Dickies are Neck Warmers

I made two dickies for my mom for Christmas.  I merged two patterns to make them.

I started with the wrapped collar from Stretch & Sew 333 View B, upper right:

The bodice is from Kwik Sew 2812, View D, upper right:

It was easy enough to merge these two patterns.  I traced the size Medium bodice from the Kwik Sew pattern to get the overall shape, then I laid it over the bodice piece of the S&S pattern to get the neckline for size 40:

The collar was traced in size 40 of the S&S pattern:

Notice how I mark notches:

I made this for my mom a few years ago, and found that I had made short bodice pieces.  I traced new bodice pieces and placed the old bodice pieces on top so you can see the difference:

I prewashed the lightweight fleece I got at JA's on sale.  I use vinegar in the rinse instead of fabric softener, which gives a waxy coating.  I used a size 75 stretch needle for the whole project:

All seams were stitched with a 1/4-inch seam allowance.  I stitched the back seam of the collar, and the shoulder seams of the bodice:

I pressed open the back seam of the collar with my fingers:

I turned the collar right side out, then aligned and pinned all the notches:

I matched the front of the collar at center front and pinned the layers together.  I also basted the layers together with large zigzag stitches:

With the bodice wrong side out, I marked the center front and center back with pins.  On each side of the front, I placed one pin about 1/4-inch forward of the shoulder seam:

I inserted the collar assembly into the bodice with the collar right side out, and the dickie wrong side out:

I started by pinning the center front of the collar to the center front of the bodice:

I pinned the collar to the bodice, matching all notches and adding a few pins in-between:

While pushing the seam allowance towards the bodice, I held it in place with topstitching:

This shows how well the topstitching holds the seam allowances:

Here are the finished dickies.  The blue one was made with the shorter bodice pieces:

I know my mom will like these because I asked her what I could make for her, and this is what she wanted.

Win-Win!

Here is a camera tip that I used while making this project (and the fleece socks).  I took a picture of the stitch settings just before using them.

For seams, I used this stitch - a narrow, longish zigzag:

I used a large, three-step zigzag stitch for topstitching the neck seam allowances.  This stitch was also used when tacking the heel seam allowances on the socks (click here):

For ALL the pictures, click here.

Next up - a couple of really easy projects!