Update 2/1/2021: An updated Upton Sewalong is available here.
Today we’ll be finishing up our Upton Dresses, hurray!
Sew lining to bodice
With dress right sides out, flip the lining from the inside to the outside, so it’s right sides together. Pin the lining along the zip, which will be sandwiched between the main fabric and lining.
Sew the lining to the zip using a regular or invisible zip foot, making sure you’re not sewing *too* close to the zip teeth or it may jam the zip – about 1/8″ (3mm) away from the teeth is great.
Now we have to finish the little bit of the neckline and lining that we left open. Fold the shell back towards the lining side, so that the zip teeth are in the edge of the fold, as shown (you can see the interfacing on the wrong side of the main fabric coming over to the lining side)
Sew across the remaining inch of the neckline, and straight over the fold you just made at the top of the zip. Here’s a photo from the second dress where it’s a little more visible:
Trim the corner, then carefully turn the right side out using a point turner, and press.
Repeat with the second side, and check that the neckline is meeting up perfectly at the top of the zip – if it isn’t, you may need to go back in and re-sew the seam ever so slightly. If the zip doesn’t go all the way to the edge, you can add a hook and eye for a little more security.
Now we just have to sew the lining to the bodice at the waistband (the edge of the lining should already be pressed up to the wrong side). Pin the two together, and then either use a hand needle to slipstitch the lining to the bodice waistband seam (this is my preferred method), or “stitch from the ditch” with a machine from the right side.
The final step is hemming the skirt! Simply fold up the hem by 1 inch (2.5 cm) and press. Then turn under the raw edge of the hem by another 1/4″ (6mm) and press again. You can either toptstitch the hem from the right side of the skirt, or hand stitch it if you want it to be invisible from the outside.
And there we have it, your Uptons are done! Here are the two that I made during this sewalong:
Don’t forget to take part in the Upton Party – to take part, take a photo of your Upton (bonus points for party poses) and then tag it with #UptonParty on Instagram or Twitter, add it to our Flickr group, or email it to hello@cashmerette.com. The deadline to enter is 14 July and then we’ll do a fun round up post.
I can’t wait to see your Uptons!
Well, I just finished the dress, and it was a lot easier than I feared! Somehow, the lining scared me a lot, because I’ve never done that before and I’m still rather new to sewing… but it wasn’t so hard after all, since everything was well explained in the booklet and this sewalong! so thanks a lot for that 🙂
So glad to hear you successfully made your Upton: congrats!
I love this dress, but I don’t do sleeveless. Any plans for a sleeve hack/add on to the pattern?
I am stuck on the lining step. Is the edge of the lining bodice raw? Or is it serged? Or are you folding it up and sewing it to the waistband? Please help I am so close to finishing!
The lining edge is pressed up, and slipstitched to the inside of the waistband (or stitched in the ditch from the right side).
Hi. Just a little issue I have when hemming, especially on curved edges. As I go round the curve it kind of folds over on itself and makes it a bit bumpy and not such a smooth fold. Any suggestions to get around this? Thanks.
If you make the hem smaller that helps, you can also run a gathering stitch on your machine at the fold line, and use it to ease over the edge (then remove the stitch afterwards).
i am making my uptown with a white and yellow fabric. How would the pattern be changed to add a skirt lining?
Hello Jenny
I cut out and assemble my dress according to direction 1/2 inch seam allowance the finish product is swimming on me my bust is 48, waist 43, hips 48, I used th EF cup graded upward to a 22 waist and down to a size 18 hip but the finish product is wayyyyyy to big. How much ease do you have in your pattern? I guess I have cut down all of the panel to the skirt until it fits or the next time around
use the size 16.
Hi Pat! I responded to the email you sent us with your fitting questions. I’m happy to work with you one-on-one to improve your fit!
-Ayelet from Cashmerette