Paloma, le pas à pas

Hello and welcome to the step by step sew along pattern for the Paloma dress.

Paloma is an easy to sew dress. It is composed of an emprire waist bust and a long skirt with a side slit or a gathered waist midi skirt. The following step by step sew along is for version 2 (the long dress with slit) but that does not prevent you from following it for version 1 because the first and most complex steps are similar.

If you don't know where to buy some ladder trim click-here.

Mark all darts placements (bodices and skirts) on the wrong side of the fabric with tailor’s chalk or a disappearing ink marking pen. 

With right sides together, fold along the centerline, matching dart legs.

Pin in place. 

Stitch dart, beginning at the sides and sewing to the dart dart point. Continue sewing past the dart point for a few stitches, without backstitching. Raise your needle, leave a thread chain of at least 30 mm.  Tie the chain at the dart point and cut the threads, leaving about 10 mm after the knot.  

Press towards the center.

Cut the ladder trim the length of the bottom of the front and back bust.

Pin the ladder trim to the front bust, with right sides together.  

Sew and then press the rip toward the bottom. Repeat for the back. 

With wrong sides together, fold the long sides of the ties (E)  toward the center and press. 
Fold one short end 1 cm toward the wrong side, press well.
Fold the ties in half, press well and edgestitch in place.

Pin the raw edges of the ties to the front of each side of the ladder trim. 

With the right sides together, pin the front and back at the sides (with ties sandwich in between for view 1).  
Sew, then press the seam allowances open.  

Repeat for the lining but turn the lining right-side-out. 

Using scissors, open the slit on the front bust piece and front bust lining, stopping at the notch. 

With the right sides together, insert the bust lining into the  main bust piece. Pin the pieces together, making sure to line up the front and back necklines, the slits and the side seams.  

Before sewing, use a disappearing ink marker or tailor’s chalk to transfer the openings markings for the straps.

At the slit, sew, coming to a stop a few millimeters below the end of the slit.  

Sew, paying attention to the markings you just traced. Backstitch at each beginning and end.    

Clip the corners and notch the curves.
Notch the end of the slit, making sure you don’t clip through the seam.  

Turn right-side-out and press. 

With the inside of the bust facing up, fold the bottom edge of the lining 1 cm toward the wrong side. Press and hand stitch the bottom edge to the main bust piece.   

Finish the sides of the skirt front and back, stopping at the marking that indicates the slit.  

With the right sides together, pin the skirt front and back at the sides.  

Sew, stopping and backstitching at the slit marking.  

Fold under the edges of the slit 1 cm. Press.

Press seams open. By doing so, you will refold the side vents, enclosing the raw edges. 

Topstitch all the way around the slit. To reinforce the slit, make a small, tight zigzag stitch at the top.

Create the hem. Fold the hem 1 cm toward the wrong side, press and then fold again 3cm and press. Edge stitch 2.8 cm from the folded edge.  

Pin the skirt to the ladder trump with the right sides together. Sew then finish the seam allowances together and press them toward the skirt. Make sure the ties are not in your way.

Cut a 4 cm large strip of fabric to make the strap (use your fabric scraps). For the length, use the following the table below from the pattern instructions. 

With wrong sides together, fold the long sides of the strap 1 cm toward the center and press. Fold the short ends 1 cm toward the wrong side, press well. Fold the strap in half, press well and edgestitch in place.

Insert the strap in the back bust then thread each end through the front bust. Tie the strap to gather and adjust the neckline.