The nice comfy experience from the unique natural linen dress comes from hard earn sewing process. Linen fabric holds exclusive features from the creation stage, sewing, dressing, and maintaining. Linen is easy to handle but very delicate; one wrong move damages the fabric beyond measure. The sewing process is quite sensitive as the washing and ironing process. Linen is a fashionable fabric that blends with different occasions. It’s a fast wash, lightweight, and easy care fabric suiting all seasons.
Most Linen cloth lovers prefer purchasing readymade linen dresses, shirts, skirts, pants, or shorts. The sewing process is quite hectic, discouraging many from venturing into the self-made linen dresses. However, sewing linen is simple but requires dedication. Note linen can shrink, especially during the preparation stage. For quality linen, the sewing process is much easier than if you purchase cheaper materials.
If you want to learn 5 simple hacks for sewing with linen, just follow the instructions below on how to sew a linen dress.
How to sew a linen dress!
Select the correct fabric weight
Linen comes in different varieties, from light, medium, and heavyweight. Your selection determines the type of cloth you are designing. Linen fabric is lightweight, breathable, durable, and has high absorbency. All the qualities help keep the user cool dry and avoid skin irritation. Besides the cooling characteristic, the material should provide style and elegancy regardless of the use.
- Light linen fabric matches summer dresses, tops, children’s clothes, and beachwear.
- Medium weight linen is perfect for linen summer pants and shirts.
- Heavy linen work for summer suits, formal wear, and jacket.
Once you establish your required cloth or design, you can select the right linen weight.
Color and print
After establishing the weight, check the color and print to align with the user’s taste. Before purchasing linen material for sewing, understand your client’s color choice or color taste. Learning how to sew a linen dress is more than just the stitches!
Pre-treating linen stage
The pre-treat stage is quite challenging to decide whether to wash or not to wash. Linen fabric is unique and requires extra attention. Some people feel they should sew first before washing for a complete task. Yes, it’s possible to sew without washing but remember linen shrinks when washed. The washing part is significant and helps determine the right size of the garment. This helps not to sew too small or large garments. This can be disappointing since you have cut your measurements.
Pre-treating options
- Note if your final garment will be washed using hot water, the pre-treat stage should be washed in hot water.
- If you opt for cold or warm water in the final stage, you must use cold or warm water in the pre-treat stage.
- You can use plain water and hang it to dry before sewing to ease the process. This gives more options during the final washing stage.
How to sew a linen dress will depend on how you treat the material before you begin.
Layering out, cutting, and marking linen garment
Always layout using the given pattern instructions for better results. Some people follow the grain-line on the fabric to get better patterns. For the cutting stage, use thinner or thicker lines for the quick cutting process. A rotary cutter works well with linen; it helps cut clear lines. However, you need a protective mat for your table. A ruler also comes in handy for the rotary cutter as it gives better clear edges. After cutting, you need to mark the garment use the mark pencils to indicate the patterns. For simple but efficient marking, use pencil and tracing paper to conduct all the marking.
Sewing and finishing the seams
The sewing process is very easy after the major cutting and marking steps. The fabric is easy to move on the feeddogs. However, don’t pull the fabric under the sewing needle to avoid damaging the linen. After sewing, you need the perfect finish, which is seam finishing. For better seaming, straight stitch the edges and turn the edges under on the stitching line. Next, straight stitch through the two layer pieces for complete seaming.
Conclusion
Linen sewing has different approaches based on the user’s experience. However, all sewing practices should perfect linen garments to suit your particular need. We hope these tips have helped you learn how to sew a linen dress!
