1 00:00:00,440 --> 00:00:03,540 There is a box, in the corner of my sewing room. 2 00:00:03,540 --> 00:00:07,259 It is a box whose contents have not seen the light of day for many a month. 3 00:00:07,259 --> 00:00:10,660 Many crafters will be familiar with this box, in all of its forms: 4 00:00:10,660 --> 00:00:14,040 There’s the ever-growing amorphous lump that lies underneath your desk… 5 00:00:14,040 --> 00:00:18,760 The monster underneath your bed… The stuff you vacuum-packed in a fit of organization 6 00:00:18,760 --> 00:00:22,199 and stuffed into your garage in the hopes that you’d never have to deal with it again… 7 00:00:22,199 --> 00:00:25,480 This, my friends, is the UNFINISHED SEWING PILE. 8 00:00:33,720 --> 00:00:37,560 So, this is the item that I pulled out of the box and that I’m going to work on for 9 00:00:37,570 --> 00:00:40,719 this episode. This is a really lovely strapless blue gingham 10 00:00:40,719 --> 00:00:43,850 dress. The problem, however, is the strapless part. 11 00:00:43,850 --> 00:00:48,750 When I attempt to wear it, it falls down! So, I want to add straps – more specifically, 12 00:00:48,750 --> 00:00:50,500 tie-up halter-neck straps! 13 00:00:50,500 --> 00:00:54,449 The first thing that I do is to measure roughly how wide I want the straps to be at the top 14 00:00:54,449 --> 00:00:58,500 of the sweetheart neckline. I want them to be about 3 inches wide, and then taper off 15 00:00:58,500 --> 00:01:04,040 and get thinner as the straps reach my shoulder. I want most of the strap to only be 1.5 inches 16 00:01:04,040 --> 00:01:08,549 wide. And I also need excess length at the back so that the straps can be tied up, and 17 00:01:08,549 --> 00:01:12,369 the straps should also curve a little bit so that they will sit flat around my neck. 18 00:01:12,369 --> 00:01:17,310 Awesome. So, I put all that down onto a piece of newspaper and here’s my pattern! 19 00:01:17,310 --> 00:01:20,670 The fabric that I’m using for the straps is stretchy white jersey. 20 00:01:20,670 --> 00:01:25,430 I fold it over so that there is two layers, so that I can cut out 2 matching pieces at once. 21 00:01:26,070 --> 00:01:29,970 I place my pattern onto the fabric, pin it on, and cut around the paper. 22 00:01:32,400 --> 00:01:35,460 Then, I flip the pattern over and I repeat this. 23 00:01:35,470 --> 00:01:40,509 So, I’ve ended up with 4 pieces of fabric, each pair sandwiched together like this. And, 24 00:01:40,509 --> 00:01:43,979 I’m going to then sew them together just like this. I’m making sure that I leave 25 00:01:43,979 --> 00:01:46,869 a gap in my stitching at both the top and the bottom. 26 00:01:46,869 --> 00:01:50,229 To sew them together, I’m using a zig-zag stitch because I’m working with stretchy 27 00:01:50,229 --> 00:01:54,040 fabric. I’m also using a walking foot attachment to help the seam lay flat. 28 00:01:54,040 --> 00:01:58,219 After I’ve sewn the two pieces together, it gives me this tube thing. So I stick a 29 00:01:58,219 --> 00:02:03,219 safety pin in one end of the tube to help me turn it inside out, and I turn the tube 30 00:02:03,220 --> 00:02:07,870 all the way around, so that the seams are now on the inside of the tube. 31 00:02:15,200 --> 00:02:19,020 Then, I simply sew the gaps closed by sewing over the top of them. 32 00:02:22,700 --> 00:02:26,940 For this smaller end,that I left completely open, I fold the excessfabric inside it about half an inch and then 33 00:02:26,940 --> 00:02:28,340 sew over the top. 34 00:02:30,060 --> 00:02:34,120 Once I’ve done that, I attach the straps to the dress where I want them to sit, pin 35 00:02:34,120 --> 00:02:38,860 them on, and sew carefully over the top here, using a really small straight stitch. 36 00:02:44,100 --> 00:02:47,940 Then, I also decide that I want to replace the buttons with something a little bit cuter. 37 00:02:47,940 --> 00:02:52,569 Now, I have a LOT of cute buttons, and it’s honestly really hard making a choice, but 38 00:02:52,569 --> 00:02:56,950 in the end I go for something a bit more subtle than cat or heart buttons – I got these 39 00:02:56,950 --> 00:03:01,200 white buttons are from my grandma, and I think that they’ll give the dress a more vintage, pin-up feel. 40 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:07,030 I carefully cut off the old buttons, and, using a needle and a thread in matching colour 41 00:03:07,030 --> 00:03:10,900 to the buttons, I sew the buttons on, using the small holes left in the fabric from the 42 00:03:10,900 --> 00:03:14,090 buttons I just removed to know where to place these new ones. 43 00:03:14,090 --> 00:03:18,090 To sew these buttons on, I sew up through the back of the dress through one hole of 44 00:03:18,090 --> 00:03:20,170 the button and back down through the other hole. 45 00:03:20,170 --> 00:03:22,850 I repeat this a couple of times, 46 00:03:26,379 --> 00:03:34,539 then, with the thread at the back of the dress I tie a knot, and cut off the excess thread. 47 00:03:34,540 --> 00:03:38,799 And here is my new and improved dress! I think that the new halter straps go really 48 00:03:38,799 --> 00:03:44,040 well with the dress and it also has the added bonus of not falling off when I try to wear 49 00:03:44,040 --> 00:03:48,920 it! So, that’s good! Here’s the tie-up straps in action – 10 50 00:03:48,920 --> 00:03:53,000 inches extra seemed to be about the perfect length to allow me to tie a messy bow at the back. 51 00:03:56,940 --> 00:03:59,360 And - yeah! There we have it! Thanks for watching, 52 00:03:59,360 --> 00:04:00,599 and I’ll see you all next time!