Tutorial 4.  Dress Cutting: Main Fabric and Lace.

During this tutorial I am going to cut the bottom or the base of my dress out of the main fabric (stretch satin) and out of the lace.

Cutting Main Fabric.

I fold the fabric piece in half and secure the crease with pins. I am going to cut it crosswise. The stretching (stretch thread) goes along the shoot. That’s why the whole stretching effect will go from top downwards.

I lay out the front pattern on the fabric and outline it with a tailor’s chalk. I mark notches.

I alter the central piece of the front. As I have changed the bust middle, the central piece of the front also has to be reduced by 0.4 inches.

I mark the required length with the seam allowance accounted for:

I alter the pattern after the calculations made by using Tatyana Kozorovitskaya’s Formula (see Table 10):

I match all reference points with the help of the standard pattern:

I cut out the resulting front piece of the dress and restore the notches:

And so, I have cut the front of the dress.

Now I lay out the back pattern on the fabric:

I repeat the same steps as were done for the front of the dress.

I mark the length of the dress:

The only difference from the front is the fact that I always add extra 0.4 inches to the dress (skirt) length along the center of the back, just in case. I make this allowance to account for the buttocks height. It is easier to just shorten it later.

I alter the pattern in accordance with the performed calculations (see Table 10):

I secure it with pins.

The dart seems to have been shifted towards the side as a result of the applied alterations. That is why I divide the back piece in half and transfer the dart onto a new spot:

Now this dart should be transferred onto the other side of the cutting.

For this purpose I pierce the peaks of the dart with pins and pin the fabric together along the centre:

I turn the fabric around and mark the location of the dart on the second piece using these pins as guiding lines:

It could also be done with the help of a contrasting thread but using pins is much easier and faster.

I turn the piece around again, cut it, and make notches:

And now I would like to show you the result of adjusting side seams after Tatyana Kozorovitskaya’s Formula.  I place the front piece over the back piece and - voila - their side seams match perfectly!

There will be absolutely no problems with sewing the pieces together!

I would like to add that I often use my formula of side seam adjustment for calculating the side seam of a corset.

Cutting Lace.

I put the patterns of the dress onto the lace. I arrange the repeat of the ornament on the lace in such a way that the central part of the forepart lies in accordance with certain proportions: those of bouquets, flowers, festoons or any other element.  I try to arrange all motifs symmetrically.

I cut the pieces out of the lace:

I remove pins, lay out the cut pieces, put the lace over them and see how it works.

So, I have finished cutting the dress.