Vintage Vogue Re-issue Summer Dress - Work in Progress 2

Bound Buttonholes I fear you no more!!  

This project has been on hold for a while, partly as I needed to sew up 6 aprons and partly because I have been very scared of the bound buttonholes.  Looking at the instructions I just though argh I don't understand, so I ignored them and ran away. 

This weekend however I had a day free and I felt some sewing motivation so I started on this dress.  In my head I had started calling it 'The Impossible Dress' which is never good for conquering your fears.  The dress itself has 43 (!?!) steps in the pattern instructions which is more than any I have done before.  To break it up I have written the numbers down and am slowly crossing them off as I work through it as it is better for me to break them down into small pieces.

Front right bodice piece

I have currently done 1-11 which includes the bound buttonholes on the bodice.  Before starting on them I searched the net for tutorials and found this one on Gertie's New Blog for Better Sewing which explains it
very well.  I didn't really know what they looked like finished either so this was very helpful.  I grabbed some scrap bits of fabric and had a go myself.  I was just playing to see how it worked so it isn't pretty and I didn't press it, it was just to get the hang of it.

Buttonhole practice

So then I was feeling very confident and I re-read my instructions and realised the pattern suggested making them in a slightly different way.  Instead of using a different piece of fabric for the lips as Gertie suggests, it uses the same fabric that is pushed through the hole folded back on itself.  I decided to use this technique as it kept the bulkiness of the fabric down.  I am really pleased with how they have turned out so far.  Don't mind the black stitching, that is just to keep them in place and to stop them stretching when sewing the bodice together.

Bound buttonholes on front

I have also done the darts in the front and back and sewn the 2 front bodice pieces together and the same for the lining.  I have realised that sewing darts is one of my favourite things in making up a garment.  I think it is because they make your flat piece of fabric instantly shaped and more on its way to becoming something you can wear.

Back pieces and linings