Medieval Dress Sew-Along (Part 2)

The pattern and overview are in this post HERE
Find Part 1 HERE
Find Part 3 HERE

Part 2! When we left off last time, the whole upper part of the dress was fully put together. You should have sleeves and underarms, and you should be able to try on what you have so far.

So we're on Step 9: My side godets are in two pieces. I want to attach one half to each side of the body panels before sewing the side seams. You can really play around with this order of construction a lot. I do it this way because I feel like it gives me flexibility to get everything lined up just right.

I want to make sure that the edge that I'm attaching to my body panel is the bias edge of the godet, not the edge that's running parallel to the grain. Lay the right side of the godet face down over the right side of the body panel, and stitch them together.

Repeat for all for half godets.

Step 10:  Fold your tunic so that it's tunic shaped again. I like to join the godet-halves together before doing the side seam. It lets me really make sure everything is lined up so it all comes to a single point.

Then sew up that little bit of side seam that's left. This is your last chance to make any tweaks to get all the points to line up together.  You'll notice that I leave seam allowance at the top of my godets. I'm going to cut that off later, in finishing the seams, but for now, it gives me a little extra wiggle room in case I need it.

This is what we should have now. You can really try it on at this point and get an idea of fit! Just remember that front and back godets, when placed at your natural waist, will affect the fit at the hips. In other words, if you you have big hips (hi! I do!) and the dress is a tiny bit snug in the hips right now, the front and back godets will give you that extra room you need for the dress to fit properly. Just make sure you're inserting them high enough!

Step 11: We're almost done! We just need to insert the front and back godets. Since my back godet is in a seam, it got inserted rather similar to the side godets. I joined each side of it to the center back panels, and then sewed up the rest of my center back seam. For the front, carefully cut a slit straight up the front panel, the length you need. For the godet going into a slit, you NEED top seam allowance. Your godet should be taller than the slit you're inserting it into.

See the slit? I didn't remove any fabric, I just cut straight up the dress. Use as many marks, pins, and measuring devices as you need to get that line straight and centered.

I put a pin at the very top of the slit as a guide. I want to inset the very tip of my godet by hand. It's easier to photograph and share. It also gives me absolute control over the insertion. I'm going to baste it in on one side, seam that up on the machine, and then baste the other side, before seaming it up. My basting thread is in a contrast color so you can more easily see.

You're looking at the right side of my dress, zoomed in to the top of the slit. I place the godet upside down, so that the insertion point of the godet and the point where I want to attach the two (marked by that first pin) are on top of each other. I take the tiniest of stitches through both pieces, right where that bottom pin is. Only catching a couple of threads. You can see that below, looking at the back side of the tunic.

Now I take out that other pin, and pivot the godet so that the edge is lined up with the edge of the slit. Because your first stitches are right on the edge/point of the slit, the edge of the godet is going to stick out here more. It'll gradually grade in to match the cut edge of the slit. Pictures speak a thousand words here.

You can see both my basting stitches, and then also my machine stitching line in the last photo above. You can see how the godet and slit eventually meet up edges, but that at the very top, the godet seam allowance is far greater than the slit seam allowance.  I took out these basting stitches before moving on, to avoid confusion.

You can see above how the godet lines up with the other side of the slit. Make sure it's straight, and not pulling down toward the hem. You should be able to lay the whole garment flat and check that your godet is going in straight.

And basted in place. The final step is to machine (or hand) sew this seam.  After that, your dress is fully put together! You just have to finish the raw edges. And seams, if you're going to do that. Again, I want to stress that if you don't finish your seams by hand, you should, before you ever start sewing, serge the edges, or sew a wide zig-zag stitch over the edges. Otherwise your fabric will fray in the wash and all your hard work could literally fall apart!

I'll discuss hand finishing, why I love it, and what order to go in, in order to get all your seams neatly finished with no raw edges showing, in another post in a few weeks.