[shasta]

Hi! I’m having trouble attaching the dress’s back-top panel to the back yoke. I clipped into the seam allowances at the center back (where the yoke edges meet) and then edge stitched the outside yoke. But I’ve got a wee bit of raw edge (from the dress back) sticking out between the dress and yoke) — where the yoke edges meet in the back. I can’t figure out how to fix this. Can someone please help me? The dress is a gift and I want it to be as close to perfect as I can manage. Thanks!

[Liesl Gibson]

HI Shasta,

I think you could tack the two edges of the yoketogether by hand pretty easily. It would just take a few stitches at the base, and they wouldn’t be very visible, That’s the easiest solution I can come up with, and any puckers that might develop will just blend into the gathers of the dress. I hope it works ok for you!

[sbarbero]

Hello, I am having the exact same problem as Shasta. Is that really how it is supposed to be done? I don’t want to have any pucker there but I can’t figure out from the pattern what I was supposed to do to avoid that. I would love to know how I should have done it to avoid this so I can rip out or at least when i make another one I complete this part correctly.

Thanks!

[Liesl Gibson]

The hand tacking at the two edges of the back yoke together should prevent any gaps when you attach the back panel. If the edges are kissing before you attach the back dress panel, there won’t be any space between them after the seam is sewn. Does that make sense?

[Sarvi]

I am not sure if I had this problem or a slightly different one — I tacked the two edges of the yoke at the back together, so there wasn’t a problem with a space between the wearer’s left and right sides.

When attaching the yoke to the body of the dress, I was basically tucking the raw top edge of the body under the folded, unstitched edge of the yoke. This works until you get to the bit just south of the button/button loop, because the yoke is stitched shut there. I just sort of crammed the body and tugged on the yoke. I assume I had stitched too far down and should’ve left a little space there. I’m making another of these today, I’ll take photos to show what I’m talking about.

[Emily]

Sarvi, did you snip the seam allowance so that it can go around either side of the button/loop split? That’s what I did and it worked pretty well.

[jodier]

Hi Sarvi.

There is a sew-a-long about to start with this dress that you might like to follow http://www.flickr.com/groups/icecreamdress-sewalong/

I imagine that when we all get to this part there will be lots of explanations and assistance.

[Sarvi]

Thanks, jodier! I joined the sew-along, looking forward to hearing what suggestions folks have.

Emily, I can’t quite picture which bit of the seam allowance I’d snip?

Before:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hemoglobinhummingbird/4798082110/

After (not actually sewn, just tucked in to show where I hit a bump:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hemoglobinhummingbird/4798082270

[Liesl Gibson]

Sarvi, check page 3, column 2, step 3 in the instructions. There’s an illustration that shows where to clip. And it will help if you stitch the two back edges together as shown on page 2, column 4, step 5. I hope that clarifies!

[Sarvi]

Aha! I missed a step, thank you!

[Emily]

Sarvi, did you end up getting it to work out? Let us know!

[katybellabug]

I read this feed prior to starting the pattern and thought I would wait and see what happened when I got to this stage. Now with frustratedly gritted teeth I have to admit it’s a tricky one! I just can’t get the yoke to fix in securely without showing some raw edge. I have unpicked and tried again, and also reinforced the edgestitch by going over it but after testing it on my daughter it was stretched open by taking it over her head.

I am hoping it is a case of practice makes perfect but it is so frustrating to not get it perfect.

[Liesl Gibson]

I think it is a case of practice, and I’m sure your next one will be better. You can always take a little bartack across the stress point if you need it, just for safety’s sake. Or you could also use a hand stitch to just sew up the two edges a bit if there’s still enough room to get it on and off.

Sorry it’s frustrating!

[Nicole]

I did blog this step if it is any help.

http://fiveandcounting-motherof5.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/ice-cream-with-some-body.html just scroll down a wee bit.

~Nicole~

[katybellabug]

Thanks Nicole! I did check that post last night. (if in doubt…. check your blog!)

I was determined to finish it last night and so went back and unpicked it (again!) and did some handsewing on the join between the 2 yokes. I started a wee bit back on the main seam and then joined about 1/4″ of the yokes with a ladder stitch and went back over to the opposite side of the main seam to finish it off. You could swing off it, it is nice and firm!

I probably won’t need to do it so much next time as I understand a bit more now about how to approach it.

Thanks for the tips Liesl!