One of my favorite aspects of sewing is finding unique ways to embellish and add a personalized touch. I'm so excited to share how I added these chevroned tucks to the Ivy bodice. While I chose to use the Ivy pattern, you could use this technique on nearly any bodice. There are several different ways to achieve this look and I've done it different ways in the past, however, this is the easiest way I've found.
1. After giving the fabric a good press, I cut it into two large squares. These squares will be sewn together and the bodice will be cut from them, so you want to make sure they're big enough. If you're using a flowy fabric, I would recommend giving it a good starch to keep it from shifting on you too much. Then I found the bias of the fabric by folding my fabric into a right triangle. I pressed the fabric lightly along the fold and then opened it back up and drew a line with a water - erasing fabric marker along the crease.
2. Using my fabric ruler, I drew a second line 2.5" above and a third line 2.5" below my original line. You can use whatever spacing and size of tucks you prefer. Repeat on second piece of fabric.
3. Then I folded along the first crease, pinned my fabric and sewed a straight stitch using a 1/2" seam allowance. I repeated this for all 3 lines and then repeated on the second piece of fabric.
4. I ironed the tucks and laid them on my cutting table right sides together and with the tucks lined up. Then I took my bodice pattern piece and laid it on top to determine how I wanted the tucks arranged on my bodice. If you want, you could also trace around your pattern piece with a water or heat-erasable marker in order to make finding your placement again after sewing easier.
5. Once I determined where I wanted the tucks then I cut through both layers of fabric 3/8" away from where the center of the bodice is. I just used my ruler to measure over 3/8" and cut along the ruler's edge with my rotary cutter.
6. Then I pinned the fabric where I made the cut and made sure the tucks were still alligned and hadn't shifted. I then sewed along the cut/pinned edge with a 3/8" allowance and then ironed my seam open.
7. I folded along the stitch I had made and cut out my bodice piece.
That's it! I hope you give this a try and I hope you share your masterpiece on the Sunflower Seams Facebook Page! I can't wait to see how you add this technique to your own creations! Happy sewing!
