Channeling my inner yellow

If there is one thing I learnt last year it is that when the sun comes out and the weather warms up the first thing you want to do is put on a sundress to go outside. The last thing you want to do is stay indoors and make one!

I am freezing by the way!

It is a long work related story but I found myself in Oswestry last week 51 miles from home with a spare few minutes so I visited a fabric shop I had never been to before because it is normally too far away called Textile Express. Ooooh! it was spectacular.

I bought this funky, tropical roll end remnant for £5. Since the purchase of my yellow shoes (slight mistake really) I have been trying to channel my inner yellow.

I have been on the look out for the perfect shift dress for a while now and this caught my eye. I have tried so many over the last two years but this is a winner because I can shorten the body at the waist. It is free with Sew Home & Style April issue 70. I made view D with a tie belt.

I can't say that I have done a great deal of pattern matching over my sewing career so this one was a real challenge that also involved bloke getting a bit technical and mathematical to help me out. This was as good as I could get it.

How I insert a dress zip

Fold your back zip seam and pin making sure the top is level. Use a 1.5cm seam allowance but it is best if you have someone fit the back for you. I always have to have less on the waist and more on the hips.

Sew this seam on your machine with the longest stitch setting (basting) making sure you go all the way to the bottom of the back seam joining the two lines of stitching together. Press open.

Pin zip in place using the seam you have just made as a guide to the placement of the zipper teeth.

TACK IT! this is not the Great British Sewing Bee, take your time. It takes minutes but saves an hour of unpicking.

Put the zipper foot on your machine and remember to put your stitch length back to normal. Use the back edge of the zipper foot as a guide to run along the seam line as you sew steadily.

Go all the way to the end, turn, and return to the neck stitching both sides of the zip. Nothing should be moving, it is machine basted and tacked in place.

Now run a stitch unpicker up the seam you made in the first place. It has to be sharp otherwise you will need to take more time to unpick it.

You can now undo the zip, try it on and then pull out the little basting whiskers.

Finally, depending on the garment, you can fold down the back neck facings and hand stitch them in place ensuring the zip can still flow to the top. You may need to add a hook and eye at the top too.