Pleat Fail

I liked the look of a new pattern from a favorite designer. It has a lot of pleats - not my most favorite sewing items to accomplish. It needs about 4 pleats on the top and then 3 more on the bottom - that is a lot of pleats. Here is what the front piece looks like to cut out.

Now it may have been my fabric selection that also made this a complete sewing fail. It is a heavier knit with lots of horizontal stretch but not very much vertical stretch. I do know the front piece was a royal pain to cut out.

Of course after the fact I found a video sew along the designer posted on how to get the pleats correct. The video link was included in the PDF instructions but was mislabeled as being for another portion of the dress.

I was trying to baste the pleats together and my machine was just skipping stitches all over the place. I tried a different material after I rethreaded the machine and it worked perfectly except when I tried to sew over the pleats. I should have changed to a needle for thicker fabrics, but hindsight is always 20/20. Most of the pleats looked passable until the last one which made a weird bump in the dress.

By that time I also realized I had not cut the other portion of the front piece long enough. I taped the PDF together and then had to stop to fix dinner. When I returned I thought I had taped onto to much length and cut a piece off. Nope, I just shortened one of the portions of the front piece to shirt length while leaving everything else dress length.

This was just not a meant to be sewing project. I have watched the video on the pleats and see them as not impossible. I will select a lighter weight knit for my next attempt. I will also need to work on attaching the faux waistband portion. Luckily I have more than enough fabric in my stash to screw up this pattern multiple times. The few people who have posted their makes in the Facebook group all claim it was a complete breeze to sew up, but that is the internet where most never tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth. One of the reasons why I post my fails.