I’ve finally finished the Pattern Magic Flip Turn Dress! In my previous post I showed the calico mockup (muslin) and my practice bound buttonhole.

The calico mockup

And here’s the finished dress:

My Pattern Magic Flip Turn Dress

One of the problem I found with the mockup was that the medium weight calico was too stiff. When choosing the fashion fabric, I used a very soft black cotton hopsack fabric which has lots of drape which is very easy to press but has the following drawback:

- It frays a lot.
- It shines like a mirror when pressed
- It attracts cat hair like crazy

To solve the problems I decided to line the dress with a black cotton lawn, pressing only from the wrong side or use a silk organza press cloth and keep a lint roller next to the ironing table. The hopsack fabric also has a lot of give on the bias so I literally stay stitch all seams except for those on the straight grain. In the end the dress fits quite nicely and I’m glad that the soft hopsack fabric allows some soft folds at the bodice.

The front bodice

The back view – small gathers at the skirt replace darts

As the Pattern Magic book does not come with any sewing instructions, I decided to sew the dress in sections: skirt -> bodice -> join skirt and bodice then repeat the same for the lining. To attach the long flap, I reinforce the flap at the waist where a clip will be made. This allows the lower part of the flap to be sewn to the skirt while allowing the top half of the flap to remain free.

The flap was attached to the skirt sections before stitching to the bodice

The lining was one of the late change which I didn’t planned. I thought it would be much easier to hide the seam allowance and minimise fraying. As I’ve already sewn the whole dress in fashion fabric before deciding on making the lining, I used hand slip stitches to sew the lining in place.

The lining was attached to the fashion fabric using slip stitches

Initially, I was really tempted to use bound buttonhole to finish the opening which the flap passes through at the bodice but it didn’t work well with the soft hopsack. The buttonhole’s lip fabric showed when turned to the inside so time to change plan. I decided to use hand finished buttonhole instead using dark purple embroidery threads. The buttonhole was first defined by tiny straight stitches. These stitches hold the fashion and lining fabric in place while providing some stability to the opening. I overcasted the raw edges, then run long threads around the opening to give the buttonhole some definitions.

Small buttonhole stitches were made

The small buttonhole stitches were made around the opening.

A third of the buttonhole stitches done

I’m quite glad with the dress as this is definitely one which I can wear to work. The drop sleeves work nicely with my square shoulders.

The drop sleeves and a classic back view

I’ll definitely try more of the Pattern Magic design in the future.

The unlined flap

The Flip Turn Dress

I’ll be putting aside my personal sewing for a moment as my coming projects include baby swaddler, sleeping bags, pj, etc for my brother’s baby who’s due in December! My best friend’s baby is also due in November so it’s time to get the serger out!