280 Resort Kaftan Sew Along: Part 1

Notions

There are very few notions needed for this pattern.  Thread, of course.  But if you want to interface the facings, you need about 1/2 yard of interfacing.  And if you want to add the inside side ties, you will need 50"-75" of ribbon or twill tape.  I did add inside ties to this dress and it does make a difference to the shape when wearing it.  I like the ties.

Other Supplies

You will also need the pattern, of course, which you can find here.

I also like to use tracing fabric to trace my patterns to cut out (and to make adjustments).

Sizing and Yardage

You can find the sizing and yardage chart on the back of the pattern envelope, in the first pages of the PDF pattern, or at this link (also linked at the bottom of the pattern description).

There is, of course, a lot of ease in this pattern, which makes it fairly forgiving for sizing.  Check out the finished measurements to make sure you have plenty of room, but don't be too surprised at the ease.  If you want to make adjustments to length, you will likely need to adjust your yardage as well.  I made the skirt much shorter (by nearly 14").  If your bust is very large, you may want to make a full bust adjustment to the bodice.

I made a size small for this kaftan.

Cutting out the pattern

Once you have decided on the size you want to cut, cut out or trace your pattern.  Again, I like to trace my patterns with this tracing fabric.  For large pieces, like the skirts on this pattern, you could cut out the largest size and just fold out the edges that you don't need.  This would save tracing fabric and still keep your pattern in tact.

If you are making any adjustments to the pattern, you should do so now.  I shortened my skirt pieces (Front, Back, and Sides) by 12" (30.5cm) from the hem line, shortening the whole dress by 13.5" (34.3cm).  I wanted a knee-length dress, and I used the finished length measurements (on the yardage chart) to judge how much to shorten the skirt pieces.  The skirts are shorted at the hem edge because the side seams are straight edges.  You could fold out the length in the lower middle of the pattern pieces instead.  If you are lengthening the dress, you can add length to the bottom hems of all skirt pieces (Front, Sides, and Back).

Measuring 12"  (30.5cm) up from the hem line.  I wanted by skirt about 13.5" (34.3cm) shorter than the original. 

 
Drew in a new cut mark (purple) on the pattern piece.

My new front skirt piece.

Once the pattern is cut out, you can place the pattern on your fabric.  I like to wash and dry the fabric (with the same method I would when it is a garment) before cutting any pattern pieces from the fabric.  This can be very important for fabrics like rayons which tend to shrink quite a bit.

The Skirt Front (A) can be cut on the fold or cut as two pieces.  And, if you don't have quite enough fabric to cut the full width, don't forget that this piece is gathered into the bodice (or waistband of the bodice).  So you can save some fabric and be flexible with the width of this piece.  I made several of these kaftans by cutting Skirt Front A narrower than the pattern piece and it turned out just fine.  So, I wanted to give you permission to do this, especially if you can save some fabric yardage by doing so!

For this dress, I cut Skirt Front A on the fold.  I cut the Back and Side Front with the fabric layered so I could cut two at the same time.  This was a bit tricky with seersucker (especially striped seersucker) as the fabric does not like to stay straight.  I cut it on a carpet which helped a bit I think.  

The largest pattern pieces laid out on my fabric on a carpet for cutting.

I cut the Center Front Band and Facings from the same fabric.  And, I switched the direction of the stripes for the Center Front Band (still kept the pattern piece on the grainline).

Center Front Bands cut from fabric, on the cross grain.

For the Bodice, I wanted the stripes to go the same way as the neckline, so I cut it on an angle (or bias).  I cut each side separately.

Cutting the Front Yoke on a bias angle so that the stripes will be parallel to the neckline.  

Cutting the other side of the Front Yoke (note pattern piece is facing down). 

I cut the Back and Front Facings as instructed; the Back Facing on the fold and the Front Facing with the grainline parallel to the selvage.  

Finally, I cut pockets!

The side seams of this pattern are perfect for adding pockets.  And the sturdier fabric of the seersucker made pockets a good idea for this dress.  We have a free PDF pocket pattern on our site - you can find it in this blog post.  Or you can draw up your own side seam pocket.  I used the pocket pattern from our site and cut 4 pocket pieces. You probably won't need any more yardage to get pockets - they can be cut from the scraps of your fabric.

I cut 4 pocket pieces from the free pocket pattern on the blog.

Seam Finishes

All Folkwear patterns include a standard 1/2" (13mm) seam allowance, unless otherwise specified.  You can finish the seams in several different ways.  For this garment, I serged the seams and pressed them open (sometimes to the back).  But, you can also do French seams in most places (at the center front, center back, side front if not using inside ties, shoulders, and even side seams if you clip to the square first).  You can also finish by overlocking or with a zigzag stitch.  You could also trim very lightweight fabric with pinking shears.  Another option is to turn under just under 1/4" (6mm) to the back on each seam allowance and sew down.

Sewing the Front

Since I cut the Skirt Front on the fold, I did not need to sew a center front seam.  If you cut your Skirt Front as two pieces, sew them together at the center front and finish the seams.  This is a good place to do a French seam, or serge/overcast/zigzag and press the seam open. 

Sew the center front seam of the Front Yokes, with right sides together, to create the bodice.  Stitch from the bottom of the Front Yokes to the center of the square. Finish the seams and press open.

Front Yokes sewn together at center front. Right side facing up.

Then sew a stay stitching line at 3/8" (1cm) from the outer edge of the neckline.  This will stabilize the neckline while the rest of the sewing is happening.  Since I cut these yoke pieces on the bias (not true bias, but an angle), the neckline is quite stable already since it ends up being on the grainline rather than on a bias.  

Next, sew gathering stitches at the bottom of the front yoke, between the side seams.  Sew two rows of gathering stitches (set your machine to stitch long stitches) - one at 5/8" (1.6cm) from the raw edge and one a 1/4" (6mm) away in the seam allowance.  Two rows of gathering stitches at this spacing will help to create even gathers.

Draw up the bobbin thread on each end of the gathering stitches to gather the front yoke to fit the length of the longer long edge of one of the Center Front Bands.  Be sure to match the center front seam of the yoke to the notch on the Center Front Band.  Adjust the gathers to be evenly spaced. 

Bottom of front yokes gathered to fit the longer side of the Center Front Band.  Wrong sides facing up.

Pin the gathered front yoke to the Center Front Band with right side together.  Then pin the other Center Front Band with the right side of the Band to the wrong side of the front yoke.  This will sandwich the yoke between the Center Front Bands.  Stitch this in place. Then, trim the seams.  You can trim all of them down to 1/4" or grade the seam allowance (trim the outer seam allowances a bit shorter than the inner seam allowance - this reduced bulk in one place).  Press the Bands away from the yoke front.  The band on the inside is now the Band Facing.

 
Sandwiched front yoke between the Center Front Band pieces (Band Facing is on top).

Trim or grade the seam allowances.

Center Front Bands stitched to the front yoke.  Seam allowance is pressed toward the band.

Remove the gathering stitches.

Now sew gathering stitches along the top of the Skirt Front just as you did with the front yoke.  And then gather the Skirt Front so that it matches the shorter long edge of the Center Front Band.  Adjust the gathers so they are even, and pin the Skirt Front to the Center Front Band with right sides together, matching center fronts. Be sure to just pin the Skirt Front to the Center Front Band and not to the Facing also.  Keep the Facing free and away from the stitching. Sew this seam, sewing the Skirt Front to the Center Front Band.

Bottom of the Center Front Band pinned to the gathered Skirt Front. The Band Facing is not pinned or sewn to the Skirt Front at this point and is facing away.

Trim or grade the seam allowance and press it toward the Center Front Band.

Press 1/2" (13mm) to the wrong side on the free long edge of the Band Facing.  Press the Band Facing over the Skirt Front/Center Front Band seam line and stitch in place.  I recommend hand stitching this (with a whip stitch), but you could also topstitch this or stitch-in-the-ditch to secure the Facing over the seamline. 

Skirt Front is stitched to the Band and the Band Facing is free.

 I trimmed the seam allowance to reduce bulk.  And folded and pressed down the free long side of the Band Facing to the wrong side of the fabric.

I folded the Band Facing over the seamline of the skirt and band. This is from the wrong side of the kaftan front.

Then I pinned the Band Facing in place and whip stitched the facing over the seamline.

In the next part of our sew along, I will show you how to add the ties to the bands on the inside, add pockets, and we will finish sewing this kaftan!