Directional Fabric

Happy Saturday!

I currently have three daughters who are at college.  My goal was to sew each one of them a dress for Easter.  I finally finished the last Easter dress and shipped it off yesterday.  As you can see from the pictures, I was working with directional fabric.  The knit fabric was purchased at the Lakeland Sewing Expo from The Sewing Studio.  It was a steal of a deal, the fabric was $5.00 a yard.  I love these deals.  The pattern is from New Look  6322.

The laying out of the pattern was different, since we wanted the bottom of the skirt to have most of the print and the bodice to have less of the print.  The pieces were laid out to confirm that there was enough fabric for the design that we wanted.  The skirt was cut out opposite of the grain line and the bodice was cut on the grain line.  In other words, I broke the sewing rules of always cutting the pattern on the grain line.

The fabric was a little finicking when sewing.   It had very little forgiveness when pulling out stitches and while stitching some of the white from the background would show thru.  The needle in the machine was a stretch needle.  I tried also using a Microtex needle but the results were the same.    As a work around, I did my initial stitching with the sewing machine and then used the serger to finish up the seams.

The pattern did appear to run a little large so I took it in.   It is challenging sewing from someone who is not close to try on the garments.   The bright side is the dress form does not complain on how often you have it try the dress on or if you accidentally stick them.

The hem was completed with a cover stitch. I love the cover stitch with knits because the fabric lays so well.  I hate the cover stitch when I get to close trimming off the fabric and accidentally cut the stitches.  So I have a love/hate relationship with the stitch.

Have you every worked with directional fabrics?  Please share any tips.

Valerie