Welcome to the first day of the Blair Sewalong. We will not be going over printing and assembling your pattern, or cutting out your fabric, so if you havn't done those things yet, go do them now and come back.
I will be sewing up View A (mini skirt) and will be adding the optional pockets and belt as to go over all of the instructions. But, the sewalong will apply to all lengths of the skirt.
Also keep in mind that unless otherwise stated, the seam allowance is 1/2”.
Step 1 - Before starting, make sure that you have transferred all dots, notches, buttonholes, dart markings, and optional pocket placement markings from your pattern pieces to your fabric.
For notches and the tops of the dart legs I just do a small snip in the fabric about 1/4" in length.
Darts and dots should be marked on the wrong side of the fabric. Pocket placement and buttonholes should be marked on the right side.
Step 2 - Apply fusible interfacing to the wrong side of the following pattern pieces.
Waistband Lining (centered with a 1⁄2” border on all sides)
and optional Pocket Flap Lining (1⁄2” in from the bottom and side edges)
Button Band (align with the center on one side and be 1⁄2” from the notched edge on the other, with 1⁄2” border on the top and bottom)
optional Belt (centered with 1⁄2” border on all sides)
Step 3 - Stay stitch the waistline edge on both Front and Back pieces at 3/8” from the raw edge. A lot of people skip this, but please don't. This will prevent the waist from stretching out during construction and fitting. Those of my testers who skipped this test found that their waistbands no longer fit the top of their skirt when trying it on.
Step 4 - Sew the darts on the Front and Back Skirt pieces by folding the dart markings right sides together and aligning the dart legs as marked. Ensure the dart point (apex) is on the fold. Pin to secure.
Stitch along the dart leg to the point, reducing the stitch length to 1.0mm within 1/2” of the point.
Do not backstitch, but leave long thread tails. Tie the thread tails in a secure knot and trim.
Press the darts towards the center front and center back.
That is it for today. Come back tomorrow where we will sew up the pockets.