps, as the heavier part is on the bottom, so hanging it from the top would have all the weight pulling on the rest of the dress. I'm going to try it out at the rink tomorrow to make sure I don't freak out when I'm in it (make sure the straps are secure while moving, etc.)

Good point. I've done hand-rolled hems on silk and chiffon/georgette, but never on anything knit, and this one has ribs. (It made the cutting easy, but doing a curve would be hard.)

I cleaned my machine last night, and the feed dogs had a huge pile of glitter on them between the feed dogs and the throat plate. Ugh! I used a little brush to pick up as much as I could, slowly. I didn't want to blow it down into the machine. And I took out the hook race and cleaned that because I was worried that glitter would get in there and interfere with the bobbin.


Yup, I did try it on. I have a nude leotard with clear straps and the dress is much higher than it. In front, it's about the same as a camisole leotard and very similar cut to another camisole skating dress I have. The back is higher than a lot of dance leotards. If I knew how to do zippers, I would have done 3502 with short sleeves and mock turtleneck, because that kind of dress would have fit my program music nicely. But I didn't want to try and teach myself zippers at the same time that I sewed 4-way stretch for the first time! If I make this dress again, I'm going to alter the top neckline to be v instead of scoop by adding a center front seam for the upper part of the bodice. V looks better on me than scoop.

I used a 70 ball point needle for most of the dress (a 90 and an 80 were skipping stitches). I also experimented with changing the presser foot pressure, but when stitching 4 layers or more (lining, fabric, fabric, lining), the lighter pressure was too light and the stitches were skipping/not looping. I used regular pressure for the sewing, but less upper thread tension. Right before I finished sewing the leg elastic, I sewed over a pin because I was lazy and didn't take it out (I usually do). The needle hit the pin and shattered into pieces; luckily I found them all and none went into my machine (or me).

I sewed a sample hem (turn edge and topstich with zigzag) last night, and I reduced the presser foot pressure and didn't push/pull the fabric through the machine. I'm not sure if I like the turned edge--I like how the raw edge lets the fabric hang in one continuous line. I'm going to try a sample swatch with a straight topstitch and also one with an overstitched edge.

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I am so glad it looks good on you!!

Super simple to do a zipper, much easier than you would think, even in 4 way stretch! I have done it in velvet, lycra, slinky, even stretch vinyl and have yet to have a problem.

You can, but you don't have to add a center front seam for this. It is another simple solution that just LOOKS hard!

I have mad super-secret-seamstress-tips (!)...you can PM me if you ever need any help, I will sure try to help if I can...

Keep sewing, girl!

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Some people are like a Slinky...not really good for anything,
but you still can't help but smile when you shove them down the stairs....