Pink Muumuu dress with Embroidered ribbon Sewn with Kenmore 1803

Completed Pink muumuu dress before I made patch pockets to sew on the sides, for my cell phone.

Completed dress with twin needle embroidered ribbon sewn over the cut edge of my lace. I used light green polyester thread and dark green polyester thread with a twin needle, on my Kenmore 1803 sewing machine.

To help plan my design, after I embroidered the 3/8 inch wide satin ribbon, using a paper backed iron on basting tape as a stabilizer, I pinned the lace and completed ribbon, onto the dress, the way I thought I might like to sew them, to see how they looked. This is how I test my miters on my lace corners, to ensure they look pretty. This is part of my design testing. The dress is already completed, before I sewed this step, on this particular muumuu dress. If I use an embroidered yoke, I embroider the yoke, first, or apply the embroidery to the yoke before sewing the dress.

Kenmore 1803 Super High Shank Shirring Foot, I used it to gather the ruffle and the caps of the sleeves, for my pink muumuu dress. I discovered that using a seam guide on the machine bed, butted against the edge of the shirring foot, helped me get my fabric to feed more evenly. I lowered presser foot pressure, and used the longest straight stitch on my machine, 6 stitches per inch.  

Kenmore 1803 does not come with a foot to use for a binder or folder, of the sort which attaches to the sewing machine bed, but I had a broken Kenmore Super High Shank Q foot (knit & stretch fabric foot), which is clear, and has a tunnel, like a satin stitch foot. It had the prong on the right side broken off, but I had kept it anyway. I filed the jagged break smooth, so fabric could feed well, and it works just like an industrial or Bernina binder foot! I did lower presser foot pressure, to give more room for the folded hem to feed well, and when I got to a seam, I pulled the hem out, and just sewed without the folder, until I got past that seam. Then I tucked the hem back into the folder, and continued. The swing away bed attachment makes it much easier to do this, than a rolled hemmer foot does.

3/16" folder I used to hem sleeves and ruffle on pink muumuu dress. This is from an old sewing factory, I bought a batch of various folders after the factory closed. Sewn on Kenmore 1803

Holding the fabric in a cone shape, as it enters the rolled front of the folder, is the key to even, perfect hems. If you feed too much fabric in, you will have ragged edges peeking out, and it will be wider than it should be, if you don't feed enough, it won't get caught in the stitches. Practice.

Lace looks best, if not cut on a straight line, but if you cut along the gorgeous floral or decorative designs, then over lap them with a matching section, so it is difficult to see your seam. This is how I matched the lace on the skirt area, above the ruffle. My dress was slightly fuller than a perfect match, but it came out beautifully, I think!

Kenmore 1803 I think this is type C cams, the cam is # 41 I used 2 different colors of polyester sewing thread, for extra pop.

Kenmore 1803 twin needle embroidery on 3/8" satin ribbon, backed with paper backed iron on basting tape. The paper tears away, after you embroider the ribbon. If you have the correct size of paper backed basting tape, you can use the iron on adhesive to attach your ribbon to your fabric, before sewing it. It helps avoid the puckers, that pins would cause. The embroidery may cause small amounts of waving in your ribbon, especially satin ribbon, but it doesn't affect the end result negatively.  The paper backing is what prevents the needles from pushing the delicate ribbon down into your needleplate opening. Make sure your stitch width is just below 2 for twin needle stitching, to avoid hitting the needles on the edge of your foot.

Sewing ribbon on with stiletto to keep my fingers safe. Notice zigzag over the corner of the lace, is how it is secured in corners.

Zigzagging the lace down, using the embroidery foot, before I sew the ribbon down. I used basting tape to attach the ribbon over the lace edge, on top of the zigzag stitches. It made it super easy to sew the ribbon with no puckering.

To see my Vintage Sewing Machine blog, with over 100 posts, check this link here-
https://tumorfarmer.blogspot.com/2019/06/sears-kenmore-1803-sewing-machine.html