Parfait Polo Sew Along Day 5: The Dresses!

 Welcome to Day 5 of the Parfait Polo sew along!  If you're sewing a dress version, today is the last day! 

Grab the Parfait Polo pattern here in the shop.

Day 1 we'll sew the yoke and placket.  

Day 2 we'll sew the shoulders, collar and neck binding

Day 3 we'll sew the sleeves and side seam

Day 4 we'll sew the hem and side vent (shirt only)

Day 5 we'll attach the dress versions

Today we're adding the sleeves and sewing the side seams.  The two fabrics used to sew this Parfait Polo is Art Gallery Fabrics jersey knit in the cinnamon color. and Art Gallery Fabrics jersey knit in the mauvelous color.

Let's make the a-line and circle skirt version first.  The circle skirt version will be shown in the photos.  The first step is to sew the side seams on the skirt part of the dress.  

Then mark the quarters of the top of the skirt and the bottom of the "shirt" like we did when attaching the sleeve bands.  

Next, pin the skirt to the top with the right sides together, matching those pins.  Continue pinning, adding as many pins as needed between the quarters.  

Sew the skirt to the top.  

The final step is to hem the bottom of the dress.  And now your a-line or circle skirt dress versions of the Parfait Polo are finished!

For the tiered version, also begin by sewing the tier pieces together along the short ends.  The right sides of the fabric will be touching.  You will end up with two long circles.

Take the bottom tier (the longer circle) and sew a gathering stitch all around the top edge.  Next you will pull the gathering stitch until the bottom tier is the same width as the top tier.

Pin the top of the gathered bottom tier to the bottom of the top tier with the right sides together.  In the photo above, you can see the top tier underneath the gathered bottom tier.

Carefully sew the two tiers together.

In the photo above, you can see the two tiers are sewn together.  Now we'll repeat the process by sewing a gathering stitch along the top of the top tier.  Next, pull the ends of those gathering stitches to make the top tier the same width as the bottom of the polo shirt.  

Finally, pin the top of the top tier to the bottom of the shirt lining up the raw edges.  Pin it well, and then sew together.  

The final step is to hem the bottom of the bottom tier.  And your gathered skirt version of the Parfait Polo dress is finished! 

Thank you for sewing along with us!  Please use the hashtag #prpparfaitpolo and tag us on social media.

Grab the Parfait Polo pattern here in the shop.

Parfait Polo Sew Along Day 4: Side Vent and Hems

Welcome to Day 4 of the Parfait Polo sew along!  If you're sewing a shirt version, today is the last day! 

Grab the Parfait Polo pattern here in the shop.

Day 1 we'll sew the yoke and placket.  

Day 2 we'll sew the shoulders, collar and neck binding

Day 3 we'll sew the sleeves and side seam

Day 4 we'll sew the hem and side vent (shirt only)

Day 5 we'll attach the dress versions

Today we're hemming and sewing that fun side vent.  The fabric used to sew this Parfait Polo is Art Gallery Fabrics jersey knit in the spruce color.

Want to know a secret?  Hemming is one of our least favorite parts of sewing any pattern!  So when the hemming is NOT the last step, we always celebrate because we have to do it to able to complete the pattern!  Anyway, the next step is to hem the shirt.  Because the hem is curved, sew this hem slowly, stretching the fabric lightly to fit as needed.  Another tip, we like to sew this with the right side of the fabric facing...but it is not a requirement.

Fold over the vent allowance by 1/2" and then tuck under half of that so the raw edges are inside.  (Another way to say this is fold over 1/4" twice.)  Sew from the bottom of the hem to the top of the vent allowance.

Put the needle down and pivot the shirt.  Sew across the top of the vent, catching the seam toward the back.  

Put the needle down again and pivot the shirt to be able to sew back down the other side of the vent.  

That's it for the shirt version of the Parfait Polo pattern!  Give everything a good pressing, and you're set to wear the nicest polo shirt around! 

If you're sewing a dress version, we'll see you tomorrow for the final steps.

Grab the Parfait Polo pattern here in the shop.

Parfait Polo Sew Along Day 3: Sleeves and Side Seams

Welcome to Day 3 of the Parfait Polo sew along!  Today it's going to start looking like a real shirt! 

Grab the Parfait Polo pattern here in the shop.

Day 1 we'll sew the yoke and placket.  

Day 2 we'll sew the shoulders, collar and neck binding

Day 3 we'll sew the sleeves and side seam

Day 4 we'll sew the hem and side vent (shirt only)

Day 5 we'll attach the dress versions

Today we're adding the sleeves and sewing the side seams.  The fabric used to sew this Parfait Polo is Art Gallery Fabrics jersey knit in the spruce color.

If you are doing the puff sleeves version, sew a long baste or gathering stitch between the notches on the sleeve.

Next, open out the shirt with the front and back laying right side up.  With the right side of the sleeve down against the shirt, pin the center of the sleeve to the shoulder seam.  Continue pinning the sleeve to the armscye.  For the puff sleeve, pull the gathering stitch to fit the sleeve to the shirt.

Sew the sleeve to the shirt with a serger or a stretch stitch.  Over on Instagram, we took a poll and it looks like the majority of you like to sew this seam with the sleeve up and the shirt down against the feed dogs.  Repeat this process for the other sleeve.

Pin the front and back side seams with the right sides together matching the sleeve ends, armscye seams and tops of the side vent.  

If you are serging this seam, begin at the top of the side vent and sew up the shirt, pivot and serge to the end of the sleeve.  When using a sewing machine, start at either the top of the vent or the end of the sleeve.

Take the sleeve bands and fold them in half with the right sides together so the short edges are touching.  Sew or serge across this edge.

Now fold the sleeve bands in half, but this time the long edges will be lined up and the wrong sides together.  In the photo above, the folded sleeve band is on the bottom and the one on top has yet to be folded.

Use pins to divide the sleeve band into quarters.  One pin will be at the seam, the other will be directly across from it, and the other two will be distributed evenly between these two.  Use pins to divide the bottom of the sleeve into quarters just like you did for the sleeve band..

Turn the shirt right side out.  Place the sleeve band inside the sleeve at the hem with all the raw edges lined up.  Next, pin the sleeve band to the sleeve matching the quarter marks that were pinned previously.

Sew the sleeve bands to the shirt.  On the left above, you can see the shirt is inside out, and the sleeve band is inside.  Zoomed in on the right, you can see this seam is being sewn on the inside of the sleeve because that's the easiest way to make sure you're not catching anything else.

Give the sleeve bands a good press, and they you're done for the day!  

Grab the Parfait Polo pattern here in the shop.

We'll see you tomorrow for the vent and hem.

Parfait Polo Sew Along Day 2: Collar and Neckbinding

Welcome to Day 2 of the Parfait Polo sew along!  Today we're making the prettiest steps in the pattern. 

Grab the Parfait Polo pattern here in the shop.

Day 1 we'll sew the yoke and placket.  

Day 2 we'll sew the shoulders, collar and neck binding

Day 3 we'll sew the sleeves and side seam

Day 4 we'll sew the hem and side vent (shirt only)

Day 5 we'll attach the dress versions

Today we're sewing the collar and neck binding, but first we need to sew the shoulders together.  The fabric used to sew this Parfait Polo is Art Gallery Fabrics jersey knit in the spruce color.

Pin the front and back with the right sides together at the shoulders. Serge or sew with a stretch stitch.  Now onto the collar.

Throughout the collar constructions, remember the under collar is interfaced.  The testers and I tested this both ways and discovered that the finished collar just lays nicer if the under collar is interfaced rather than the upper collar.

Pin the collar and undercollar with the right sides together. Sew up one short shaped side, across the top and back down the other short shaped side using a 1/4” (0.6cm) seam allowance.

When you get to the corners, put the needle down, pick up the presser foot and pivot the collar.  Then put the presser foot back down and continue sewing the collar pieces together.

Snip into the collar, right at the point where the collar meets the connected collar stand.  Also, clip the corners of the collar so it will make a nice sharp point when it's turned.

Next, turn the collar right sides out. Use a point to gently poke out the collar points.  

Because the undercollar is slightly smaller, it will roll nicely to the underside as you can see in the above picture.  Just barely visible around the edges you can see the upper collar, which means the under collar will be hidden when worn. Press it well.  Then baste the two collars together across the bottom to make attaching to the shirt easier.

Open out the front and back shirt.  Pin the collar to the shirt with the undercollar against the right side of the shirt.  This is really important!  Beginning pinning at one end of the collar/placket matching the edges exactly together.  Next pin the other end of the collar to the other placket end matching edges as before.  Then pin at the center back of the collar and neckline. Finally, pin the rest of the collar to the shirt, easing the shirt onto the collar as necessary.

Next, we'll add the neck binding before we sew.  Pin the neck binding over the top of the collar with the right side of the the neck binding against the right side of the upper collar. The shirt, collar and neck binding edges will all align around the top of the neckline.  Begin at one end of the collar and leave the neckbinding overhang by 1/2” (1.3cm).

Next pin the other end of the neckbinding to the other end of the collar, again leaving an over- hang. Then pin at the center back. Finally, pin the rest of the neck binding to the collar and shirt, stretching the binding to fit.  As you can see above, it's easiest to remove and replace every other pin when pinning the neck binding in place.

Sew the shirt, collar and neck binding together.  This is a lot of layers (especially when you get to the back yoke area) so go slow and make sure all the raw edges are lined up.  If you prefer, you can baste the collar in place first, and then add the neck binding in a second step.  And if it's too thick, you might find it helpful to use a walking foot.

Above you can see this from the underside.  The neck binding (pink) is sticking out from the end of the shirt placket (at the top of the photo.)

Pull the seam binding out away from the shirt and collar.  Again, the above photo shows it from the underside.

Fold the overhanging end of the neck binding over the end of the collar and shirt.

Now, fold the whole neck binding down to cover the raw edges of the collar and shirt.

Now comes the really satisfying part!  Flip out the collar from under the shirt and at the same time, flip the seam allowance (which is covered by the neck binding) down into the wrong side of the shirt.  Pin the binding in place and make sure to follow the same process when you get to the other end of the collar.

Edgestitch the binding in place through the binding and shirt.  Sew this seam slowly and carefully.  It is easiest to sew this on the inside of the shirt to make sure the neck binding is caught.

Nice work on the collar and neck binding!  It's that pretty?  Next we'll sew the sleeves...

Grab the Parfait Polo pattern here in the shop.

Parfait Polo Sew Along Day 1: Yoke and Placket

 Today we're starting a sew along for the Parfait Polo!  This will be a 5 day step by step photo tutorial to walk you through sewing the Parfait Polo pattern.  

Grab the Parfait Polo pattern here in the shop.

Day 1 we'll sew the yoke and placket.  

Day 2 we'll sew the shoulders, collar and neck binding

Day 3 we'll sew the sleeves and side seam

Day 4 we'll sew the hem and side vent (shirt only)

Day 5 we'll attach the dress versions

It's the 1st day, so let's get started with the yoke and placket.  The fabric used to sew this Parfait Polo is Art Gallery Fabrics jersey knit in the spruce color.

The back piece has a yoke which is a great place to add a label or size tag.  After attaching any tags, attach the back yoke to the shirt back with the wrong sides together. Stitch around the long curved outer edge. Then baste the shoulder and neckline areas together.

Press well with steam if the fabric has stretched out or become wrinkly.

Now onto the plackets!  Did you know that when the Parfait Polo was being developed, the placket went through at least 6 different ways of construction before settling on this method?  We weren't willing to stop until we found a method that enabled the maker to get a perfect finished placket every single time!  And if you look at the tester photos, you'll see that each and every one of them got a perfect placket!

Press the plackets in 1/2 with the wrong sides together and the long edges lined up.

Fold down one side of the shirt front. Pin the placket in place on the remaining side of the bodice front with the interfaced side of the placket up, away from the shirt. The three layers of raw edges of the front opening and placket will be lined up. The placket will extend past the bottom of the placket opening.

Sew from the neckline down to the bottom of the placket opening and 1/2” (1.3cm) farther PAST the opening.

Repeat that on the other side of the placket.  In the above photo, the needle is stopped at the bottom of the placket, while you can see the stitching on the other side extends past the bottom of the placket.  Continue down to the level of the 1st side.

Above you can see the wrong side after sewing the placket in place.

On the wrong side of the shirt carefully cut a diagonal line to (but not through) the end of the stitching through SHIRT only, creating a little triangle.  On the right in the photo above, the little triangle is being pulled back and you can see the placket underneath has not been cut.

Pull plackets to wrong side. Line up plackets on top of each other. The folded edge of placket will come to line of stitching on other placket.  Above you can see the wrong side.  

Take your time with this and check the shirt on the right side (shown above) make sure of proper alignment. When you are satisfied with the placket placement, pin the plackets together at the top.

Flip up the bottom part of the front to reveal the plackets and the little triangle you cut earlier.  

Baste this seam first, flip shirt to the right side to make sure the shirt didn’t get caught and everything is still aligned properly, and then sew the final seam.  When you're happy with it, sew through the triangle and placket bottoms, making sure the rest of the shirt is out of the way.

The edges of the placket won't fray, but if you want a cleaner finish on the inside, serge or zig zag the bottom and edges of placket. Be careful to fold the shirt out of way and finish the seam allowances only.

Sew a rectangle with an X at the bottom of the placket. The rectangle should be as wide as the finished placket, so sew it from the right side.

That's it for Day 1!  Great work!  

Grab the Parfait Polo pattern here in the shop.