Sparrow sewalong: making the waist ties

It's time to put the waist ties on our Sparrow wrap dresses! If you want to catch up on the last post, you can have a look at how we attached the bodice to the skirt.

Sewing the waist ties

Fold your waist tie piece in half lengthwise and pin together. Sew up one short side and down the open long side. Leave the end open and turn right way round. I like to use a smaller seam allowance on the waist tie (about 5 mm) so that it fits more snugly on the bodice edge.

Attaching the waist ties

With the right side of the bodice facing up towards you, flip the lining out towards the top.

Place the raw edge of the waist tie in line with the edge of the bodice. The width of the waist tie should fit snugly and comfortably within this space.

Fold the lining over, sandwiching the waist tie between the bodice and lining. Pin in place.

Sew the seam from top to bottom, being careful to stop at the waist seam. In other words, the seam allowance of the lining will overlap the waist seam by 15 mm (5/8").

 
Finishing the edges and slits

Once the waist tie is attached, you will find that the seam allowance on the skirt front edges curls naturally toward the inside. Press in place and pin. If you are using a light dress fabric for your Sparrow, top stitching this edge will do quite nicely. I opted to finish my dress with slip stitch because I didn't want the velvet to form a bulky edge.

I also finished my slits by hand from the inside. Once again, this is really not necessary unless you are also making the dress out of a heavy fabric that will benefit from the relative invisibility of a slip stitch.

 
Yay!

We're almost there! See you next time for a few finishing touches.

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