Kitty Mittens Update

Here's a quick update on Kitty Mittens.
The reason this project is taking so long is that I haven't been very diligent about working on it. I've been working a slightly later shift than usual lately, and by the time I get home in the evenings there just isn't much time to sew. I also made those two knit tops, and that took time away from this as well. But this weekend I'm going to be back at it. The dress is almost finished, after all!

I've gotten quite a bit done since the last update. The invisible zipper is installed, and the shoulders and side seams are all sewn (they still need to be serged, however.) I had planned all along to line this dress so that the corduroy could be worn over tights or leggings, but I decided to underline it instead.

I was faced with an unusual dilema. This fine wale corduroy is very lightweight. If you've never sewn with it before, I'd say it has a weight and drape similar to a nice quilting cotton. It's not like the corduroy you would use to make say, pants or a jacket. Remember that I used fusible interfacing on my yoke- this was to give the fabric some extra body to support the smocked insert and to help keep the seam allowance of the yoke seam from showing too badly on the outside of the garment.

Well, when I sewed the skirt piece to the bottom of the insert, the seam allowance was quite bulky and it showed pretty badly on the outside. Hmmm. What to do? I didn't really want to interface the whole skirt, and I was afraid if I just interfaced a strip across the top of the skirt piece that it would show through to the outside and look bad. I decided to go ahead and underline.

I was using a nice piece of pale pink satin from stash for the lining. It's a little bit heavier than a regular "lining" fabric, but I thought I'd go ahead and give it a try. I cut out a skirt piece and sewed it in behind the corduroy skirt piece. The seam allowance is hidden much better now and the skirt hangs nicely. I still needed to line the bodice and hide the wrong side of the insert. So I cut another piece of satin that matched the yoke and insert together and sewed that to the bottom yoke seam as well. There's really no way to hide that seam, so I just serged it.


I basted the edges of the dress front and handled it as one piece from this point on. I also cut back pieces from the satin and basted those to the corduroy back pieces. I serged the center back edges and then applied the invisible zipper to them. Yes, the zipper is exposed on the inside and there is that serged seam in the front, but overall I think it worked out fine. I had the Princess try the dress on the other night and the first thing she said when she got it on was, "This feels so good inside!" So the satin lining is a hit.

I still need to cut and make piping for the neckline and armholes. Hopefully I'll have a finished dress to show sometime this weekend.